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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas

Jeff Ostrowski · October 2, 2025

Last Sunday, a children’s choir I’m teaching sang with us for the very first time at Sunday Mass. Females from our main choir sang along with them. If you’re curious to hear how they sounded, you can listen to a ‘live’ recording. That’s an English version of TANTUM ERGO by Saint Thomas Aquinas. That haunting melody is called GAUFESTRE and was employed for this 2-Voice Arrangement of a special hymn for 9 November (“Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome”) which replaces a Sunday this year.

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

Filed Under: President's Corner Last Updated: October 2, 2025

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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

    Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas
    Last Sunday, a children’s choir I’m teaching sang with us for the very first time at Sunday Mass. Females from our main choir sang along with them. If you’re curious to hear how they sounded, you can listen to a ‘live’ recording. That’s an English version of TANTUM ERGO by Saint Thomas Aquinas. That haunting melody is called GAUFESTRE and was employed for this 2-Voice Arrangement of a special hymn for 9 November (“Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome”) which replaces a Sunday this year.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of September (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • Communion (26th Sn. Ord.)
    This coming Sunday, 28 September 2025, is the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). The COMMUNION ANTIPHON with Fauxbourdon verses in honor of William Couture sparkles with beauty. It comes Psalm 118 (the lengthiest psalm) which is an “alphabetical acrostic.” That means each verse begins with the successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Side-By-Side Comparison”
    Pope Urban VIII modified almost all the Church’s ancient hymns in 1632AD. The team responsible for creating the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal spent years comparing the different versions of each hymn: “Urbanite” vs. “pre-Urbanite.” When it comes to the special hymn for the upcoming feast (9 November)—URBS BEATA JERUSALEM—Dr. Adrian Fortescue pointed out that “the people who changed it in the 17th century did not even keep its metre; so the later version cannot be sung to the old, exceedingly beautiful tune.” Monsignor Hugh Thomas Henry (d. 1946), a professor of Gregorian Chant at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary (Overbrook, Philadelphia), wrote: “Of this hymn in particular some think that, whereas it did not suffer as much as some others, yet it lost much of its beauty in the revision; others declare that it was admirably transformed without unduly modifying the sense.” You can use this side-by-side comparison chart to compare both versions. When it comes to its meaning, there’s little significant difference between the two versions: e.g. “name of Christ” vs. “love of Christ.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“If the right is given to African tribes to include their pagan traditions in the liturgy, I think the same should also be given to the rite of a thousand year-old Christian Church, based on a much older Roman tradition.”

— Professor László Dobszay

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