Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast

Sarum use or rite? Where did it come from? How was it governed? What's unique about the ceremonial? How does the chant sound? What's the deal with all the processions? Can one celebrate the Sarum rite now?  Learn all about the medieval English rite in this episode with Dr. Christopher Hodkinson.  More information and registration about our Spanish-language online workshops: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.regfox.com/talleres-virtuales-primavera-2026  More information and registration for the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music's Summer Chant Camp for singers ages 8–17: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.regfox.com/chant-camp-2026 

Join us as we tackle some of the tough questions that inform how church musicians can help their parishioners love the Church's beautiful treasury of sacred music. Dr. Margaret Hughes, a tutor at Thomas Aquinas College in Massachusetts, joins us to discuss whether beauty is something superficial and ultimately distracting from the things that really matter for the Christian, whether beauty is really a transcendental property of being, and whether it's possible to make a wrong judgment about the beauty of a piece of music.  RSVP for Dr. Hughes' lecture on Thursday, April 18th here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lecture-how-listening-to-music-with-friends-points-us-to-beatitude-tickets-1977339170688

Dr. Christopher Berry, Assistant Professor at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, joins us to discuss why we should learn to make up our own chant accompaniment, how to determine the course of an organ building project, and how to fundraise for said project.  Learn more about Dr. Berry here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/faculty#berry Learn more about summer graduate study with Dr. Berry at CISM here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/ 

Breath support, dynamics, tremulous notes, VIBRATO? How can we best sing the Church's chant with beauty, elegance, reverence, and good technique? Dr. Rosemary Heredos breaks it all down in the context of learning to sing through a semiological approach to chant, navigating working with different teachers, and transitioning to chant from singing opera.  Learn more about Dr. Heredos's class, "Advanced Seminar in Gregorian Chant: Vocal Technique and Semiological Performance Practice," June 29 to July 3 here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/ Applications for non-degree-seeking students remain open until May 1st. 

Have you ever wondered how sacred music programs in America were run and what kind of music they sang in the 19th and pre-Vatican II 20th century? Salvatore Basile, author of Fifth Avenue Famous: The Extraordinary Story of Music at St. Patrick's Cathedral, joins us to discuss how sacred music sounded in New York, especially as St. Patrick's. We discuss the impact of Pius X's motu proprio, Tra le Sollecitudini, the influence of operatic music on repertory and choice of voices, the incorporation of chant and polyphony, and the development of the music department from parochial backwater to "America's parish" in a cultural and financial world capital.   Buy Basile's book here: https://a.co/d/0haXk4DJ Learn more about summer graduate classes at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/ 

Join Archbishop Cordileone for a Lenten reflection especially for church musicians and those who love the Church's sacred music. The reflection is followed by the recitation of a scriptural rosary.  For more information on other upcoming events at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, visit https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/events/  For access to texts to use to pray the scriptural rosary, visit: https://scripturalrosary.org  

Dr. Charles joins us to bridge the gap between monophonic and polyphonic music through the practice of improvising choral music based on chant melodies. We talk about early techniques and how-to treatises from the 9th century, all the way through Baroque fauxbourdon, as well as the changes in notation that these practices prompted, and the composers in whose music one can hear training in these practices.  For more information on the class Dr. Weaver is teaching on this practice of improvising polyphony on chant, "cantare super librum," July 27–31 at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, visit: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/ To attend the March 7th conference at St. Vitus in Northridge, California, visit https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/music-for-worship-and-leisure To sign up to attend Archbishop Cordileone's Lenten online "retreat" for musicians and admirers of sacred music, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/online-lenten-retreat-with-archbishop-cordileone-for-church-mu

Martin Baker, a distinguished choral conductor and organist, joins us to share insights on his improvisation at the organ, from his time as a young child, through his winning of the Tournemire Prize at the St. Alban's Competition and his time at Westminster Cathedral, through his current work as a concert organist and composer. To learn more and apply for the July 20-24, 2026 Organ Improvisation class Baker is offering at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, visit https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/  

Learn about the musical practices, pedagogical processes, maestros de capilla, and composers of Mexico's cathedral in Puebla de los Angeles from Fernando Gil, who directed a schola cantorum there before coming to the United States. Gil, director of music at St. Peter's Cathedral in Kansas City, Kansas, takes us through the masses and villancicos from Padilla, helps us understand the context of missionary Mexico and the colonial styles, and discusses what can be applied to the pastoral context in Spanish-speaking congregations in the United States and Mexico today.  To sign up for the upcoming online workshops in Spanish offered by the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, please visit: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.regfox.com/talleres-virtuales-primavera-2026 To learn more about Puebla's cathedral, Padilla, and villancicos, check out these publications: https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/545314/727602   https://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org/features/0210_missamexicana/index.html   https://www

Join us for this inspiring season opener to discuss curriculum which imprints on the child's senses, mind, and soul a longing for the source of all beauty, God himself. Musician, artist, and homeschooling mom Elizabeth Lemme shares her criteria for evaluating the worthiness of a work of art for study, and her lists of composers and painters that make up the daily fare of her children while she teaches them at her kitchen table. Visit Mrs. Lemme's Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PelicanPrinteryHouse Learn more about the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music's graduate program here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/graduate-study/  "And therefore, I said, Glaucon, musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful, or of him who is ill-educated ungraceful; and also because he who has received this true

Join Dr. Emily Thelen as she takes us on a tour of the masterfully illuminated manuscripts of the Alamire collection of Renaissance manuscripts from the Low Countries, and explains to us the Confraternity culture of Catholic society that brought about such wonderful masterpieces.  Learn more about Dr. Thelen's work here: https://independent.academia.edu/EmilyThelen Access the Integrated Database for Early Music here: https://idemdatabase.org/page/home Buy Dr. Thelen's book on Brussels 215-216 here: https://publications.alamirefoundation.org/en/leuven-library-of-music-in-facsimile/1164/llmf/1419/llmf-vol.-2-a-choirbook-for-the-seven-sorrows-study-studie  Learn more about the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: http://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/

