Xopheros

Ending a minor hymn with a major chord
@Liam wrote: "Open fifths are underrated." Open fifths are also a survival technique in continuo playing when you do not know whether the instrumentalist or singer responsible for the third (if there is one) in the final chord alterates i…

Comment by Xopheros 4:48PM permalink
July 2026: the Extraordinary Music Workshop in Kraków
The announcement mentions "contemporary Dominican Polyphony". Do you have an example for this style? I have only found this radio/video interview which -oddly- does not provide a single example of "Dominican Polyphony".

Comment by Xopheros December 13 permalink
HYMN OF THE MONTH – December: Silent Night
@Liam we would not be singing Away in a Manger. The reason?--it was composed by Martin Luther This is particularly ironic as neither the lyrics nor the melody are by Luther. What seems to have been merely a marketing gimmick to give a false "hi…

Comment by Xopheros December 1 permalink
HYMN OF THE MONTH – December: Silent Night
Thanks for the very interesting translation survey. From the samples listed in your blog, it seems that most translators only translated stanzas 1,2 & 6 and omitted the other stanzas (as modern German hymn books doo, too). Did you also create a …

Comment by Xopheros November 30 permalink
USCCB Double Standard on Psalm Paraphrases?
You may copy or set to music (which is a "derived work" in copyright lingo) psalm paraphrases without permission only if they are in the public domain. I doubt that any of the praphrases sold by GIA or OCP are in the public domain. That me…

Comment by Xopheros November 24 permalink
Condensed NOH organist files for Tablet : on franciskoerber.com
What is "NOH"? A file format?

Comment by Xopheros November 22 permalink
Legal Letters from the USCCB
@ServiamScores Latin is problematic in many ways and as a lingua franca it is a particular problematic choice because it is so complicated that even after many years of learning it at school it is difficult to freely formulate a sentence that is gra…

Comment by Xopheros November 19 permalink
Legal Letters from the USCCB
Things can be quite simple when no bishops are involved and no licensing entity that operates as a self-financing profit center. The translations into the international language Esperanto have been directly approved by the Vatican for worldwide use…

Comment by Xopheros November 19 permalink
Choralis Constantinus - Communios
If the chant is too high for the tenors, why don't the altos sing it?

Comment by Xopheros November 17 permalink
Roman Canon, notated in Latin
From a deceased friend, we have an old Missale Romanum from 1958. Due to its age, it is obviously no longer licit, but I can send you a photo of the "Praefatio solemnis communis", so that you can use it as a starting point and adapt it to …

Comment by Xopheros November 8 permalink
Texts and Music for Mass Ordinaries and Psalms
Your first point of mixing Latin with other languages makes perfect sense, and I use it myself occasionally in order to make the music self-explanatory. Not every parish has the resources to provide worship aids (and some will find them distracting …

Comment by Xopheros November 6 permalink
Early Sanctus
@GerardH As the link posted by the original poster is stalled, can you please provide more info about this piece? From which source is it? Is it an anonymous piece found in a historic document or is it a modern piece? I guess that the missing text i…

Comment by Xopheros October 19 permalink
Children's Polyphony for the Feast of Christ the King
Here is a setting of Fairest Lord Jesus, both for SATB and alternatively for SSA. Note that there are two melodies for this text: In the US, the better known one is from the 19th century with a tranlaltion by Seitz, whereas in Germany only the (IMO…

Comment by Xopheros October 13 permalink
Adoration Music for Teens
Taizé songs are very appealing to teens. One reason over here in Europe for this is that many travel to Taizé for a week with their (catholic & protestant) religion course at school and are typically quite enthusiastic about the experience. Most…

Comment by Xopheros October 10 permalink
Music for Adoration
I agree with @a_f_hawkins that Taizé stuff is perfectly suited for this. Concerning the repetitiveness, this actually serves the purpose of contemplative prayer. Moreover, many Taizé pieces have sections where the congregation hums a chord and a sol…

Comment by Xopheros October 4 permalink
ISO Accompaniment - Ordinarium III
What does "ISO" stand for? Usually it stands for the "International Standards Organisation". Did they publish a standard for chord symbols?

