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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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…

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Quick Thoughts

23 May 2022 • FEEDBACK

From a reader: “I wasn’t looking for it. But, I stumbled across your hand-dandy arrangement of Pachelbel’s Canon. Jeff, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread! I had to play a wedding on Saturday. The bride requested the Canon. There were 11 bridesmaids! The organ loft is a football field away from the communion rail. It’s so difficult to play and keep checking the mirror. Your arrangement is absolutely genius. One can skip and choose which variations to use. The chord names are handy so that when my eyes are off the music, I always know where I am at. A thousand times thank you for sharing this arrangement!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
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 sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“To treat harmony and rhythm in this matter was a difficult matter. Facing numerous problems both large and small—that arose constantly—we understood that a flawless harmonization of Gregorian chant cannot be created by improvisation, no matter the competence and ability of the organist or harmonist.”

— ‘Mons. Jules Van Nuffel, NOH Preface’

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