Views from the Choir Loft

Articles

Olivier Latry: Recital in Dallas This Sunday

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · February 18, 2020 ·

I am thrilled that my parish, St. Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, TX, will host Mr. Latry this Sunday evening for an extraordinary concert of French music.

Magnificent Photograph! • Fr. Valentine With His Mother

Jeff Ostrowski · February 18, 2020 ·

He loved his mother dearly; photo circa 1956.

Choral Scholarships at Christendom College

Veronica Moreno · February 17, 2020 ·

Christendom College offers up to $4500 in tuition reduction and free voice lessons for students starting in the Fall of 2020.

Imposing the Classical Style on Public Building Projects?

Fr. David Friel · February 17, 2020 ·

A rumored executive order would unify the architectural style of future projects and upgrades.

New Work from Paul Jernberg

Fr. David Friel · February 16, 2020 ·

The composer has begun a new and worthwhile blogging project.

Incredible Opportunity In Kansas City

Lucas Tappan · February 12, 2020 ·

Educators who seek to shape students in both wisdom and virtue, and who share the belief that music and aesthetics play an integral part in the content of a Catholic liberal arts education should apply.

Big News! • Symposium Dates Revealed

Jeff Ostrowski · February 11, 2020 ·

Woo Hoo! The preëminent conference for Church musicians announces dates for its fifth year!

Septuagesima Gradual • Strange Formation on Clivis

Jeff Ostrowski · February 11, 2020 ·

Is there a “jail” for people who change the official edition of Gregorian Chant?

Youth Choristers – Formation Beyond Singing

Patrick Torsell · February 10, 2020 ·

If we want young people to help restore and promote sacred music, we must get beyond the “what” and the “how” and dig in to the “why.”

To Breathe or Not To Breathe

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · February 8, 2020 ·

Our choirs should not sound mechanical. Beautiful music its waiting to be discovered.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

The representative Protestant collection, entitled “Hymns, Ancient and Modern”—in substance a compromise between the various sections of conflicting religious thought in the Establishment—is a typical instance. That collection is indebted to Catholic writers for a large fractional part of its contents. If the hymns be estimated which are taken from Catholic sources, directly or imitatively, the greater and more valuable part of its contents owes its origin to the Church.

— Orby Shipley (1884)