Serviam Scores

27/10/2024

From the commentary by Lapidé—

The Gospels are so rich in meaning, and often we have no idea.

23/10/2024

Please enjoy these free scores and practice tracks for Lorenzo Perosi's 'O Salutaris Hostia'.

Originally written TTBB in E minor, this arrangement has been transposed up to G minor for SATB voices.

This piece is very beautiful, yet very simple, and easily within the reach of even modest choirs.

Download your free copy of Lorenzo Perosi’s O Salutaris Hostia for SATB choir.

22/10/2024

Yahoo! Fr. O’Connor posted his recording to YouTube too:

Musical Score available (free) at: https://www.stmichaelhymnal.com/totustuus/

22/10/2024

A little beauty for your day. Stunning.

Perosi, Lorenzo (1872 - 1956) O Salutaris Hostia

18/10/2024

For those who may have seen me post Fr. Michæl O'Connor's fabulous "Totus Tuus" last week, I'm pleased to announce that Fr. O'Connor has released the work into the public domain and that the score is now freely available via the St. Michael Hymnal website.

Since it is now in the Creative Commons, I've also created my own engraving of the work with slightly larger font and an italicized literal translation of the refrain. I've also created a comprehensive suite of S A T B practice tracks to help choirs learn the "Setting II: SATB choir" version.

You can download the original, as well as my own engraving, as well as find links to the practice tracks here:

Download your FREE COPY of Fr. Michæl Dominic O’Connor’s fabulous Totus Tuus , as well as access dedicated practice tracks to learn the SATB choir version.

15/10/2024

I love my job.

Today's project was adapting a 13th c. antiphon into english for this weekend's responsorial psalm:

JJR's setting of Psalm 33, "Lord, let Your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in You." as based on the antiphon "Fiat misericordia tua" (which treats the ...

10/10/2024

This week's psalm refrain proclaims, "Fill us with Your Love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!"

How does our Lord fill us with His love at every Mass? The Holy Eucharist, of course! So what better melody to echo than that of 'Ecce panis angelorum', Eucharistic hymn par excellence written by St. Thomas Acquinas himself?

https://psallitedomino.com/store-1/p/psalm-90-fill-us-with-your-love-o-lord-and-we-will-sing-for-joy-ft-ecce-panis-angelorum

10/10/2024

Check out this Sunday's new psalm setting which is based on 'Ecce panis angelorum'!

JJR's setting of Psalm 90, "Fill us with Your love, O Lord, and we will be filled with joy!" as based on 'Ecce panis angelorum'.SATB DemoPurchase the score h...

09/10/2024

Newly minted!

JJR's setting of Psalm 90, "Fill us with Your love, O Lord, and we will be filled with joy!" as based on 'Ecce panis angelorum'.SATB DemoPurchase the score h...

25/09/2024

Hi Friends—
In case you're interested, I've transcribed this week's communion antiphon into English directly from an early 14th c. manuscript, and I'm offering the arrangement (complete with practice track) free to all.

Latin & English antiphon, with English verses. (Can be sung completely in English)

Happy Wednesday!

Download your FREE COPY of Memento verbi tui servo tuo (Be Thou mindful of Thy word to Thy servant), the Communion Antiphon for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, as transcribed from the early 14th c. Antiphonarium pro Ecclesia Ensidlensi.

25/09/2024

Positively exquisite.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard EnterprisesLord, Thou Art Become Gracious (Psalm 85) · Glen Dempsey · Choir of St John's College, Cambridge · Andrew Neths...

20/09/2024

This week's creation. I'm so blessed that I get to spend time making these arrangements as part of my job!

James J. Richardson's setting of Psalm 54, "The Lord upholds my life." as based on the melody of "Dominus susceptor est anime meæ." as found in the early 14t...

19/09/2024

"The artist who does not profess the truths of the faith or who strays far from God in his attitude or conduct should never turn his hand to religious art. He lacks, as it were, that inward eye with which he might see what God's majesty and His worship demand. Nor can he hope that his works, devoid of religion as they are, will ever really breathe the piety and faith that befit God's temple and His holiness, even though they may show him to be an expert artist who is endowed with visible talent. Thus he cannot hope that his works will be worthy of admission into the sacred buildings of the Church, the guardian and arbiter of religious life."

—Musicæ Sacræ §27

This, dear friends, is why it is both a failure and a scandal to hire full-time employees at churches who don't believe what we believe.

This is also why it's an absolute pity that our hymnals are stuffed to the gills with "hymns" written by people who absolutely do not hold Catholic beliefs, and are published by non-catholic publishers. You'd think that after all this time, we'd have this figured out...

If we outsource our faith and piety to people who do not hold it, let us not be surprised, therefore, when they spoil it.

18/09/2024

A beautiful hymn text to get you through your day:
https://psallitedomino.com/blog/o-thou-who-gavest-thy-servant-grace-2024

10/09/2024

If you're still looking for an arrangement of this weekend's psalm, please consider this new arrangement:

James J. Richardson's setting of Psalm 116, "I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." as based on the Gregorian antiphon, "Placebo Domino in r...

04/09/2024

Dropping at 2:45 today—

Based on a 1519 AD manuscript. (note-for-note!)

James J. Richardson's setting of Psalm 116, "I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." as based on the Gregorian antiphon, "Placebo Domino in r...

30/08/2024

In case you didn't see our post in other church music groups, today we've released a new setting of an Alleluia featured in Cantus Selecti. Read more about it here, and download your free score(s) as well as preview the work:

Download your free copy of the "Alleluia 'cum Magnificat'" which is based on the Magnificat cm Alleluia (No. 136, Cantus Selecti  ) as arranged by James J. Richardson. Free score, with rights to use at your own parishes!

27/08/2024

There is a whole genre of iconography that depicts Our Lady as beating the devil with a bludgeon, and it delights me greatly.

"Hail Mary, full of grace, punch the devil in the face!"

27/08/2024

Finale friends, I'm here to help if you make the switch to Dorico (which I cannot recommend highly enough).

Requiescat in pace, Finale.

(Make sure you save all your old files as BOTH PDFs & XML. You'll thank me later.)

25/08/2024

"Hail Mary, full of grace, punch the devil in the face!"

15/08/2024

Moral of the story: don't sing funeral music at your wedding.

People often seem to operate under the assumption that if a song (and sometimes we musicians do indeed mean song ) even vaguely references a religious theme—no matter how opaquely—that it renders the music fit for sacred liturgy. This is, of course, very untrue, and belies a very impaired unders...

15/08/2024

Happy feast day!

James J. Richardson's setting of Psalm 45 "The Queen stands at Your right hand, arrayed in Gold." for the feast of the Ascension. This edition is based upon...

01/08/2024

If you are still looking for a psalm setting for the Assumption (which is fast approaching), please consider this setting of Psalm 45, "The Queen stands...".

It is based on an early 14th c. melody. You can read more about it here, as well as find a link to obtain the score:

Psalm 45: “The Queen stands at Your right hand, arrayed in gold.” as set by James J. Richardson, referencing early 14th century manuscripts which set the original latin antiphon “Astitit Regina”.