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Views from the Choir Loft

“Salve Festa Dies” • SATB Choral Piece By Canon Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953)

Jeff Ostrowski · February 25, 2015

“One may wish that Venantius Fortunatus’ magnificent processional hymn for Easter, Salve festa dies had survived as a sequence. It is really a pity that room for it was not found in some part of the office.” —Fr. Adrian Fortescue|

230 Salve Festa Dies OU DESIRE a contemporary SATB setting of the Salve Festa Dies for Easter? You love the ancient poem by Fortunatus (†609AD) but require English translations for it? You cannot sing all 60+ verses of the entire hymn? No problem!

Try the one by Msgr. Van Nuffel, who died in 1953:

      * *  PDF • Salve Festa Dies (SATB)

The Soprano line holds the traditional chant melody while the other voices provide modern harmonies, with tons of stepwise motion in the bass. 1

UPDATE • A professional recording was made available on 21 March 2015:

    * *  Professional Recording • Salve Festa Dies

In the first verse, the bass section must employ a very light falsetto—otherwise flawless stepwise motion would be impossible. If your basses become perturbed, remind them that contemporary music can be much more demanding than a few falsetto bars!

EXCELLENT LITERAL TRANSLATIONS of the Salve Festa Dies into English can be found here:

      * *  PDF • English Translations

Here’s the Gregorian score as printed in the 2014 CMAA Parish Book of Chant:

      * *  PDF • Score from PBC

Here’s an organ accompaniment to that version:

      * *  PDF • Organ Accompaniment

Here are six (6) more versions of the Salve Festa Dies:

      * *  PDF • Six (6) versions of the Salve Festa Dies

An ancient manuscript with many more verses—transcribed by Dreves & Blume here and here—can be viewed:

      * *  PDF • Ancient Manuscript with additional verses

The NOH version uses a melodic variant of the Salve Festa Dies:

      * *  PDF • Organ Accompaniment with a different melody

Here’s what Dom Guéranger has to say about the Salve Festa Dies:

      * *  PDF • Guéranger speaks of the poem by Fortunatus

790 San Gall SALVE FESTA DIES



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   In 2004, when I first showed the NOH accompaniments by Flor Peeters & Jules Van Nuffel to Fr. Robert Ferguson, FSSP—who is a magnificent organist—he couldn’t get over the walking bass lines. He thought they were absolutely splendid. When I passed by his Oklahoma rectory a few days after our meeting, he opened his door and called out across a field: “Jeff, I still can’t get over that beautiful stepwise motion in the bass!” And he was right!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Salve Festa Dies English Translation Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —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

“Worse, composers are now setting the introits of the missal [instead of the Graduale] to music, even to chant, though these texts were explicitly for spoken recitation only.”

— ‘Dr. William Mahrt (Fall, 2015)’

Recent Posts

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