• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Palestrina “O Crux Ave” • Practice Videos

Jeff Ostrowski · February 3, 2015

371 Manuscript Vexilla ICHARD NIXON was not the only president of the United States. Reagan, Lincoln, Kennedy, and many others cannot be forgotten. Nixon was but a small part of the presidential legacy. Similarly, many choirs wrongly treat Palestrina’s “O Crux Ave” as if it were its own entity. In fact, it’s only one section of Palestrina’s setting of the Vexilla Regis hymn. Failure to grasp this is a grave error.

It is not possible to appreciate Palestrina’s setting without being familiar with the Gregorian version. Please take a minute to become familiar with the melody, by means of this video, this Mp3, or even this organ piece which uses themes from Vexilla. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to listen to what Palestrina did with the sixth verse (placing the Vexilla melody in the Soprano):

      * *  PDF Download • O Crux Ave (Palestrina)

      * *  Mp3 Recording • O Crux Ave (Palestrina)


Here are some practice recordings to help your choir learn:

SOPRANO VIDEO   •   Mp3

ALTO VIDEO   •   Mp3

TENOR VIDEO   •   Mp3

BASS VIDEO   •   Mp3

WE WILL SOON POST more sections from this hymn as set by Palestrina. Some of you know I transcribed all four volumes of Carl Proske’s “Musica Divina” collection in 2002. When I discovered this beautiful setting by Palestrina—all the parts, not just the O CRUX AVE—I was so impressed. I never had a chance to teach this piece to a choir until this year! If you view the original version as found in Proske, you will see why I felt the need to transcribe it!

Fun Fact :

If you look carefully at the version in the Liber Usualis, you’ll see that they broke a neume. I’ve only ever seen one other instance where a neume is broken. Normally, hypermetric syllables are elided (although some choirs will add a note). This is not a “Solesmes thing” because the 1953 Schwann version does same thing. The 1940s NOH seems unaware of this. I cannot really tell what the 1892 Pustet version does. The 1891 Antiphonale by Pothier does not appear to indicate that the neume should be broken. The 14th-century German manuscript in the upper right indicates that their singers had difficulties here, so somebody “wrote out” the notes in the margin—truly fascinating!

370 Vexilla


Notice the 1896 Graduel romain à l’usage de la province écclésiastique de Québec does the same thing:

89373 vexilla arbor decora 1896 Graduel romain


Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Vexilla Regis Prodeunt Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

To end an impropriety, noticed particularly at orchestral Vespers, when two or three Psalms are sung with full orchestra, and then the other Psalms and the Hymn are rapidly hurried through with organ accompaniment only […] we order that at Mass all portions of the text, including “Agnus Dei,” be sung with orchestral accompaniment. […] Moreover, the musicians are not allowed to put the instruments away and leave their places before the conclusion of the sacred function.

— Cardinal Patrizi (18 November 1856)

Recent Posts

  • “Go!” • The Word That Changed My Life Forever
  • Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
  • At the Cross • Stabat Mater
  • Summer Ward Method Courses • CUA 2023
  • PDF Download • Vespers Organ Accomp. Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent) — 24 pages

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.