Views from the Choir Loft

USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship

New Musical Settings for the Blessing of the Holy Oils

Fr. David Friel · March 24, 2019 ·

The USCCB has provided freely downloadable versions of the musical settings of these newly translated texts.

Society for Catholic Liturgy Conference 2018

Fr. David Friel · July 15, 2018 ·

To be held 27–29 September 2018, the conference will focus on the legacy of Msgr. Romano Guardini.

USCCB Assesses Impact of “Magnum Principium”

Fr. David Friel · December 31, 2017 ·

Seven Observations on Liturgical Translation and the Recent Motu Proprio

Gray Book for Baptism of Children Approved

Fr. David Friel · December 17, 2017 ·

How will the “confirmatio” and “regonitio” processes unfold in light of “Magnum principium”?

Pastoral Care of Persons with Disabilites

Fr. David Friel · July 30, 2017 ·

Catholics with disabilities have a right to participate in the sacraments as fully as other members of the local ecclesial community.

The Rite of Marriage, Second Edition

Fr. David Friel · March 13, 2016 ·

The release date has been set. What will be new in the new Rite of Marriage?

What Will ICEL Do Next?

Fr. David Friel · November 23, 2014 ·

Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth gives details on what ICEL is doing now that the Roman Missal project has been completed.

Parish May Crownings

Fr. David Friel · May 4, 2014 ·

A strong devotional life in the parish church will naturally support and strengthen its liturgical vitality.

Celebrating Parish Weddings

Fr. David Friel · February 9, 2014 ·

New Rubrics for Use of the Gloria

Ministry vs. Edification

Fr. David Friel · January 5, 2014 ·

Do the People “Minister” to their Priests?

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