Views from the Choir Loft

Basic Steps To Improve Parish Music

Aurelio Porfiri · July 22, 2014

Basic Steps To Improve Music At Your Parish — Part 7

Guided by this one principle, every parish: “will become a model in its own way, and the liturgical reform, in its essence and demands, will be happily fulfilled.” — Aurelio Porfiri

Fr. David Friel · July 20, 2014

Basic Steps To Improve Music At Your Parish — Part 5

Silence is one of the most important sounds of the liturgy.

Jeff Ostrowski · July 20, 2014

Basic Steps To Improve Music At Your Parish — Part 6

You will not make progress at your parish unless you understand Pope Benedict’s “Unbelievably Big Kite” theory.

Veronica Brandt · July 19, 2014

Basic Steps To Improve Music At Your Parish — Part 4

Importing singers is the quickest way to get good music into your parish, even if it is only for one occasion.

Richard J. Clark · July 18, 2014

Basic Steps To Improve Music At Your Parish — Part 3

Turn off the microphones. This can be a challenge when many parishes and even some cathedrals are enamored of carpeting – to say nothing of seat cushions!

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · July 17, 2014

Basic Steps To Improve Music At Your Parish — Part 2

I have been asked to recommend some ways in which any parish in the United States could improve the music used at Mass. Some parishes may already have taken the following two steps, in which case my advice will be nugatory for them, but if your parish has not yet done so, now’s the time to begin.

Andrew R. Motyka · July 16, 2014

Basic Steps To Improve Music At Your Parish — Part 1

Simple steps to start moving from the “average” Catholic music program to a more reverent liturgy.

“Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music Director Job • $80,000 per year

Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Pope Pius XII Hymnal?

Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Hybrid” Chant Notation?

Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

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