Quigley Preparatory Seminary - La Petit Seminaire Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Meter, who was then beglnnlng hxs first year as a member of the school s fac ulty and Father Franc1s Chambers Later, at Mundelem the 1ntr1cac1es of chant were taught h1m by MOHSlgHOf Kush present dlrector of muslc at the Major Semmary Shortly after h1s or d1nat1on Father NVojc1k was appoxnted dxrector of chant at Qu1gley succeed mg Father oseph MfOCZkOWSkl who went to Rome to further h1s studles on the subject VX hen Father XVoJc1k takes charge of the chanters at the beg1nn1ng ofthe school year he IS confronted w1th ob v1ous handlcaps F1rst he must IH struct a new group of boys each year he must start w1th the rudlments of chant and gradually lntroduce the fmer pomts Then when the group has at tamed a dellcate sklll the end of the school year approaches and the class wlth the labor1ous task of bu1ld1ng up another group the next year only to have the same thlng occur Then too srnce plam chant IS the finest church musxc lt demands and all too rarely gets great muslcal sens1b1l1ty and vocal sklll allled to a prayerful Splflt The great majorlty of them, exghteen or mneteen years of age are far from havlng matured vo1ces Naturally, a dlrector must be able to cope wlth these dlflicultxes Father Wojcmk wlth h1s suavzter but fortzter pol1cy has to a large degree overcome them, brlnglng out lI'ldlVldl1al qual1t1es correctlng 1n dxvrdual weaknesses and moldlng the ent1re group 1nto one unlfled smgmg volce All th1s demands a great amount of tlme devoted to pract1ce The chanters 40 SHCFIFICC a half hour of thexr lunch perlod three t1mes a week and have regular forty Hve mmute classes IWICC each week In addrtlon, they are some t1mes called upon to pract1ce after school for some lmportant celebratlon ln the near future Some of the more lmportant occa sions to whlch the chanters contrlbuted success were the followlng the annual Red Mass at the Cathedral for the Cathollc lawyers of the archdloceses at whxch Father ohn Cavanaugh PYCSI dent of Notre Dame Unlverslty gave the sermon the Forty Hours Devotxon at whlch the Lltany of the Samts was chanted the beautlful Mldnlght Mass w1th all lts solemn grandeur and the Solemn Hlgh Mass on Easter Sunday The work of the chanters culmmates m the penltentral ceremonles IH the Cathedral dur1ng Holy VS eek mentous occaslon ln whmch the Qulgley Chant Cholr was so very proud to par t1c1pate was the Nlnth Nat1onal Con gress of the Confraternlty of Chrlstlan Doctrlne, held IH Chicago from Novem ber 7 to 11 at whlch nlnety blshops and archblshops were present, mclud mg the Apostollc Delegate to the Unlted States, Archblshop Clcognanl Thls meetlng was the largest of 1ts kmd SIHCC the EUChaf1StlC Congress IH 1926 On Sunday November 11 the Congress drew to a close w1th a mag mficent expresslon of fa1th before a huge gallery of 25000 people nn the Chlcago Stadlum In add1t1on to ad dresses by Cardmal Strltch and Blshop Sheen, the program lncluded a pageant entltled Dedlcatlon to God and Country wr1tten and produced by , . . , . D - . 9 ' ' J . , . . . - , - ' . KK !Y . 7 . .7 . J .- D I Q ' 5 . , - S 5 3 . , - 3 - 1 is graduated. The director is then faced During this past year the most mo- s l ' C , - . , . . . . - Q 7 , . . u . , . . i , , , - . . . , . . Q , J ' ' . 9 1 .K l u . . ,, . ' 9

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do thxs holmess, artlstxc pur1ty, and unlversallty The crownlng work 1n hls eH ort to reform church mus1c was yet to come VS hen the beloved Cardlnal Sarto was elected Supreme Pontlff on August 4 1903 at the age of slxty elght he chose the great dream of Salnt Paul staure omnla ln Chrlsto C to restore all thlngs m Chrlst D as hls motto and program of actlon Man of actlon that he was the new Pope P1us X, 1n hls typlcally clear and dlrect manner 1m medlately undertook h1s program of restoratlon Scarcely three months after the begmnmg of hxs pont1Hcate the Holy Father lssued hls Motu Proprlo on Sacred Music The work was hxs very own defimte and plam spoken It was IH reallty an elabor atlon ofthe ldeas expressed m h1s pas toral letter It emphaslzed the fact that church mus1c was to apply to the entlre Isplrltual realm of the Holy Father The pontlff s alm as set down ln the Motu Proprlo was prec1se church music must be made subordm ate to prayer H1s declared 1ntent1on upon assumlng the burden of h1s office was the restoration of all thlngs ln Chrlst In h1s v1s1on of th1s compre henslve task mus1c found ltS proper role-a form of prayer and an a1d to worshlp Today after almost fifty years Qulg ley Preparatory Semmary IS enjoymg the frult of Plus X s labor 1n its fulness ust as the sem1nar1ans of Padua sang Gregor1an at the1r cathedral every Sun day so also do the older sem1nar1ans of ulgley at the1r own Cathedral of the Holy Name ust as the S1st1ne Cho1r dellvers the glorlous works of Palestrma, Refnce, and Perosl under the dome of Samt Peters