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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Charles Weaver • Article Archive

Charles Weaver is on the faculty of the Juilliard School, and serves as organist and director of music at St. Mary’s Church in Norwalk, Connecticut. His research interests include the history of music theory and the theory of plainchant rhythm. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and four children.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Charles Weaver · March 13, 2023

Rhetoric, Number, Measure, and Historicism

The beginnings of a response to mensuralism from the classic Solesmes point of view.

Charles Weaver · March 7, 2023

Beauty Ever Ancient, Ever New

Every Gregorian melody is a precious gift, and every time we meet a melody again, we have a chance to consider some new aspect.

Charles Weaver · February 27, 2023

An Interview on Mocquereau’s Method

I recently appeared on Square Notes, the Sacred Music Podcast to discuss some of the basics of Dom Mocquereau’s system of Gregorian rhythm. It’s impossible to give a full treatment to such a complex topic in a mere forty minutes, but I touched on a lot of the foundational ideas, with especial emphasis on the […]

Charles Weaver · January 26, 2023

What is the Tonic Accent?

We should define our terms. What makes a syllable accented, and what makes an accent a tonic accent?

Charles Weaver · December 8, 2022

Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “The Limits of History”

There’s nothing necessarily authentic about the “authentic” rhythm.

Charles Weaver · November 26, 2022

Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “On the Nuance Theory of Plainchant”

A brief historical survey of free rhythm in plainchant, as practiced from the modern monastic foundation of Solesmes (1833) to the present.

Charles Weaver · November 16, 2022

Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Disputed Questions” (16 Nov 2022)

A few further thoughts on what ways of singing chant are “allowed.”

Charles Weaver · November 13, 2022

Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Charlie’s First Response to Jeff” (13 Nov 2022)

Ostrowski, wishing to avoid fussiness, may justifiably refuse this invitation. But to argue, as he has, that these signs and the prayerful and aesthetic movements they embody are “illicit” is just wildly off the mark.

Charles Weaver · October 23, 2022

An Upcoming Concert in NYC

Announcing a concert next Saturday in honor of Christ the King.

Charles Weaver · October 9, 2022

The Solesmes Episema and Contemplation

Are we even singing the Solesmes rhythm at all?

Charles Weaver · September 29, 2022

Solmization from the Inside: Part 2

What can medieval and renaissance music pedagogy offer to us now?

Charles Weaver · September 12, 2022

Pre-Reformation Polyphony among the Recusants

What happened to all that polyphony once Catholicism became illegal?

Charles Weaver · August 26, 2022

PDF Download • Mocquereau on Trochee Trouble

This can seem like a dry topic, but it actually often deals with practical issues faced by every choirmaster who wants to promote plainchant.

Charles Weaver · July 23, 2022

Pothier Teaches Us to Sing an Antiphon

A look at Dom Pothier’s performance instructions for a communion antiphon reveals a great deal of complexity in this pre-Mocquereau interpretive approach.

Charles Weaver · May 26, 2022

Summer Courses in Sacred Music in New York

This summer, there are several interesting graduate-level courses on offer at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York.

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Quick Thoughts

    PDF • “For General Use Until Advent”
    If you conduct a volunteer choir, you might consider using this Simple Piece #40273 (“Adésto Sáncta Trínitas”) which can be used during the rest of the liturgical season until Advent. It's based on the well known hymn tune: OLD HUNDREDTH. Rehearsal videos are available at #40691. A live recording of #40273 (“Adésto Sáncta Trínitas”) by a volunteer choir is here (#40065).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • (This Coming Sunday)
    Our volunteer choir appreciates training videos, so here's my attempt at recording “Exáudi Dómine Vocem Meam,” which is the INTROIT for this coming Sunday. This coming Sunday is Dominica Post Ascensionem (“Sunday after the feast of the Ascension”). It is sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Volunteer Choir Attempts “Kýrie Eléison”
    My volunteer choir attempted the polyphonic KYRIE that will be sung at this year's Sacred Music Symposium. If you're interested, you can listen to the live recording from last Sunday. The piece is based on the ancient plainchant hymn melody: Ave Maris Stella. Polyphony like this is truly intricate and wonderful. It reminds me of the quote by Artur Schnabel: “music that's greater than it can be performed.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“We must say it plainly: the Roman rite as we knew it exists no more. It has gone. Some walls of the structure have fallen, others have been altered—we can look at it as a ruin or as the partial foundation of a new building. Think back, if you remember it, to the Latin sung High Mass with Gregorian chant. Compare it with the modern post-Vatican II Mass. It is not only the words, but also the tunes and even certain actions that are different. In fact it is a different liturgy of the Mass.”

— Fr. Joseph Gelineau (1978)

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