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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

Dr. Charles Weaver • Article Archive

Dr. 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).

Dr. Charles Weaver · October 24, 2021

PDF Download • Commemorating Dr. Fayrfax

A massively underrated composer died 500 years ago today.

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Dr. Charles Weaver · May 25, 2021

A Summer Course in Old Notation

Announcing an opportunity for graduate-level summer study in sacred music.

Dr. Charles Weaver · March 7, 2021

Two Recent Talks on the Liturgy

Two of our authors offer thoughts about the meaning of the liturgy within the context of our daily lives.

Dr. Charles Weaver · February 24, 2021

Solmization from the Inside

What if we take medieval music pedagogy seriously? Do its methods have anything to offer us today?

Dr. Charles Weaver · January 31, 2021

A Lesson in Chant from the Late Fr. Foster

My personal encounter with him left a strong impression, which I will share here.

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Dr. Charles Weaver · October 10, 2020

“Arranging Polyphony for One Voice” • (Live Rec.)

When faced with restrictions on the size of the choir, history suggests that we can adapt music for smaller groups, including groups with only one singer.

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Dr. Charles Weaver · September 2, 2020

(Installment #4) “Catholic Hymnals” • Charles Weaver

On how tunes change over time, with a reflection on the sacred duty of hymn editors.

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Dr. Charles Weaver · August 20, 2020

Biography • Charles Weaver

Charles Weaver is on the faculty of the Juilliard School…

Dr. Charles Weaver · August 11, 2020

“Plainchant in Two Parts” • (Guest Article by a Julliard Faculty Member)

Polyphonic settings from a thirteenth-century Italian convent teach us how we might add a second part to a piece of plainchant.

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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
    Prex • Particularly Powerful
    The Third Edition of the SAINT EDMUND CAMPION MISSAL contains a Latin-English translation for the ‘old’ Holy Week published by Monsignor Ronald Knox in 1950. His version is utterly splendid, and it’s astonishing it was totally forgotten for 70+ years. I find his translation of a prayer from Palm Sunday (Deus qui dispérsa cóngregas) particularly powerful: “O God, who dost mend what is shattered, and what thou hast mended, ever dost preserve, thou didst bless the chance comers who met Jesus with branches in their hands. Bless these branches too, of palm or olive, which we take up obediently in honour of thy name; rest they where they will, let them carry thy blessing to all who dwell there. All harm thence banish, and let thy power defend us, in proof that thy Son, Jesus Christ, has redeemed us…”
    —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

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

“Even after 1600 A.D.—despite major changes in musical taste—the compositions of Father Cristóbal de Morales were reprinted at Venice. Indeed, and as late as 1619 A.D. one Venetian publisher found his magnificats still in sufficient demand to make a profitable commercial venture out of issuing a new transcribed version for equal voices.”

— Dr. Robert Murrell Stevenson (d. 2012)

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