Views from the Choir Loft

Roman Missal Third Edition

The Magnificat Institute of Sacred Music

Fr. David Friel · June 9, 2019 ·

A new undertaking of composer Paul Jernberg

The New Spanish Missal as Opportunity

Fr. David Friel · August 12, 2018 ·

Seizing the Moment to Sing a Truly New Song to the Lord

The Preface of the Holy Cross

Fr. David Friel · March 18, 2018 ·

An eloquent liturgical text worthy of prayerful reflection

Strong with God’s Strength 1

Fr. David Friel · June 29, 2017 ·

Celebrating Saints Peter & Paul

The Hallowed Name 1

Fr. David Friel · January 3, 2017 ·

To Use or Not to Use?

New Collection of Propers from GIA

Fr. David Friel · October 2, 2016 ·

The growing market for Mass propers is a sign of promise.

Repetition in the Roman Missal

Fr. David Friel · February 14, 2016 ·

A Literary Approach in an Adoremus Bulletin Article

The Phrasing of the Sanctus

Fr. David Friel · February 7, 2016 ·

The Difference a Comma Makes

Is the 1998 ICEL Missal Translation Worth Another Look?

Fr. David Friel · June 21, 2015 ·

When reading certain publications, one gets the sense that every Catholic in the world is up-in-arms about the present translation.

The Key for Singing an OF Mass for the EF Musician

Veronica Brandt · May 30, 2015 ·

It’s almost 5 years since the new translation came out, but some EF musicians still haven’t caught up. Here are some pointers for the musician who has been hiding under a musical rock for a decade.

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