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):
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:
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:
