Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast

Join us as we talk about the interaction between music notation and memory, and the impact of that interaction on the spiritual lives of singers of Gregorian chant. Our guest is Dr. Anna Maria Busse Berger, Distinguished Professor of Music, emeritus, from UCDavis, and we dive into some of the topics from the first few chapters of her book, Medieval Music and the Art of Memory. Find out more about Dr. Busse Berger here: https://arts.ucdavis.edu/faculty-profile/anna-maria-busse-berger Buy Dr. Busse Berger's book here: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520314276/medieval-music-and-the-art-of-memory Learn more about the graduate coursework in sacred music at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/

Join us as we dive into the role that bells have played throughout the history of Christianity in warding off evil and storms, signaling significant temporal and spiritual moments, and the consecration of bells in the Pontificale Romanum. Learn about the manufacturing process and the engineering behind getting bells to sound beautiful, and discover how you might support the casting and hanging of new bells in your own church tower. Our guests are Fr. Christopher Gray of St. Mary of the Assumption in Park City, Utah, and Carl Scott Zimmerman, a campanologist and author at the extremely helpful website towerbells.org. Learn more about the Church's teachings on sacred music, and how to put them into practice, through the offerings of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music. Sign up for an email list to stay up-to-date on our website: http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/

Join the editor of Adoremus Bulletin, Christopher Carstens, and Dr. Donelson-Nowicka as they chat about answers to some liturgical-musical questions: Can we use the organ or other instruments during Lent? During Advent? Where should the choir be placed in a church? Is there a list of songs that are (or are not) permitted? Can paraphrased psalms be used at Mass? Should cantors be vested? To go deeper in your study of the sacred liturgy and its music, check out our summer 2024 graduate classes or the upcoming online fall and spring 2024–2025 graduate course offerings of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music: http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/.

What are 3 great warm-ups you'll be able to fit into your busy parish choir rehearsal schedule? What are 3 motets that most choirs don't do, but that are definitely worth learning? What are 3 polyphonic Mass Ordinaries my choir should learn? Prof. Christopher Berry, an adjunct professor of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music answers these questions, and we chat about the answers in a preview of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music's Choral Institute.  To learn more about the July 22–26 graduate-level Choral Institute and the audition requirements, visit http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/.

Get ready for Holy Week with an episode about Tenebrae. Frequent author for Magnificat and The Wanderer, as well as multiple books available through Ignatius Press, James Monti, joins us to discuss the structure of Tenebrae, the historical origins of the particular practices surrounding Tenebrae, and the profound meaning in the Lamentations of Jeremiah.  Learn more about the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music: http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/.

Budget crunch at your parish? Limited funding for your planned children's program? Join us for a discussion about fundraising strategies that are workable, easily manageable, and make it possible for you to build an amazing sacred music program. We also discuss models for a multi-parish children's sacred music program. Our guest is Dr. Lucas Tappan, the founder and president of the Catholic Academy of Sacred Music, founder and director of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Schola Cantorum, and the Director of Liturgy and Music for Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Topeka, Kansas. Find out more about Dr. Tappan's work here: https://catholicacademyofsacredmusic.org/ Learn more about the "Teaching Gregorian Chant to Children" graduate course this summer, which prepares teachers to teach using the first level of the Ward Method of music instruction, by clicking here: http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/.

Join us as Dr. Mahrt explains the liturgical practices surrounding the Lady Mass, especially in medieval Salisbury Cathedral. We discuss the texts of the propers of Marian votive Masses as well as the tropes and chants of the Mass ordinary that developed from the daily Lady Mass. Dr. William Mahrt is a professor at Stanford University and serves on the faculty of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music. He is the president of the Church Music Association of America and the editor of its journal, Sacred Music. Learn more about the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music and its summer graduate program here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/  Be sure especially to check out the class Dr. Mahrt is teaching July 15 to 19, 2024 on the Proper Chants of the Mass. 

What were the earliest language layers of the Roman rite, and how do we know? What is the relationship between liturgical language and everyday speech? When did the Roman rite switch from Greek to Latin? Find out the answers to these questions and more. Our guest is Fr. Nicholas Schneider, who holds a doctorate in sacred liturgy from the Atheneo St. Anselmo in Rome, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music. He currently teaches as a Montessori guide for upper elementary students at Christ the King Catholic Montessori School in Mandan, ND. Learn more about the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music and its summer classes here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/

Join us as we discuss the expectations musicians and priests should have in working together, and some best practices for working out all the practical details. Our guest is Prof. Michael Olbash, director of sacred music at the Boston seminaries of St. John Seminary and Pope John XXIII Seminary. Learn more about the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music: http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/

As he works on finishing up his biography of French Catholic organist, improviser, and composer Charles Tournemire, Kevin Faulkner joins us to discuss Tournemire's studies with Franck, his career as an organist, his improvisations, a look at his overall compositional output, focusing on works for the organ, and how his monumental composition L'Orgue Mystique fits into the sung Mass.  To learn more about L'Orgue Mystique, check out the collection of essays entitled Mystic Modern: https://shop.musicasacra.com/product/mystic-modern-the-music-thought-and-legacy-of-charles-tournemire-eds-donelson-schloesser/ To learn more about the Organ Improvisation Seminar as part of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music's Summer 2023 term, visit: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/

Coming to you on April 25th, the Major Rogation Day, we're joined on this episode by Dr. Michael Foley, professor of patristics at Baylor University, to look at the origins of Rogation Days, as well as their meaning, liturgical and paraliturgical observances, and significance in our lives today.  Check out Dr. Foley's books here: https://michaelpfoley.info/my-writings Learn more about the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music's summer course, "History of the Roman Rite," July 24 to 28 here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/  

In the midst of Holy Week, we invite you to join Dr. William Mahrt (Stanford) for a tour in time through the lens of the Divine Office. We discuss theological thoughts on time by St. Augustine, natural vs. supernatural senses of time, the structure of the Divine Office throughout the course of one day, and the different intersecting cycles which make up the liturgical year. To learn more about this topic, check out Dr. Mahrt's summer 2023 advanced seminar on Chants of the Divine Office: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/.

