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.”
Download my “choir warm-up” at this link. Have your singers pause on different chords. As choirmaster, see if you can identify each seventh chord in real time (and which position it’s in). You can hear my volunteer choir attempting this. You will notice that we still have work to do, because the singers must be […]
“The portable organ shall be lowered into the quire to accompany the singers, who shall sing solos in their order of seniority…” —1604 document
Alonso Lobo (1555-1617) started out as an assistant to Father Guerrero (d. 1599). In the book by Stevenson—which I never grow tired of praising—we find this wonderful excerpt which provides fascinating details vis-à-vis musical performance circa 1600AD. I like how it says that on Easter the prosa “must be the one composed by Morales.”
Installment 4 • “How Has Nobody Done This Before?” (series)
This short piece shimmers with beauty. The arrangement is by Monsignor René Moissenet.
A professor at our conservatory always told us: “An example is worth 1,000 words.”
Fulton J. Sheen told a story about a man who bumped into Abraham Lincoln yelling: “Get out of my way, you big ugly lummox!”
I’ve attempted to create a recording for this coming Sunday according to the official rhythm…
Why do hymns in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal give so many optional “text only” versions of the hymns? It’s easier to demonstrate than explain. Consider Hymn #24, which allows the director to choose a wonderful melody and easily apply it to the text. Hymnal editors knew about the value of “text only” versions […]
Here’s my attempt at recording all the voices myself, to give you a rough idea how it sounds.
In this official document, we find a remarkable statement!
If you enjoy eavesdropping, here’s a rehearsal excerpt (mp3) of my volunteers singing the exercise I posted last week. This is the second time we’ve used it, and I can definitely hear improvement. You can download this choral warm-up for free.
I find this hymn quite beautiful—and singers love it!
Today is the 15th anniversary of “Summorum Pontificum”—and some clerics are choosing coercion where persuasion has failed.
Lyrics in English, with an (optional) version in Latin.
