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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Freiburg Cathedral Hymnal” (Organ Accompaniment) — 308 Pages!

Jeff Ostrowski · April 14, 2024

IGHTING. At this very hour, our website is fighting for survival. We desperately want to avoid putting it behind a paywall. First of all, such an action would be inconsistent with our mission. It must remain free—as it always has been—because the whole idea is to expose people to authentic sacred music. Furthermore, if you’re trying to access our website by means of your cell phone (or a friend’s computer) being forced to remember your username and password would be seriously annoying. And can you imagine how infuriating it would be to keep track of usernames and passwords for every member of your choir? The financial goal we must reach is explained in this letter from our president made public on Holy Thursday.

Freiburg Cathedral Hymnal • Today, we release yet another rare and awesome hymnal. It’s the organ accompaniment book—308 pages!!!—for the 1961 hymnal produced by MONSIGNOR FRANZ STEMMER (1898-1974), choirmaster at the Cathedral of Freiburg in Baden, Germany. Is this the most comprehensive German hymnal ever produced? Well, it’s certainly in the top five!

*  PDF Download • FREIBURG CATHEDRAL HYMNAL (1961) — 308 Pages
The harmonizations found in Monsignor Stemmer’s hymnal are quite surprising and fascinating. A generous German seminarian gave us this rare hymnal (out-of-print for more than a half a century). More information about this hymnal is provided at the bottom of this article.

Meßgesang (???) • In the past, we’ve spoken at length about the common practice (before Vatican II) of having the congregation sing in the vernacular (!) all through Low Mass, pausing only if there were a homily. Many of us find such an idea strange, so we scanned and uploaded thousands of pages of “supporting documentation” to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt the truth of our assertions. Some congregations sang hymns which had little to do with the Mass. Others sang “paraphrases” of ORDINARIUM MISSAE, including the Creed, proving this practice was not relegated to insignificant feasts. Indeed, the 1961 hymnal published at the Cathedral of Freiburg contains numerous “Meßgesang,” which assign hymns to different parts of the Mass: the GLORIA, the CREED, the AGNUS DEI, and so forth. On page 232, you’ll find a piece assigned for COMMUNION called O heilge Seelenspeise married to INNSBRUCK. That tune is used in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal several times. For instance, below is a ‘live’ recording—by our 100% volunteer choir—taken on Good Friday of 2024. The text is “Crux Fidélis” (from the sixth-century PANGE LINGUA of Bishop Fortunatus):

To access this hymn’s media in the Brébeuf Portal, click here.

Germany Is Impressive • The more I learn about Germany before the Second Vatican Council, the more I’m impressed. The Catholic Faith seems to have been very strong there. Moreover, the amount of splendid hymnals produced is nothing short of miraculous, especially when consider how that country was demolished in World War II. As Monsignor Robert Skeris once said: “The extraordinary speed with which Germany was able to rebuild after WW2 is a testament to the ingenuity and strength of that culture.” Similar to Monsignor Stemmer’s cathedral in Freiburg, our choral program is quite vibrant … even effervescent! Listen to how the VEXILLA REGIS sounds when sung by the female members of our parish choir:

To access this hymn’s media in the Brébeuf Portal, click here.

A Bit Of History (1 of 2) • MONSIGNOR FRANZ STEMMER (1898-1974) began working at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Freiburg circa 1933. Later on, he became the cathedral’s music director. In November of 1944, the cathedral was damaged by the war, making church services impossible for a while. Starting in 1948, Monsignor Franz Stemmer lectured at the newly-founded University of Music in Freiburg, where he met Bertold Hummel. When the time came for Monsignor Stemmer to create his hymnal, which was “published on behalf of the Most Reverend Archbishop of Freiburg,” he selected Hummel as his assistant. Although he was choirmaster at the Cathedral of Our Lady, Monsignor Stemmer and Hummel traveled around Freiburg attending local church services in order to get an idea of the organists’ skill level. As a result, they were better able to design the hymnal for such organists (many of whom were amateurs).

A Bit Of History (2 of 2) • Back in 2015, we obtained an extremely rare book called “Christ the King Hymnal,” published in 1954. The collection was produced by Rev. Aloysius Knauff in Saskatchewan (CANADA), but the lion’s share of work was done by Sister Pauline of St. Clare Convent (CINCINNATI, OHIO), who translated tons of hymns from German into English. Believe it or not, a former Anglican accused me of fabricating (!) this book, because he didn’t recognize any of the hymns. Many hymns in that book are unfamiliar to Americans, since they come from the German patrimony. However, thanks to the book we released today, you can see that many were included by Monsignor Stemmer. Here’s one example (from the book by Father Knauff) that can be found in the hymnal by Monsignor Stemmer:

My Argument • My contention on this blog has been that church music should be a delight—not a horror—to hear during Mass. I was interested to discover that Monsignor Stemmer took pains to make sure his harmonizations were all within the reach of amateurs. A document issued under Pope Pius XII in 1958 (De musica sacra et sacra liturgia) said: “In general it is better to do something well on a small scale than to attempt something elaborate without sufficient resources to do it properly.” I sincerely believe our parish choir—which consists 100% of volunteers from the pews—has proven that even a relatively “simple” piece can sound glorious if sung well:

To access this hymn’s media in the Brébeuf Portal, click here.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles, Featured, PDF Download Tagged With: Father Aloysius Knauff, Low Mass Vernacular Hymns, Monsignor Franz Stemmer Freiburg Last Updated: April 14, 2024

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“In 1848, Franz Liszt attended a performance of Schumann’s 1st Piano Trio, held in his honor in the Schumanns’ home. Liszt arrived two hours late with Wagner (who hadn’t been invited), derided the piece, and spoke ill of the recently deceased Mendelssohn. This upset the Schumanns, and Robert physically assaulted Liszt.”

— Janita Hall-Swadley

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Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

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