• 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
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • 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
  • 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

Important Resources for Liturgical Reform (7 of 7)

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · August 14, 2014

CAN REMEMBER CLEARLY the challenges of being a choir director in the “old days”―by which phrase I refer not to the time before the Council, but to a period as recent as the 1990s. Photocopies of printed music, faint and askew from repeated copying, had to suffice for polyphony; for Latin chant, one might be fortunate to find a used copy of the Liber Usualis; for English chant, the resources were nearly non-existent―one might try to toss off an alleluia verse on a psalm tone, but you couldn’t sing the whole Mass that way.

And then, gradually at first, but with increasing momentum, the first decade of the new millennium brought a host of resources right to our fingertips. The vast and wonderful Choral Public Domain Library emerged for polyphony, and Corpus Christi Watershed launched a new era of free, collaborative, and recognizably sacred music for the vernacular liturgy (such as the Chabanel Psalms). Hymnals notable for doctrinal soundness and traditional aesthetics made a welcome appearance, such as the Adoremus Hymnal, the St. Michael Hymnal, and the Vatican II Hymnal. The Liber Usualis and the Graduale Romanum were made available online, along with a host of other Latin chant books, with the CMAA reprinting many titles as affordable paperbacks; and best of all (from a certain vantage point), English plainchant finally began to come into its own, as Adam Bartlett’s Simple English Propers forged a path forward, Fr. Columba Kelly’s and Fr. Samuel Weber’s elegant settings found a broad audience by means of the internet, and the Third Edition of the Roman Missal appeared, featuring a great emphasis on chanted Mass parts. The floodgates were opened. Catholic musicians finally had a choice among high-quality musical resources for both the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form.

WHO COULD HAVE ANTICIPATED such a Renaissance of music-making in the desert of postmodernity? Yet this was but the first wave, and now we are enjoying a second wave, as various major initiatives for singing the sacred liturgy are being launched: one thinks of the Lumen Christi series, Fr. Weber’s Proper of the Mass, the Ignatius Pew Missal, and the broader agenda of liturgical renewal embodied in the twin books of Corpus Christi Watershed, the St. Edmund Campion Missal & Hymnal and the St. Isaac Jogues Illuminated Missal, Lectionary, and Gradual with its eventual companion hymnal. Such books are establishing the new gold standard for Catholic church music. They make the preparation of music for the liturgy a far more simple, peaceful, prayerful, and satisfying job for the director or singer, because they draw upon the intrinsic structure and strengths of the Roman Rite itself, rather than the endless subjectivity of playing to imaginary audiences. At last we can build up a coherent music program with a consistent approach that takes its bearings from the liturgy, its nature and its inherent requirements. The result is that we can introduce more and more people to the riches of the Church’s public prayer, suitably adorned with the music that belongs to it or is compatible with it.

UT I KNOW THAT I AM ALSO supposed to be giving practical advice in this concluding piece of our series, and this I will do somewhat briefly, as my fellow bloggers have already covered quite a bit of ground in the past week. And besides, all the resources mentioned above come with my endorsement!

While there are so many excellent resources out there to recommend, one book that never leaves my side in the choir loft―regardless of which form of the Roman Rite I am leading music for―is Richard Rice’s Communio. We all know that communion time on Sundays and Holy Days can often take quite some time, that the faithful are seldom in the mood to carry around a hymnal to sing from, that they appreciate a bit of time to meditate after receiving our Lord, and that, consequently, something quietly meditative suits the moment far better than something boisterous, attention-getting, and excessively invasive. The Communio book contains all the Latin plainchant communion antiphons for Sundays and Holy Days, along with the assigned Psalm verses that may be sung, in an alternating fashion (antiphon – verse – antiphon – verse, repeated ad libitum). It suits the liturgical action of the communion procession better than anything else, as we might expect from a repertoire that was created for just such a purpose. Rice has also prepared an edition that, retaining the Latin antiphons, gives the Psalm verses in English. There are times when, or places where, it would seem better to use this edition.

MY OWN LOVE OF THE CHURCH’S liturgy and my immersion in the great sacred music tradition has inspired me to compose many choral works over the past 25 years, striving always to follow the artistic ideals and principles given us by the Church herself. After much hard work selecting, revising, and editing, I published in January 2014 a comprehensive collection of my compositions, under the title Sacred Choral Works, available either in paperback or spiral bound. If you are a choir director, someone involved in repertoire selection, or simply a lover of contemporary choral music, do check out this 236-page volume of Mass settings, motets (including Eucharistic and Marian motets), hymns, carols, antiphons, acclamations, and three complete settings of the Good Friday Reproaches. Most of the pieces are scored for SATB choir, but several are for three equal voices (SSA/SAA or TTB/TBB) or SAB choir. Both Latin and English are well represented; the lengths run from pithy refrains to extended multi-verse pieces; the level of difficulty varies from extremely easy to quite challenging. If I may borrow a phrase from Fr. Weber, my hope is that it has “something for everyone.”

Matthew Curtis of ChoralTracks has recorded nearly every piece, in a manner extremely well suited for reviewing the options and reducing the learning curve for singers; these studio recordings are available on three compact discs. For more information―including the book’s preface and table of contents, several tracks from the CDs, and details on ordering―please visit my composer page.


7-part series:   “Important Resources for Liturgical Reform”

FIRST PART • Richard Clark

SECOND PART • Veronica Brandt

THIRD PART • Fr. David Friel

FOURTH PART • Jeff Ostrowski

FIFTH PART • Jon Naples

SIXTH PART • Andrew Motyka

SEVENTH PART • Peter Kwasniewski

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music.

