“Playing the Pipe Organ” • By Richard Nixon
Does the music of Franz Liszt belong to Adolf Hitler?
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16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?
This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that […]
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Worst Chanting I’ve Ever Heard
The Supreme Court has been in the news lately.
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14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition
As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!
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14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book
If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.
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“Big Reveal” by the Symposium Committee
We are so pleased to welcome this priest!
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“Yes or No?” • Thoughts On Singing The Creed
If his choir sounds terrible, why would you trust his advice?
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Sound Familiar?
1 June 1579: “The chapter passes a rule that anyone ascending to the new organ without official permission shall be fined a month’s pay.” 26 October 1579: “The altar boys remain always separate and distinct from choirboys—the one group learning only plainchant and assisting at the altar, the other living with the chapel-master and studying […]
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A “Dirty” Word (For Musicians)
Around the year 1955, “transcription” became a dirty word.
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Choirs Love This Piece!
Back in 2001, I created an arrangement of “O Filii Et Filiae” based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel. You can access free rehearsal videos at #5909. Choirs absolutely love singing this piece. You can hear my volunteer choir singing a live recording.
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Choir Directors • “Is It Worth The Struggle?”
The choir director’s vocation is chock-full of difficulties.
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{ Next Year! } • Somber Kyrie Settings For Lent
Corpus Christi Watershed has provided rehearsal videos to assist choir members who do not read music well.
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Holy Thursday Introit • “Pure” Vaticana
Many people wonder what Cantus Gregorianus sounds like when sung according to the “official rhythm.” You can hear the Introit for Maundy Thursday sung that way—i.e. according to the “pure” Editio Vaticana—if you click here. Technically, this is the only interpretation allowed by the Church; cf. the letter of Cardinal Martinelli (18 February 1910).
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Kevin Allen’s “Dómine Convértere” Sung At Saint Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City)
The Vatican’s choir sounds beautiful these days—no longer is it “the scandal of Christendom.”
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“Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended?”
A wonderful passiontide hymn is #692 in the Brébeuf hymnal. It works especially well for Communion. Here is a live recording from last Sunday, sung by the fabulous female singers in my volunteer parish choir.
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