Views from the Choir Loft

Passing on Tradition

Dunwoodie Sponsors New Sacred Music Conference

Fr. David Friel · September 23, 2016 ·

“Gregorian Chant in Pastoral Ministry and Religious Education” — March 10 & 11, 2017

Priestly Musical Formation in a Low Mass Culture

Fr. David Friel · July 24, 2016 ·

Reflections from Dr. Jennifer Donelson at Sacra Liturgia UK

Regina Chesterton Academy

Fr. David Friel · May 1, 2016 ·

A Classical Education Track for Catholic High School Students

Parish Lenten Programs • 15 Suggestions

Fr. David Friel · March 6, 2016 ·

Simply adhering to the liturgical traditions of the Church would be a wonderful Lenten program for every parish.

An Extraordinary Event: NCYC 2015

Fr. David Friel · November 23, 2015 ·

Traditional Mass offered at National Catholic Youth Conference

The Church of Our Savior

Fr. David Friel · July 27, 2015 ·

And the Case of the Vanishing Icons

In Memoriam: Dr. Lucy E. Carroll, DMA

Fr. David Friel · June 28, 2015 ·

Lucy was a friend and mentor to me, and I would like to share with you a little bit of her story.

The Future of the Pipe Organ

Fr. David Friel · March 15, 2015 ·

“The manifold possibilities of the organ remind us of the immensity and the magnificence of God.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

Revitalizing Our Missionary Spirit

Fr. David Friel · October 19, 2014 ·

Celebrating Saint Isaac Jogues & Companions

The “Children’s Liturgy of the Word”

Fr. David Friel · July 13, 2014 ·

Are We Past This Yet?

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