Views from the Choir Loft

Robert Cardinal Sarah

New Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

Fr. David Friel · March 4, 2018 ·

Invoking Mater Ecclesiae in a new annual feast

Silence in the Liturgy

Fr. David Friel · June 18, 2017 ·

Thoughts from Pope Benedict XVI, Msgr. Guido Marini, and the GIRM

Conference Updates

Fr. David Friel · January 29, 2017 ·

Dunwoodie Chant Conference & Sacra Liturgia Milano

Bishop of Manchester • Letter Re: “Ad Orientem”

Jeff Ostrowski · December 5, 2016 ·

A $12,000 reward will be given to anyone who can produce a Vatican II document mentioning “celebration facing the people.”

Cardinal Sarah Visits The Monastery of Solesmes

Corpus Christi Watershed · November 23, 2016 ·

If you read French, you’ll understand these homilies.

Cardinal Sarah’s Missing Paragraph…

Jeff Ostrowski · October 3, 2016 ·

This article includes live recordings from a conference (“Society for Catholic Liturgy”) in Los Angeles.

“Ad Orientem” • Why I’m Rejoicing over Sloppy Errors in the Catholic Herald

Jeff Ostrowski · August 23, 2016 ·

His assertion that “smoking out enemies” is best done by appointing them to high positions in the Vatican is absurd.

“Ad Orientem” and Granovetter’s Threshold Models of Collective Behavior

Richard J. Clark · August 5, 2016 ·

The people deserve to know the truth. It is time for ignorance to end so that the faithful may develop informed opinions.

Does Your Bishop Enforce The GIRM?

Jeff Ostrowski · August 1, 2016 ·

They will assume—and why shouldn’t they?—that “approved by the USCCB” applies to the hymns and songs…

Showdown in Arkansas over “Ad Orientem”

Jeff Ostrowski · July 17, 2016 ·

The Bishop of Little Rock has sent a letter (14 July 2016) forbidding his priests to celebrate Mass “ad orientem.”

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