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Views from the Choir Loft

Richard J. Clark • Article Archive

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He is also Chapel Organist (Saint Mary’s Chapel) at Boston College. His compositions have been performed worldwide.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Richard J. Clark · May 17, 2013

What Is a “Performance” in Liturgy?

Seminarian Ryan G. Duns, writes, “…it’s not about me putting on a show, about making something happen. My Jesuit training and my musical training converge: I think I’ll be my best when I am noticed least, when I can get out of the way so that those who approach the Lord’s Table are treated, not to a dose of Duns, but to an encounter with the Risen One…”

Richard J. Clark · May 10, 2013

English Setting of Pentecost Sequence | Free Download

VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS, the Sequence for Pentecost Sunday is one of the great jewels of the Roman Rite. The text alone is a treasure—short, simple, profound, and transcendent.

Richard J. Clark · May 3, 2013

Adversity Builds Strength

Church musicians carry “battle scars” of the profession. We can all tell “war stories.” But Thomas à Kempis writes in “The Imitation of Christ,” “…the measure of every man’s virtue is best revealed in time of adversity—adversity that does not weaken a man but rather shows what he is.”

Richard J. Clark · April 26, 2013

So, Who Is the “Leader of Song” Anyway?

Is the cantor the “leader of song”? It may be surprising that there are a few answers to this question, but it leads towards one ideal.

Richard J. Clark · April 19, 2013

Hope and Prayer in this Valley of Tears

In Boston we send up our sighs, our mourning, and our weeping in this valley of tears. Great suffering compels us to move towards Christ, and Christ in turn embraces us lovingly in his comforting embrace. Therefore, the sacred liturgy is essential at the time, more than ever.

Richard J. Clark · April 15, 2013

Not a movie. This was real.

This attack happened within my parish. St. Cecilia Parish in the Back Bay section of Boston, is around the block from the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Several historic churches literally surround the finish line. So where is God in all of this?

Richard J. Clark · April 12, 2013

Does Having Children Make Us Better at Our Jobs?

Working for the Church is often not conducive to family life. But, in my children, I found God. Children have helped me focus on what and who is important.

Richard J. Clark · April 5, 2013

Say the Black. Do the Red—with Love.

The road to the ideal must travel through the hearts and minds of real flesh and blood. If in our ministry we are not teaching love, then we have failed.

Richard J. Clark · March 31, 2013

The Power of Gregorian Chant

A crowd of nearly 1,000 people, many who don’t come to mass, many who may not prefer Gregorian Chant, many who know nothing about chant—fell silent.

Richard J. Clark · March 29, 2013

Suffering, Death, and Children’s Questions

“Why the Cross?” Little children are rarely afraid to ask the questions that adults are afraid to ask.

Richard J. Clark · March 22, 2013

A Personal Encounter with Pope Francis

While speaking to his secretary, the Holy Father came down the hall and I greeted him with the traditional kissing of his ring, and we spoke for a little over a minute.

Richard J. Clark · March 20, 2013

Free Communion Propers for the Easter Season, Year C

Free download of Communion Propers for the Easter Season, Year C

Richard J. Clark · March 17, 2013

Mourning Pope Benedict XVI and Trusting the Holy Spirit

The Church’s vast treasury of sacred music belongs to the people! This is the truth that will bear out.

Richard J. Clark · March 15, 2013

Reflections from St. Peter’s Square

Fr. Jonathan Gaspar, Priest Secretary to His Eminence Seán Cardinal O’Malley, shares his heartfelt reflections from St. Peter’s Square on the historic day of March 13, 2013.

Richard J. Clark · March 1, 2013

From Ashes to the Living Font

Sometimes we do our best work while in exile. Today, the Chair of Peter lies empty. This Lent, we will certainly end up in a different place than where we started. Hopefully, we will be transformed individually and as a Church.

Richard J. Clark · February 22, 2013

Exodus and the Chair of Saint Peter

In his book “The Spirit of the Liturgy,” Pope Benedict reminds us that Israel’s flight from Egypt had two distinct goals. One was to reach the Promised Land. But the second is perhaps far more important: Exodus 7:16 “Let my people go, that they may serve me.”

Richard J. Clark · February 15, 2013

A Proposed Lenten Fast for Musicians

Christ’s love has gathered us into one. True, we may be united in the love of Christ—but not necessarily in other things. Our differences may be vast. This is where the bounds of love and Christian charity are truly tested.

Richard J. Clark · February 8, 2013

Mardi Gras and Burying the Alleluia

The “Alleluia” was literally buried in the cemetery, leaving the people with the hope and anticipation of its Easter Sunday resurrection.

Richard J. Clark · January 25, 2013

Full and Active Preparation – ora et labora

For the sacred musician, full and active participation not only includes mindfulness during mass . . .

Richard J. Clark · January 23, 2013

A Simple SSA Offering

A beautiful model of the evangelization we must do in our churches and faith communities

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

There is a lack of that kind of organization which favors mature judgment. Move on, move on, get it out. Schemata are multiplied without ever arriving at a considered form. The system of discussion is bad … Often the schemata arrive just before the discussions. Sometimes, and in important matters, such as the new anaphoras, the schema was distributed the evening before the discussion was to take place … Father Bugnini has only one interest: press ahead and finish.

— Cardinal Antonelli (Peritus during the Second Vatican Council)

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