Views from the Choir Loft

Veronica Brandt • Article Archive

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. As editor, she has produced fine publications (as well as valuable reprints) dealing with Gregorian chant, hymnody, Latin, and other subjects. These publications are distinguished on account of their tastefulness. She lives in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her husband Peter and six children.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Veronica Brandt · August 31, 2013

Making time

Time, time, said old King Tut, is something I have nothing but.

Veronica Brandt · August 24, 2013

What not to do on GitHub

Read my mistakes to save yourself the trouble.

Veronica Brandt · August 17, 2013

A hymn for St Mary of the Cross

A beautiful hymn from Rev Fr Popplewell FSSP from Canberra, Australia.

Veronica Brandt · August 10, 2013

The Living Parish Hymn Book

Clearing up a mystery of childhood memories for certain Australians.

Veronica Brandt · August 3, 2013

What’s so good about growing up?

“I have the best job in the world, I get to see people grow.” from a nurse looking after young families.

Veronica Brandt · July 27, 2013

Comprehensive Conversation on Veils

An interior talk about why woman cover their heads at Mass.

Veronica Brandt · July 20, 2013

Here I owned Thy Presence

Owning up to the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Do hymns help?

Veronica Brandt · July 13, 2013

What’s new with the age old chant?

Gregorio has a wiki and ideas on typing up semiology.

Veronica Brandt · July 6, 2013

At home it doesn’t have to be perfect

Singing from the Liturgy of the Hours at home is beautiful treasure to share with your family.

Veronica Brandt · June 29, 2013

Of Singers and Drawers

Can’t sing, can’t draw, can type a little.

Veronica Brandt · June 22, 2013

Ut Queant Laxis time soon!

The hymn that gave us “Do Re, Mi” and how to type it. PDF score included.

Veronica Brandt · June 16, 2013

Try Illuminare Score Editor

Yet another training video, this time simpler than ever.

Veronica Brandt · June 15, 2013

Restoring Catholic Music in the Home

… one week at a time. Some families are keen to teach their children good hymns, but don’t know where to start.

Veronica Brandt · June 10, 2013

Setting propers to psalm tones with gregorio

Another training video showing another easy way to use gregorio online – this time while holding a 4 month old baby girl!

Veronica Brandt · June 8, 2013

GABC Transcription Tools

Computers making life easier for once. No, really!

Music List • (2nd Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday—1 March 2026—the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Year A). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are available at the flourishing feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Particularly Beautiful

The 2nd Sunday of Lent has magnificent propers. Its INTROIT is particularly striking—using a haunting tonality—but the COMMUNION with fauxbourdon verses is also quite remarkable. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Which Mass?

In 1905, when the Vatican Commission on Gregorian Chant began publishing the EDITIO VATICANA—still the Church’s official edition— they assigned different Masses to different types of feasts. However, they were careful to add a note (which began with the words “Qualislibet cantus hujus Ordinarii…”) making clear “chants from one Mass may be used together with those from others.” Sadly, I sometimes worked for TLM priests who weren’t fluent in Latin. As a result, they stubbornly insisted Mass settings were ‘assigned’ to different feasts and seasons (which is false). To understand the great variety, one should examine the 1904 KYRIALE of Dr. Peter Wagner. One should also look through Dom Mocquereau’s Liber Usualis (1904), in which the Masses are all mixed up. For instance, Gloria II in his book ended up being moved to the ‘ad libitum’ appendix in the EDITIO VATICANA.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Extreme Unction

Those who search Google for “CCCC MS 079” will discover high resolution images of a medieval Pontificale (“Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079”). One of the pages contains this absolutely gorgeous depiction of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

PDF Chart • “Plainsong Rhythm”

I will go to my grave without understanding the lack of curiosity so many people have about the rhythmic modifications made by Dom André Mocquereau. For example, how can someone examine this single sheet comparison chart and at a minimum not be curious about the differences? Dom Mocquereau basically creates a LONG-SHORT LONG-SHORT rhythmic pattern—in spite of enormous and overwhelming manuscript evidence to the contrary. That’s why some scholars referred to his method as “Neo-Mensuralist” or “Neo-Mensuralism.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “O Come All Ye Faithful” (Simplified)

I admire the harmonization of “Adeste Fideles” by David Willcocks (d. 2015), who served as director of the Royal College of Music (London, England). In 2025, I was challenged to create a simplified arrangement for organists incapable of playing the authentic version at tempo. The result was this simplified keyboard arrangement (PDF download) based on the David Willcocks version of “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Feel free to play through it and let me know what you think.

—Jeff Ostrowski