“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote seventeen Church Sonatas between 1772 and 1780. These are short pieces intended to be played between the Epistle and the Gospel (during Mass). Shortly after Mozart left Salzburg, the Archbishop mandated that an appropriate choral motet or congregational hymn be sung at that point in the liturgy, with the result that […]
“Just visited your website for the first time 5 minutes ago. Was that struck by the beauty of the chant and the immense gift of such a beautiful collection that can be downloaded with ease…at no charge! In awe of the gift of this extensive content and the amount of labor that has gone into […]
Today, we received this wonderful message from a Catholic Priest: I want to say thank you for everything you have done to bring back the sense of the sacred in The liturgy. We are going through a liturgical renewal here in the parish where I was assigned as a parochial vicar. I’ve only been a […]
Let it be known: I have added the Pentecost melody (“Veni Creator Spiritus”) to the Seasonal Benediction website. I am slowly adding all the different melodies for the “O Salutaris Hostia”—so we can be seasonally appropriate during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Regarding the CCW mailing list, a priest (Father E. J.) wrote to us yesterday: “Sometime ago, you wrote something along the lines that none of your emails are copies or merely pitches; each one is individual. I respect you so much for that. I don’t always get to read through them, but they remain in […]
I’ve really been enjoying singing from the Père Daniel Kyriale (126 pages), which is a fabulous little book. I had no idea it would turn out so nicely—incredibly useful, and the printing is super crisp. I noticed something quite strange the other day: Kyrie X (an extremely ancient chant) contains a skip of a seventh. […]
“I am a 25-year-old organist and cantor from the mountains of Northern Colorado. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and your friends for working hard to bring excellent content to your website and my inbox. I have found many, many awesome resources to help me stay faithful to the Church’s stance and […]
A few years ago—during the Sacred Music Symposium—I suggested to the audience that the “Our Father” and the “Alleluia” should be considered part of the Ordinary of the Mass (for the Ordinary Form). In my own settings, such as Mass of the English Martyrs, I treated the “Our Father” accordingly—and here in Los Angeles, we […]
I’m usually a stickler when it comes to making sure priests sing their chants correctly, especially when priests often substitute a Perfect Fourth for the Minor Third in the famous Triple Alleluia on Holy Saturday. But I just found out the 1575AD Missale Romanum has a skip of a Perfect Fifth! So perhaps I need to […]
All of us have probably been the victim of calumny. Calumny can be especially painful if the person telling lies is someone you helped. Next time this happens in your life, try an experiment: Write the person’s name on an Index card, place it on your shoulder, and flick it to the ground—meaning you will […]
Non ille regna cládibus, | Non vi metúque súbdidit: | Alto levátus stípite, | Amóre traxit ómnia.—“It is not by combat or force or fear that Christ subdues nations but lifted up upon the tree, he draws all things to himself by love.” Servat fides connúbia, | Juvénta pubet íntegra, | Pudíca florent límina | […]
Fulton J. Sheen always said the “very best translation” of Sacred Scripture was the version by Monsignor Ronald Knox, and here’s what Knox had for the Passion read today (Pre-1955 Palm Sunday): “And Jesus said to the multitude at that hour, You have come out to my arrest with swords and clubs, as if I […]
I wish we had to time to discuss artwork at the Sacred Music Symposium, but there’s just not enough time. At this year’s conference in June, we will sing an absolutely incredible Magnificat setting by Father Francisco Guerrero (d. 1599). If you examine the part books, you will notice a marvelous aesthetic desire to avoid […]
Father Francisco Guerrero (d. 1599) studied music with Father Cristóbal de Morales circa 1545. He taught himself the organ. On 3 April 1542 he was engaged as a contralto by Seville Cathedral at an annual salary of 12,000 maravedís. He remained there until 1546, when, at the age of only 17, he was invited—on the […]
Choosing music for the Sacred Music Symposium requires careful consideration. We make sure (always) to have great variety. Because the schedule is so full, there’s never sufficient time to discuss the music fully—indeed, we could easily do a month-long seminar on each piece! For example, last year Dr. Calabrese conducted a setting of the Magnificat […]
I would like to share a message from a highly respected scholar. (His articles appear in distinguished journals such as Études grégoriennes and Oxford’s Early Music.) He wrote as follows: The Brébeuf Hymnal is very tastefully done. Your team has exquisite literary and musical taste. I see from my copy of the hymnal that you […]
The world’s experts have been releasing contradictory statements Re: Covid-19. I am neither a doctor nor a scientist, so I won’t comment; but I have something to say about the spine-tingling predictions made by certain politicians. When I was growing up, they told us “within ten years” we would starve due to overpopulation. The next […]
The 2020 Sacred Music Symposium “Official Statement” on Coronavirus has been posted; I encourage everyone to read it. I would like to share some advice: (1) avoid excessive amounts of “cable news” reporting on the pandemic, similar to how we diligently avoid immoral magazines and pornography; (2) let us pray for God’s mercy, and let […]
Father Valentine Young, OFM, always spoke about people incapable of saying “I don’t know.” Such people have an answer for everything—as if saying “I don’t know” would cause them physical pain. That’s how I acted growing up, but I stopped when I reached maturity. Another thing I did as a kid was insist that I […]
Have you noticed how many people these days don’t know what an analogy is? If I say to John Doe, “that’s the pot calling the kettle black,” frequently John Doe will go around telling everybody I called him an ugly pot. It’s quite disturbing. I’ve also noticed that many Americans believe the definition of “possible” […]