“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)
A VESPERS ACCOMPANIMENT BOOKLET (20 pages) for this coming Sunday—the 5th Sunday after Easter—can now be downloaded. Those who sing Vespers exactly as given in the ANTIPHONALE ROMANUM will notice that all five psalms for Eastertide are sung according to the exact same tone with the exact same differentiæ. Can someone explain why this is? […]
As of 6 May 2023, anyone who wishes to may download the COMPLETED BOOKLET (330 pages) which was created for participants of Sacred Music Symposium 2023. Those who were accepted to participate in this year’s conference will be presented with their own (hard-copy) printed version of this breathtaking booklet. The faculty this year includes Professor […]
Examples of comments we recently received, from all over the globe: (1) “The Byrd composition your student sung was certainly beautiful. I cannot say how thankful I am for all that CCWATERSHED does in the world of sacred music. The videos, and recorded audios and newsletters are wonderful and beautiful. When you said that […]
Too many priests are ignorant of the glories of authentic sacred music.
To recruit, teach, inspire, and retain volunteer choir members is no easy task!
The current situation is heartbreaking.
As late as 1924, Dom Mocquereau mentioned Dom Desrocquettes “whose beautiful and discreet accompaniments I hear every day at Solesmes.”
Today we release polyphony by two composers: William Byrd and William Fritz.
How dare we—who are so sinful—how dare we receive our Lord?
Sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
My choir will definitely be using these settings. They’re something many have begged for!
A reader wrote to us about the MELCOMBE HYMN ARTICLE (whose official title was: 1950s Catholicism: Do We Want It Back?) with these kind words: “I so wish there was a CD of your choir. The Introit the other day stays with me all day!”
“I have found, to my astonishment, that Catholics…in their principal churches, do not to this day possess even one Mass setting even tolerably good, or which is not actually distasteful and operatic.” —Felix Mendelssohn (1835)
The draft booklet (320 pages) which will—in a gorgeous hard-copy—be given to participants at the Sacred Music Symposium has been released. If you see any typos, please let me know ASAP. Thank you!
I will never forget standing in that green room, waiting to go on stage.
The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!
But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”
We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.
Our president has written the following letter:
President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)
