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You’re probably thinking: “Jeff, if you think Father Rossini’s narrow-mindedness was bad, get ready for a rude awakening when you see what we’re up against in 2023.”
Years ago, I struggled with being a “people pleaser.” (That means saying whatever will please the person standing in front of you.)
I find this melody hauntingly gorgeous.
Certainly the most beautiful capital “Q” I’ve ever seen!
Including an “added bonus” I discovered while researching Julius Bas (an Italian musicologist and organist).
If we truly believe what we say we believe, how can we allow goofy, off-Broadway, secular, casual music at Mass?
As late as 1924, Dom Mocquereau mentioned Dom Desrocquettes “whose beautiful and discreet accompaniments I hear every day at Solesmes.”
Today we release polyphony by two composers: William Byrd and William Fritz.
My choir will definitely be using these settings. They’re something many have begged for!
Including a haunting hymn by Flor Peeters for Eastertide.
Plainsong sung poorly—in a sluggish, lifeless manner—can leave a bad taste in people’s mouths.
If we feel compelled to condemn these changes, let’s at least spend time learning what they are!
Conscientious choirmasters know it’s crucial to get “as much bang for your buck” as possible.
“In nothing are English Catholics so poor as in vernacular hymns. The real badness of most of our popular hymns (endeared, unfortunately, to the people by association) surpasses anything that could otherwise be imagined.” —Father Fortescue
“If you begin by telling a man that in a word like 𝐷𝑒𝑢𝑠 the first syllable corresponds to the weak beat, the second to the strong beat of a modern bar, the only thing accomplished will be to bewilder him thoroughly.” —Father Bewerunge