Comment by Xopheros October 4 permalink
Advent Prose; Rorate Caeli in English for singing
The Advent Prose "Rorate caeli" is a fascinating piece because it is a 17th century combination of gregorian chant imitation with contemporary madrigalisms ("caeli", "cecidimus", "dolor"). Unfortunately, the t…

Comment by Xopheros October 1 permalink
Sacred Christmas works for SATB and Orchestra
@diminuendoduck Baroque works would be great but we do have the modern instrument problem. Professional recordings nowadays use period instruments and specialist musicians playing them, but, for reasons of availability and pricing, lay performances …

Comment by Xopheros September 28 permalink
Sacred Christmas works for SATB and Orchestra
Are you only four soloists or do you also have an SATB choir? Most baroque music can also be sung with one per part, but with modern instruments this would be problematic. If you have a choir, too, obvious suggestions are the Christmas section from…

Comment by Xopheros September 21 permalink
Are you a composer with a link for your music? Post it here!
Sorry for contributing to this thread with some delay, but I wanted to include a link to the video with my English Magnificat a5, which took some time to be finished. Many of my pieces are in styles of earlier periods, or "period composing"…

Comment by Xopheros September 20 permalink
SSA, SAA, or SA Music for Latin restricted parish with no budget
You can also search CPDL (provided it is up and running again) by voicing or other criteria. This is a bit tricky and AFAIK undocumented. The multi-category search does not offer to specify voicings, but you can enter the following in the ordinary s…

Comment by Xopheros September 17 permalink
What do you do to fine tune your composition craftsmanship?
I find the videos on the YT channel Early Music Sources both entertaining and instructive for composers interested in the styles of earlier periods. Now and then I could get some inspiration therefrom. Here are some examples: On the Cadenza DoppiaO…

Comment by Xopheros September 8 permalink
Are you a composer with a link for your music? Post it here!
@Noctcaelador The Ave Maria on basis of the Kapsberger Toccata is a brillant idea. Incidentally, I play the theorbo and occasionally use it for my sacred music. If you eventually find a theorbo player for the accompaniment, (s)he might find the ori…

Comment by Xopheros August 31 permalink
Antiphonale Romanum (2009) question
FWIW: In North America (and possibly other countries) there are fair use copyright laws that allow people to copy and small portions of copyrighted material. In Germany (and other countries) citations are allowed for the sake of discussing the cite…

Comment by Xopheros August 23 permalink
Electric vs Acoustic Piano
A benefit of an electric keyboard is that it can simulate other instruments than a piano, like, e.g., harpsichord or harp. It can be thus also be used as a workaround for accompanying instruments in trio sonatas or for vocal music with harp. It rema…

Comment by Xopheros August 22 permalink
Christmas duets for Soprano/Alto
If it is not too presumptuous to suggest one's own settings, here are two suggestions: The ST version of "There comes a galley laden" also fits for AT when sung one tone or a minor third higherIf you do not mind for something weird, …

Comment by Xopheros August 20 permalink
Christmas & Advent Songs for Limited Rehearsal Time?
An advent song that all (and not only) kids love is "Maria durch ein Dornwald ging". Although the first extant source is from the 19th century, it apparently goes back to the medieval tradition of "Leisen". I do not know, though,…

Comment by Xopheros August 20 permalink
English Polyphonic Mass
@GerardH "the only English translation which may be used in the Roman liturgy is the one by ICEL" Apart from the problem of a restrictive (non-)permission to set it to music discussed in other threads, I have had a look at the ICEL Gloria…

Comment by Xopheros August 17 permalink
The Licensing of the Revised grail Psalter
According to the official document found by @chonak, setting an English liturgical text to music requires a) review and approval by the Secretariat of the USCCB (appendix IV.4, p. 43) b) for a text license the negotiation of "a contract with th…

Comment by Xopheros July 29 permalink
English Polyphonic Mass
@Francisco_Carbonell It seems to me that this can be considered "vernacular" only in Greece. Or did you make an English text underlay, too?

Comment by Xopheros July 18 permalink

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Username: Xopheros
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