Magnificent Photograph! • Fr. Valentine With His Mother
He loved his mother dearly; photo circa 1956.
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Protected: « Sundays after Pentecost »
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Big News! • Symposium Dates Revealed
Woo Hoo! The preëminent conference for Church musicians announces dates for its fifth year!
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Septuagesima Gradual • Strange Formation on Clivis
Is there a “jail” for people who change the official edition of Gregorian Chant?
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“I’m hanging on every word.”—Catholic Organist Group
My friend, Richard J. Clark, sent me a screenshot from the “Catholic Organist Group.”
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When Choirs Prefer A “Real Voice” To Midi
Only an insane person would post this publicly—but I “fit the bill”…so here goes!
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Short But Superb Film • “Westminster Choir Boys”
The resignation of Martin Baker was quite a shock to the Catholic world.
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PDF Download • “What Makes A Good Hymn?”
Dr. Terry says: “The melody must be clearly defined, free from triviality and trite clichés, avoiding harmonies that are sugary or sensuous.”
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Protected: 3rd edition • Saint Edmund Campion Missal
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PDF Download • “Ave Maris Stella” (Organ Accompaniment)
The 2nd part has blank staves, so you can compose your own harmonies!
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Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?
“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at […]
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Julius Bas Accompaniment
A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here: * JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem It seems quite lazy, and I’ve […]
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Hitting wrong notes
Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was […]
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Silence
Saint Peter (II Peter 3:16) says the writings of Saint Paul are extremely difficult to understand—and I Corinthians 14:34-35 seems an example. But I have something else to say about silence in church: it depends upon the time of day. I have responsibility over four (4) Masses each Sunday, and there are “levels” of silence. […]
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PDF Booklet • Feast of the Purification (2 February)
Better late than never, right?
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