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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

“Imagine You’re Out of Rehearsal Time but Desperately Need a Hymn for Advent…”

Corrinne May · November 19, 2024

NE OF THE FIRST JOBS I took on after graduating from the Berklee College of Music in Boston and moving out west to Los Angeles involved teaching children at a music school. On that very first lesson, I sang them the ‘Alphabet Song’ and then sang them ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. Then I just played the melody on the piano and asked them to guess which song I was playing. Some shouted ‘Twinkle Twinkle!’ others yelled ‘Alphabet Song’. After a couple of rounds of ‘Guess which song?’ I asked them if they realized they were singing the same melody and that the only difference in those two songs was that the lyrics had changed. Their little eyes gleamed and their jaws dropped in that childlike way when kids realise that they just level-upped without any effort.1

Practical Crossover • That’s what it is like to sing with a common melody approach. This approach has helped me many times with my volunteer ensemble, the IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CHOIR in Singapore. It means that we can learn one melody—with all the harmonies for SATB—and as the liturgical year continues I can use that same melody but choose a different hymn lyric to fit the liturgical season.

How This Works: “First Example”

The following hymn (‘Solemn Hymn To The Son Of God’) is in 77 77 metre and was written by Father Dominic Popplewell, FSSP. It’s an excellent hymn that can be used throughout the year:

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

Crisis Averted! • Now imagine you’ve run out of rehearsal time but desperately need a hymn for the upcoming 1st Sunday of Advent: a hymn that your choir can sing with familiarity and with harmonies in SATB. Voila! Check out this hymn that is perfect for Advent.

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

News From Michigan • I see that my colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, has started a volunteer choir at his new position in Michigan. Yesterday, he posted a ‘live’ recording with lyrics—different from either of those mentioned above—using the same ‘shared tune’ I’ve been focusing on. It’s an English translation of Die Parente Temporum, and it looks like he’s made good progress in just a few months:

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

How This Works: “More Examples”

Or perhaps you need a hymn to commemorate the Holy Name of Jesus. Here is one you can turn to. All you need to do is just to change its lyrics to the melody I spoke of (see above). You can cut down on rehearsal time because your choir already knows this hymn and all the harmonies that go along with it. Besides, your choir members will love being able to learn their individual voice part with the free rehearsal videos that accompany this hymn, and you can save the time that you would have taken to rehearse those voice parts. Use that extra time to read a wonderful book like ‘The Spirit of the Liturgy’ by Pope Benedict XVI. The Brébeuf Hymnal also makes it easy for me to look up countless other options for hymn melodies. If I didn’t want this particular melody for the lyrics that I chose, I can always turn to the Brébeuf metrical index. Look for 77 77 and go through many other options for other tunes: ORIENTIS PARTIBUS; LLANFAIR; CULBACH; and so forth. (If the common melody approach is new to you, it’s best to initially begin with options written out in the Brébeuf Hymnal.) Here’s one for Easter with English translation by Robert Campbell of Skerrington, the same man who translated from Latin CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM (the hymn that we first looked at #194). With all these choices, it’s often hard to know which hymn to choose. Thank goodness there’s always the next liturgical season!

Personal Note • I should probably mention that I had such fun recording the vocals for the rehearsal videos of Hymn #194. I sang Soprano and Alto for the individual rehearsal videos.

1 Speaking of the ALPHABET SONG, did you know the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal features a very special hymn wherein the author of the lyric wrote each new stanza beginning with a new alphabet? Every verse of the ABECEDARIUS by Sedulius (who lived in the 5th century) starts with a successive letter of the alphabet.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Common Hymn Melodies Last Updated: November 19, 2024

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About Corrinne May

Corrinne May is one of Singapore’s most celebrated singer-songwriters. She is also a wife and homeschooling mother.—(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —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

“If you begin by telling a man that in a word like ‘Deus’ the first syllable corresponds to the weak beat, the second to the strong beat of a modern bar, the one thing that will succeed in accomplishing is to bewilder him thoroughly.”

— Father Heinrich Bewerunge writing to Dame Laurentia

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