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Comparison Chart • “Serious Problems with the Lectionary Translation”
    EARS BEFORE truly revolutionary changes were introduced by the post-conciliar reformers, Evelyn Waugh wrote (on 16 August 1964) to John Cardinal Heenan: “I think that a vociferous minority has imposed itself on the hierarchy and made them believe that a popular demand existed where there was in fact not even a preference.” We ask the kind reader— indeed, we beg you—to realize that those of us born in the 1940s and 1950s had no cognizance of Roman activities during the 1960s and 1970s. We were concerned with making sure we had the day’s bus fare, graduating from high school, taking care of our siblings, learning a trade, getting a job, courting a spouse. We questioned neither the nuns nor the Church.1 Do not believe for one instant any of us were following the liturgical machinations of Cardinal Lercaro or Father Bugnini in real time. Setting The Stage • To never question or resist Church authorities is praiseworthy. On the other hand, when a scandalous situation persists for decades, it must be brought into focus. Our series will do precisely that as we discuss the Lectionary Scandal from a variety of angles. We don’t do this to attack the Catholic Church. Our goal is bringing to light what’s been going on, so it can be fixed once and for all. Our subject is extremely knotty and difficult to navigate. Its complexity helps explain why the situation has persisted for such a long time.2 But if we immediately get “into the weeds” we’ll lose our audience. Therefore, it seems better to jump right in. So today, we’ll explore the legality of selling these texts. A Word On Copyright • Suppose Susie modifies a paragraph by Edgar Allan Poe. That doesn’t mean ipso facto she can assert copyright on it. If Susie takes a picture of a Corvette and uses Photoshop to color the tires blue, that doesn’t mean she henceforth “owns” all Corvettes in America. But when it comes to Responsorial Psalm translations, certain parties have been asserting copyright over them, selling them for a profit, and bullying publishers vis-à-vis hymnals and missals. Increasingly, Catholics are asking whether these translations are truly under copyright—because they are identical (or substantially identical) to other translations.3 Example After Example • Our series will provide copious examples supporting our claims. Sometimes we’ll rely on the readership for assistance, because—as we’ve stressed—our subject’s history couldn’t be more convoluted. There are countless manuscripts (in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin) we don’t have access to, so it would be foolish for us to claim that our observations are somehow the ‘final word’ on anything. Nevertheless, we demand accountability. Catholics in the pews are the ones who paid for all this. We demand to know who specifically made these decisions (which impact every English-speaking Catholic) and why specifically certain decisions were made. The Responsorial Psalms used in America are—broadly speaking—stolen from the hard work of others. In particular, they borrowed heavily from Father Cuthbert Lattey’s 1939 PSALTER TRANSLATION:
    *  PDF Download • COMPARISON CHART —We thank the CCW staff for technical assistance with this graph.
    Analysis • Although certain parties have been selling (!!!) that translation for decades, the chart demonstrates it’s not a candidate for copyright since it “borrows” or “steals” or “rearranges” so much material from other translations, especially the 1939 translation by Father Cuthbert Lattey. What this means in layman’s terms is that individuals have been selling a translation under false pretenses, a translation they don’t own (although they claim to). To make RESTITUTION, all that money will have to be returned. A few years ago, the head of ICEL gave a public speech in which he said they give some of “their” profits to the poor. While almsgiving is a good thing, it cannot justify theft. Our Constant Theme • Our series will be held together by one thread, which will be repeated constantly: “Who was responsible?” Since 1970, the conduct of those who made a profit by selling these sacred texts has been repugnant. Favoritism was shown toward certain entities—and we will document that with written proof. It is absolutely essential going forward that the faithful be told who is making these decisions. Moreover, vague justifications can no longer be accepted. If we’re told they are “making the translations better,” we must demand to know what specifically they’re doing and what specific criteria they’re following. Stay Tuned • If you’re wondering whether we’ll address the forthcoming (allegedly) Lectionary and the so-called ABBEY PSALMS AND CANTICLES, have no fear. We’ll have much to say about both. Please stay tuned. We believe this will end up being the longest series of articles ever submitted to Corpus Christi Watershed. To be continued. ROBERT O’NEILL Former associate of Monsignor Francis “Frank” P. Schmitt at Boys Town in Nebraska JAMES ARNOLD Formerly associated w/ King’s College, Cambridge A convert to the Catholic Church, and distant relative of J. H. Arnold MARIA B. Currently serves as a musician in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. Those aware of the situation in her diocese won’t be surprised she chose to withhold her last name.
    1 Even if we’d been able to obtain Roman journals such as NOTITIAE, none of them contained English translations. But such an idea would never have occurred to a high school student or a college student growing up in the 1960s. 2 A number of shell corporations claim to own the various biblical translations mandated for Roman Catholics. They’ve made millions of dollars selling (!) these indulgenced texts. If time permits, we hope to enumerate these various shell corporations and explain: which texts they claim to own; how much they bring in each year; who runs them; and so forth. It would also be good to explore the morality of selling these indulgenced texts for a profit. Furthermore, for the last fifty years these organizations have employed several tactics to manipulate and bully others. If time permits, we will expose those tactics (including written examples). Some of us—who have been working on this problem for three decades—have amassed written documentation we’ll be sharing that demonstrates behavior at best “shady” and at worst criminal. 3 Again, we are not yet examining the morality of selling (!) indulgenced texts to Catholics mandated to use those same translations.
    —Guest Author
    “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 July 2025). 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 the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
    All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The banality and vulgarity of the [ICEL] translations which have ousted the sonorous Latin and little Greek are of a supermarket quality which is quite unacceptable.”

— Sir Alec Guinness (1985)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Comparison Chart • “Serious Problems with the Lectionary Translation”
  • “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Flor Peeters In A Weird Mood?
  • Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
  • Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser

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.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up