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Some musicologists try to make a “splash” by saying that Bach was totally forgotten when he died—remembered only as an organ virtuoso—and that his sons were more famous than he was. Such an idea is indefensible. It is true that musical styles changed in 1750AD—but this is normal. Musical styles change constantly; e.g. much of […]
Arthur Friedheim (d. 1932) has a very poor reputation as a pianist, and Liszt rejected him several times before finally accepting him as a pupil, yet the Liszt recordings he left are quite good—especially considering the transgressions by other Liszt pupils. Friedheim must have been an amazing musician; twice he was asked to become conductor […]
Consilium document (“Instantibus Pluribus”) to presidents of the national liturgical commissions, on norms for translation of the Graduale Simplex, dated 23 January 1968: “The types of chant in the Graduale Simplex may be adapted to the style of music and song typical of individual peoples. But any sort of secular or profane melody is excluded.”
When Polish virtuoso Carl Tausig died in 1871 at the age of thirty, Franz Liszt said to Anton Rubinstein: “Now there are only two of us left in the world.” Liszt had sent Tausig to Richard Wagner, who wrote as follows: You have given me great pleasure with little Tausig. […] He is a terrible […]
The internet is a very strange thing. I have spent hundreds of hours on certain articles—usually about hymn voice leading—and they get virtually no attention. But last night at 3:30AM I posted an image from WW2 from 9 April 1944 (showing a priest saying Mass with soldiers) and it was viewed 10,000 times on the […]
Some erroneously attack the Extraordinary Form by claiming that before Vatican II “priests rushed through Low Mass in less than 20 minutes.” Well, during the pandemic, we have had Mass without the reception of Communion by the Faithful—and it makes duration of Mass surprisingly shorter. On feasts with no GLORIA, no CREED, and no HOMILY, […]
Pope Saint John Paul II said in June of 1980: “To the extent that the new sacred music is to serve the liturgical celebrations of the various churches, it can and must draw from earlier forms—especially from Gregorian chant—a higher inspiration, a uniquely sacred quality, a genuine sense of what is religious.”
The index for the Brébeuf hymnal has beautiful capital letters, and I had previously believed our creation to be unique. However, it seems Fr. Adrian Fortescue beat us. (Deep sigh.) You can see that the index for his book, Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, is quite beautiful, and uses the capital letters I spoke […]
From the 1958 Instruction published under Pope Pius XII: “If the faithful are to communicate, the singing of the Communion antiphon is to begin when the priest distributes Holy Communion. If this Communion antiphon has been taken from some psalm, the other verses of the same psalm may be sung, in which case the antiphon […]
The Sacred Congregation for Rites issued De musica sacra et sacra liturgia (“Instruction on Sacred Music and Sacred Liturgy”) on 3 September 1958. An excerpt: Finally, perfect active participation is achieved when there is also sacramental participation, by which “the faithful who are present communicate not only with spiritual affection, but also in reception of […]
Where do the Latin acclamations come from, which replace the “Alleluia” during Lent? The traditional Divine Office replaces Alleluia with “Laus tibi Domine Rex aeternae gloriae.” Here’s a piece of paper that has all possible Ordinary Form “Lenten acclamations” in Latin.
A reader wrote to us: “I just wanted to send you a message and let you know I REALLY like the compositions on your website. You have a very rich harmonic language in your choral writing. The work you do is so appreciated and important!”
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K.S. in Rochester, New York, wrote to us: “Your website is outstanding. It is a rich mine for information and liturgical music. Glad I found it. I’m a retired former orchestra conductor and church music director and organist. While I’m no longer an active church music director and organist (after 45 years with a variety […]
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