• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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.”

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
    • Jeff’s Mom Joins Fundraiser
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Feasts Website
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
Views from the Choir Loft

Wilfrid Jones • Article Archive

Wilfrid Jones in a PhD student in the theology faculty of the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, studying the theology and practice of sacred music. He studied music at New College, Oxford; theology and the University of Birmingham; and education at Hughes Hall and Sidney Sussex Colleges, Cambridge. He teaches at St Bede's Inter-Church School, Cambridge.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Wilfrid Jones · September 6, 2020

Music as a Technology of the Soul

When you ask how a computer works, what you’re really asking is how people use it. That’s a good starting point for understanding how liturgical music works, but just as a computer trains its user to work in a particular way, liturgical music trains us to pray in particular ways.

Wilfrid Jones · July 1, 2020

Sing Praises with Understanding: A Scriptural Approach to Musical Participation

As churches prepare to return from lockdown, what about music in the liturgy makes it essential? In the next essay in his series encouraging liturgical musicians to consider what their vocation entails, Wilfrid Jones shares his thoughts on the nature of active participation.

Wilfrid Jones · May 15, 2020

Post-Pandemic Liturgy

Some very brief comments on the lessons we might learn during this pandemic for the future of liturgical music.

Wilfrid Jones · May 2, 2020

Unveiling the songs of hope: fr Timothy Radcliffe op

One of the most significant thinkers in the Church today shares his thoughts on, and experiences of, music as a source of hope in the darkest of times. When we face death, we respond in song.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Wilfrid Jones · April 24, 2020

“Hearing the Music of Heaven” • An interview with Father Dominic White OP

An interview with the Dominican composer and theologian Fr Dominic White about his work and theological approach to music.

Wilfrid Jones · April 22, 2020

Easter Chants from Fisher House

A recording of the chants of the Easter Vigil.

Wilfrid Jones · March 31, 2020

Repeating Repertoire? • Wilfrid Jones

Post-Liberal Theology compares a religion to a language. How might that comparison, which could include the concept of a “vocabulary” of liturgical music, inform how we think about repeating repertoire?

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Wilfrid Jones · March 1, 2020

“It’s not just the singing of certain notes”

A video and quote from our friends at the Monastère Saint Benoît.

Wilfrid Jones · February 20, 2020

Beyond performing and listening

The way we do music says a lot about how we see ourselves and our relationship to those around us. What does that say about music in the liturgy?

Wilfrid Jones · January 11, 2020

Stepping off the hamster wheel

We can be so caught up in the cycle of planning, delivering and marking lessons, that we never have time to step back and consider the bigger picture in a way that would improve how we do our jobs.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Wilfrid Jones · January 11, 2013

Biography • Wilfrid Jones

Wilfrid Jones went on to a choral scholarship at New College, Oxford, where he read music before completing masters degrees in theology at the University of Birmingham and in education at the University of Cambridge…

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 5 October 2025, which is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). 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 conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin. Readers will want to check out the ENTRANCE CHANT posted there, which has a haunting melody (in the DEUTERUS MODE) and extremely powerful text.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceedingly swift and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat.”

— ‘Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, noted lawyer from Lisbon and chairman of the Bar Association (1917)’

Recent Posts

  • “Three Reasons To Shun Bad Hymns” • Daniel B. Marshall
  • “Puzzling Comment” • By A Respected FSSP Priest
  • New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
  • “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
  • “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.