Looking for fresh ideas about how to take your parish choir to the next level, developing a repertoire of well-prepared polyphonic motets and ordinaries, helping your singers develop their technique and musicianship, and integrate it all into the bigger spiritual picture of the offering of one's very self united to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross? Prof. Christopher Berry of St. Stanislaus Oratory in Milwaukee tackles all these topics, with advice about warm-ups, how to get through a bunch of repertoire with limited rehearsal time, and which motets and masses to start with.  To learn more about or apply for this summer's Choral Institute at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, please visit: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/.

We've combined two episodes here of another podcast, A Culture of Beauty with host Sequoia Sierra, in which our host, Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka was interviewed. She's talks a little bit about her experience of growing up Catholic and discovering the Church's teachings on music later in life, discusses some key concepts about that teaching and about beauty that she finds effective in helping other Catholics see the role of these things in the spiritual life, and gives an overview of the mission and offerings of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music.  Learn more about the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/ 

The medieval practice of the giving of children as oblates to monasteries affords valuable insights into education during the Middle Ages, as well as into the development of pedagogical techniques for teaching the liturgy, Latin, and sacred music to children. Join us for an episode in which Dr. Susan Boynton, Professor of Historical Musicology and Director of Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Columbia University, helps us understand the lives and place of children in medieval monasteries, what they sang in liturgies, and how they learned to sing this repertoire. The conversation also develops into a look at the training of children in cathedral schools. For more information about Dr. Boynton, see: https://music.columbia.edu/bios/susan-boynton To buy the book Young Choristers, 650–1700, a book co-edited by Dr. Boynton, visit: https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781843834137/young-choristers-650-1700/  For more information about the History and Principles of Sacred Music course being offered this summer at the Cat

The remarkable life and work of Mary Berry is inspirational, especially for those experiencing trials or hardships as they work to promote the Church's own vision for Her sacred music. She offers lessons in persevering in one's vocation in the face of challenging circumstances, and the holiness that can and ought to flow from a life of scholarship, singing, and teaching of Gregorian chant. This interview with a former director of Mary's ensemble, the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, shares with us some of these lessons we can take away from her life's story and legacy. To learn more about the course History and Principles of Sacred Music offered this summer at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music at St. Patrick's Seminary, please visit: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/

Maybe you've thought about hosting a Chant Camp at your parish, or you're looking for ways to keep your young singers engaged as they grow up in the children's choir. The work of Mary Ann Carr Wilson and her apostolate Canticle is inspiring in the way it models catechesis through teaching chant, musical development, and the cultivation of student leaders. Join Mrs. Wilson for an episode in which she shares the story of her own learning and her work in teaching the Church's music to young people in San Diego.  Learn more about Canticle here: https://canticle.net/ Check out the summer courses of the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/ Sign up for a spot in the free information session about the Ward method here: http://wardmethod.eventbrite.com

The long and impressive career of Dr. Christoph Tietze, Director of Music at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, makes for an interview that covers a lot of ground, including helpful tips for improving one's improvisation skills, steps to take if you're thinking about building a choir school, and an overview of his project on creating a collection of introits for congregational singing.  To learn more about Dr. Tietze and his work at the cathedral, visit: https://smcsf.org/ Find out more about the St. Mary’s Cathedral Choir School at St. Brigid School here: https://sfchoirschool.org  If you're interested in Dr. Tietze's Organ Improvisation Seminar this summer with the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, you can learn more here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/

Questions about how to sing Gregorian chant can get a little thorny when people who love the chant and have a lot of experience singing it get together. For a newcomer to chant, these questions can seem irrelevant or overwhelming, especially when it's not clear what people are so passionately discussing.  In this interview with Prof. Charles Weaver (Juilliard), we break down the basics of one of the main school of chant performance practice, the "classical Solesmes" school established by Dom André Mocquereau. We look at the big questions Mocquereau was trying to answer, the role of the text and accents in the "classical Solesmes" school, and understanding the 2's and 3's within the context of the overall structure of a piece of chant, what Mocquereau calls the "greater rhythm."  To learn more about Prof. Weaver’s work, please visit: https://www.juilliard.edu/music/faculty/weaver-charles To apply for Prof. Weaver's summer course at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, visit the Institute's website at: https

What was it like for a Renaissance-era composer to navigate the liturgical changes of an ecumenical council, and to have a theological outlook on Our Lady's Immaculate Conception (later vindicated as the Church's own view) that was different from that of his episcopal employer? We look at these questions, and hear about the adventurous and interesting life of lesser-known composer Juan de Esquivel in this episode with Dr. Michael O'Connor. Learn more about Dr. O'Connor here: https://www.pba.edu/directory/o-connor-michael.html Read some of Dr. O'Connor's articles here: https://pba.academia.edu/MichaelOConnor Check out summer classes at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/