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Corpus Christi Watershed

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Views from the Choir Loft

Archbishop Alexander K Sample

Fr. David Friel · March 10, 2019

Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast

Dedicated to exploring the teaching and vision of the Church on the topic of liturgical music

Richard J. Clark · January 25, 2019

Just Released! • 2019 Pastoral Letter on Sacred Music (Archbishop Sample)

“Every pastor and music director has a serious responsibility to read and become familiar with the ‘Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy…” —Archbishop Sample

Fr. David Friel · November 18, 2018

Portland Publishes an “Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook”

New publication from Archbishop Sample’s Office of Divine Worship

Jeff Ostrowski · April 29, 2018

Yesterday’s Solemn Mass Was An Inflection Point

Consider three (3) clerics who took part in this Solemn Mass at the National Shrine

Andrew Leung · September 28, 2017

Video • All Priests Should Learn Traditional Latin Mass

An interview with Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon.

Fr. David Friel · April 12, 2015

Sacra Liturgia USA 2015

An International Conference on Liturgical Formation in Light of the New Evangelization

Gwyneth Holston · June 23, 2014

Archbishop Sample’s Letter On Sacred Music (8 of 8)

Eagerly awaiting a Pastoral Letter on Sacred Art in Divine Worship.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Fr. David Friel · June 22, 2014

Archbishop Sample’s Letter On Sacred Music (7 of 8)

May the Archbishop’s reflections & exhortations bear fruit in practical renewal!

Richard J. Clark · June 20, 2014

Archbishop Sample’s Letter on Sacred Music (5 of 8)

The biggest problem in Roman Catholic liturgical music is the prevailing misunderstanding of its very purpose.

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · June 19, 2014

Archbishop Sample’s Letter On Sacred Music (4 of 8)

“Everything in God’s good creation is hierarchically ordered, and the virtue of each part is to belong to the whole in the right way…”

Andrew R. Motyka · June 18, 2014

Archbishop Sample’s Letter On Sacred Music (3 of 8)

We need to avoid profanity “not only in itself, but in the manner in which it is presented by those who execute it.”

Aurelio Porfiri · June 17, 2014

Archbishop Sample’s Letter On Sacred Music (2 of 8)

Most bishops will talk about everything from global warming to the latest cure for cholesterol, but they leave the issue of liturgical music to priests who think that saving people means dying with them…

Jeff Ostrowski · June 16, 2014

Archbishop Sample’s Letter On Sacred Music (1 of 8)

We’ve teamed up to create an 8-part series on Archbishop Sample’s momentous 2013 letter. Today, Jeff Ostrowski introduces the series.

Corpus Christi Watershed · June 8, 2013

Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop of Portland

“The GLORIA of the Mass set to a Polka beat or in the style of rock music is not sacred music.” — Most Reverend Alexander Sample, Archbishop of Portland

Aristotle A. Esguerra · February 18, 2013

First Impressions of Bishop Sample’s Pastoral Letter on Sacred Music

A bishop issues diocesan-wide directives on the role of music in the liturgy. A look at some of the more noteworthy instructions.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

Far from dreading an encounter with the Iroquois, Fr. Garnier often told us he would be quite content to fall into their hands and remain their prisoner if—while they were torturing him—he at least had a chance of instructing them as long as his torments lasted. If they allowed him to live, it would afford him a golden opportunity to work for their conversion, which was now impossible, since the gateway to their country was closed as long as they were our enemies.

— Father Ragueneau (Jesuit Relations)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday

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Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

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