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Views from the Choir Loft

“Proper Of The Mass” (Ignatius Press) • Part 5 of 7

Andrew Leung · April 21, 2015

CTL Sameul Weber HIS PAST SUNDAY, my schola chanted the Introit from The Proper of the Mass for Sundays and Solemnities and it was absolutely beautiful. This collection of antiphons makes the sung Propers available to people with different levels of musical abilities. What a great contribution Fr. Samuel Weber has made to modern Church Music!

As artists, we have special appreciation for the beauty: beautiful music, works of art, architecture and of course, liturgical books. This is a hard-covered book with a simple, but nice, design on the cover. The book has about one thousand pages including a guide on reading chant notation. All the antiphons are printed very clearly and the prints are slightly bigger than the ones in the Graduale Romanum. Musicians are naturally attracted to beautiful things; and a beautiful chant book encourages singers to make use of the book.

It is very important to have beautiful liturgical books. The beauty of the books will draw people into the content of the book. It is more likely that people get interested in a nice book than missalettes with cheap paper and poor artwork. It is also more likely that singers would want to read from a chant book with clear printing than from a binder with hand-written scores.

That brings up another question: Is it better to have a hard copy of the book than a soft copy? I would say YES! It is true that technology allows us to bring many books with us on a phone, iPad, etc. However, there are also a lot of other data, games or messages on these electronic devices and they can distract us and take away the sacredness of the music. Reading from a hard copy of the book also avoid problems like “low battery”, “frozen screen”, and other technological errors.

This article is part of a series on Fr. Weber’s Book of Propers:

Part 1 • Andrew Motyka

Part 2 • Richard Clark

Part 3 • Veronica Brandt

Part 4 • Fr. David Friel

Part 5 • Andrew Leung

Part 6 • Dr. Lucas Tappan

Part 7 • Jeff Ostrowski

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Propers Ignatius Press by Fr Samuel Weber Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I have, on the other hand, retained several more or less traditional tunes, absolutely valueless and without merit from a musical point of view, but which seem to have become a necessity if a book is to appeal—as I hope this one will—to the varied needs of various churches.”

— A. Edmonds Tozer (1905)

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  • Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦

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