Looking for a historical and ecclesiastical framework by which to understand performance decisions about the pronunciation of Latin? Join Dr. John Pepino as he explains the origins of the Latin language and how we know anything about the pronunciation of classical Latin, describes the style and handing on of the golden age of Latin, discusses the relationship between St. Jerome's Vulgate and the Vetus Latina editions, demonstrates the pronunciation of Latin in various European pronunciations of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and clarifies the Vatican's position on the issue.  Two books are recommended for further reading: W. Sydney Allen, Vox Latina: A Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Latin F. Brittain, Latin In Church: The History of Its Pronunciation To learn more about Dr. Pepino, visit: https://veterumsapientia.org/about/faculty-staff/ To learn more about the Advanced Seminar in Old Roman Chant this summer at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, visit: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.

Join us as we outline strategies for making playing great repertoire every Sunday and feast day possible, even if you're a really busy parish music director. Prof. Christopher Berry, who will be teaching the Organ Literature course this summer at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music takes us through some of the foundations for developing a game plan, the role the organist has in cultivating prayerfulness before and after Mass, and how to systematically work through Bach, among other topics.  Find out more about Prof. Berry here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/faculty/ Learn more about the Organ Literature class and apply here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/

Join Fiona Hughes, Artistic Director of Three Notch'd Road: The Virginia Baroque Ensemble as we discuss music which will help you meditate on the lives of Christ and Our Lady, as well as the Passion and Death of Christ. We talk about Heinrich Biber's Rosary Sonatas, as well as Franz Joseph Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ.  Learn more about Three Notch'd Road here: https://www.tnrbaroque.org Listen to Three Notch'd Road, including the mentioned album Epiphany here: https://www.tnrbaroque.org/recordings/#epiphany Learn more and apply to the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music's Summer Graduate Program here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/ 

Looking for inspiration in building a Catholic school curriculum around the worship of God and the sacred arts? Join us for a discussion about the Ordinariate's Cathedral High School in Houston, Texas as Dr. Alexis Kutarna, Head of School, explains how they built both the building and structure of the school to support an encounter with Christ in the sacred liturgy, and how they build students up in Catholic culture for a formation in the truth, especially through beauty, virtue, and true leisure. Learn more about Cathedral High here: https://cathedral-hs.org/ Learn more about Dr. Kutarna here: https://cathedral-hs.org/people/alexis-kutarna Learn more about summer graduate study, including the Choral Institute, at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/ Learn more about the Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit here: https://liturgysummit.org/

What does the phrase ars celebrandi really mean and what does it have to do with the spiritual lives of priests and the lay faithful? What are means of acheiving excellence in ars celebrandi? Are there special challenges that American Catholics face in entering into the sacred liturgy celebrated well? Why is working to cultivate the reverent celebration of the sacred liturgy so important in our time?  His Excellency, Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, tackles these and other questions.  Join the archbishop, Cardinal Sarah, and other prelates and theologians at the Sacred Liturgy Summit this summer, July 1–4, 2025. More information is available at: https://liturgysummit.org

Join Fr. Innocent Smith, OP, as he takes us on a tour of St. Thomas Aquinas' poetry and compositions for Corpus Christi. We discuss Aquinas' training in poetics, his liturgical horarium and experience, how the commission to write texts for Corpus Christ came about, and spend time on the rich theology and poetry of his works for the feast.  Read more by Fr. Innocent here: https://dhs.academia.edu/InnocentSmithOP Learn more about summer study at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/ Learn more about the Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit here: http://liturgysummit.org/

Discover a genre designed for choirs with limited forces and money with our guest, Dr. Janet Hunt. We discuss the origins of the concertato motet, various composer who composed in this genre, texts set, and liturgical use of the pieces.    Dr. Janet E. Hunt, FAGO, received performance degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, Southern Methodist University, and the University of North Texas. Equally proficient on organ and harpsichord, she has been a finalist in the Bodky Competition for Early Music twice, the Edinburgh Festival Harpsichord Competition, the SEHKS competition, and two appearances at the Prix André Marchal Competition in Biarritz, France. She has recorded two compact discs of works by César Franck and Louis Vierne. Dr. Hunt publishes editions of early 17th century sacred music for solo voices and organ at www.huntmusic.us, and had an article on the genre appear in the Summer, 2024 issue of Sacred Music. She is the organist at St. Anthony’s Parish in Allston, MA.   Dr. Hunt recommends a few resources to

Dr. Charles Weaver joins us to outline a history of solfège and the practical and theoretical knowledge that arises from employing the early hexachordal system to understanding and singing Gregorian chant.  Learn more about Dr. Weaver here: https://www.juilliard.edu/music/faculty/weaver-charles and here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/faculty/ Find out more about the summer graduate courses at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/ 

What are the origins of the liturgical use of the Credo? Do we still have the original melodies to which it was sung? How did the singing of the Credo develop during the medieval period into the Renaissance? Dr. Harrison Russin joins us to answer these questions.  Learn more about Dr. Russin here: https://www.svots.edu/people/rev-dn-dr-harrison-basil-russin Join the CMAA and get a subscription to Sacred Music journal here: https://churchmusicassociation.org/journal/ Find out more about the Fons et Culmen Sacred Liturgy Summit here: http://liturgysummit.org/ Find out more about summer graduate study at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music here: https://catholicinstituteofsacredmusic.org/summer-courses/