Views from the Choir Loft

Bottega • Aurelio Porfiri

Aurelio Porfiri · June 23, 2014 ·

URELIO PORFIRI OFFERS INSPIRATION to all who work with him. His attitude and gifts have taught me a lot and I owe him a great debt of gratitude. It is a great privilege to know and work with him.” — Colin Mawby (Westminster)

English

St. Augustine Mass • “Lord, Have Mercy” : 6166 (organist) • 6165 (vocalist) • (youtube)

St. Augustine Mass • “Holy, Holy, Holy” : 6164 (organist) • 6163 (vocalist) • (youtube)

St. Augustine Mass • “Lamb of God” : 6168 (organist) • 6167 (vocalist) • (youtube)

There’s A Wideness In God’s Mercy (Faber) : 6162 (organist) • 6161 (vocalist)

The Praises Of My Tongue (Watts) : 6160 (organist)

Hail Mary : 6170 (organist) • 6169 (vocalist)

Pentatonic Mass • “Glory To God” : 6157 (organist) • 6156 (vocalist)

Communion Antiphon (9th Sunday in Ordinary Time) : 6153 (organist) • 6152 (vocalist)

Gospel Acclamation for the Feast of Saint Francis : 5901 (organist)

English Responsorial Psalms

Rejoice In the Lord (Ps. 97) : 6116 (organist) • 6117 (vocalist)

Here Am I, Lord (Ps. 40) : 6159 (organist)

The Lord Is My Shepherd (Ps. 23) : 6155 (organist)

Have Mercy On Us, O Lord (Ps. 50) : 6158 (organist)

Italian

Presentation of the Gifts (1st Sunday of Advent) : 6142 (organist/cantor)

Introit (1st Sunday of Advent) : 6141 (organist) • 6140 (cantor)

6139 A te il regno

6138 A Te, Signore

6137 Angelo di Dio

6136 Ave Maria

6135 Io gioisco pienamente Magnificat

6134 Risuoni la mia bocca

Latin

Bone Pastor Panis Vere (From the Lauda Sion) : 6151 (SATB)

O Salutaris Hostia : 6115 (organist/vocalist)

Quid Retribuam Domino : 6114 (organist & vocal parts)

About Aurelio Porfiri

Renowned as composer, conductor, theorist, author, pedagogue, and organist, Aurelio Porfiri has served the Church on multiple continents at the highest levels. Born and raised in Italy, he currently serves as Director of Choral Activities and Composer in Residence for Santa Rosa de Lima School (Macao, China).

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

“Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another… It teaches that all are to be tolerated, for all are matters of opinion. Revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste; not an objective fact, not miraculous; and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy. […] Men may go to Protestant Churches and to Catholic, may get good from both and belong to neither.”

— Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman (May of 1879)