Baslllca m the Vatlcan so do the younger semln arlans of Qu1gley under the tltle of the Cardmals Cathedral Chonsters, every Sunday ln the sanctuary of the1r Cathedral Thus, on each Sunday as well as on numerous speclal occaslons it IS certalnly gratlfymg to recognxze the llturglcal contrlbutlons of beauty and Cllgnlty and splendor made by both Qulgley Chanters and Cathedral Chor lsters Here sacred mus1c properly approached and properly lnterpreted falls naturally 1nto the role for which lt was deslgned an ald to worshxp Both of these excellent vocal groups were 1nst1tuted at Qu1gley w1th the express wlshes of Plus X 1n mmd In ecclesiastical semmarxes and ln stltutlons the tradltxonal Gregorlan Chant must be cultivated wlth all dlllgence and love and let superlors support the cause by w1despread en couragement and open handed pralse of the1r young subjects In llke manner wherever lt IS posslble let a Sclzola Cantorum be establlshed for the best posslble execution of sacred polyphony and of good llturglcal mus1c The Qu1gley Gregorlan Chant Cho1r composed of fifth year sem1nar1ans, IS the oldest muslcal group at the sem mary It has developed and mam tamed throughout 1ts years an admlr able qualxty 1n provldxng all Gregorlan chant, the trad1t1onal mus1c of the Church at the Cathedral celebratlons Father R1chard Wojclk IS completlng has second year as the young dlrector of the group Father recelved hxs early 1nstruct1on ln chant at Qu1gley under the sklllful guldance of both Monslgnor 39 . . H . , . . . . , .. ' 9 I, . . , . 3 5 ' J ' 7 . U. . . - m- , . . . ,, H . . . . . . . . . ,, . . . . . . J 9 ' 3 ' ' D J . 1 9 ' ' ' CK . ,, . . . . . . 9 Q ' ' . . H . . . . . ' Q x ' ' . . . . . . . 3 . , . . , - . H I . H . . . . . , . ' J ' 3 7 . . . . . . ,, . ' ' Q , - o a - J 9 ' J , - 9 - J

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Father Thomas V Llske moderator of the Le Petzl Semznczzre As a part of the pageant, the chanters sang the devotlonal Salve Regma Later ln the program after Solemn Pontliical Benedlctlon the chanters lntoned the recesslonalplece PCYOSI sgrandlose Te Deum Laudamus PIUS X had to lxsten to those who became excesslvely enthus1ast1c about the reform of sacred muslc those who wlshed to banlsh all mus1c that was not Gregonan An exaggerated 1dea he exclalmed At the same t1me he pomted w1th pr1de to the Golden Age of polyphony of the seventeenth century to the composltlons of Pales trma whlch proved that polyphony could truly be sacred and hturglcal when based on sp1r1tual foundat1ons By l1sten1ng to the Cardlnal s Cathe dral Chorlsters g1VC beaut1ful rellgious rend1t1ons of the hturglcal polyphony ofPalestr1na Perosx, Refice Montanl Yon Franck V1ttor1a Slngenberger and countless others one can easlly see how wrong were these too ardent ob jectors of polyphony Such composl tlons are for the cho1r members a form of prayer for the hsteners, an ald to worshxp The Cardmal s Cathedral Chorlsters are under the 1nsp1r1tual leadershlp of the h1ghly gxfted and d1st1ngu1shed Monslgnor Charles Meter who re CC1VCd h1s muslcal background at the Pontlfical Instltute of Sacred MUSIC ln Rome from Msgr Lxcmxo Refice Un der the masterly baton of Msgr Meter the chorxsters have proceeded m golden age all the1r own Thexr h1story conslsts of one tremendous suc cess upon another The publlc Holy Hours at Soldlers Fleld the numerous rad1o appearances the s1lver jub1lee of the Cardlnals Eplscopate the trxple consecratlon of three Blshops the cen tennxal of Holy Name Parlsh the dec larat1on ofthe dogma of the Assump t1on and countless other appearances have made the cholr and 1tS dlrector mternatlonally renowned Th1s fame IS certamly warranted by the tlreless efforts of Msgr Meter who besldes dlrectlng the chorrsters IS also charge of the Archdloceasan Prlests Choxr the Cathedral Symphony Or chestra and the Qulgley Semmary Glee Club and Orchestra Th1s year, as usual the true culm1n at1on of the1r act1v1t1es occurred IH the magmlicent l1tl1l'glCal ceremonles of Holy W eek At Easter Sunday lNlass Msgr Meters chorlsters thrrlled the entlre natlon V13 rad1o and televlsxon w1th the1r muslcal program especlally Wlth the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel s lmmortal zlffessuzlz From the Wednesday 1n Holy Week to Easter Sunday 1nclus1ve the cholr served erght dlfferent occaslons and sang over one hundred composltlons The materlal reward for such frult ful eH'orts takes place when the chor lStCfS depart for a one day V1Slt to St Mary ofthe Lake Semlnary 1n Munde le1n Ill1no1s There they are treated as royal guests by the major sem1n ar1ans who earnestly look forward to thls v1s1t In return the chorlsters en terta1n w1th an mformal concert The true reward of the chorlsters IS achleved rn the fulfillment of the1r functlon l1ft1ng the1r vorces 1n prayer and a1d1ng the llsteners ln the worship of Hlm VX ho IS the object of all pralse 41 . , , ' 3 . , . . 3 ' KK ' n ' ' ' u , - J 3 , .. . . ., . U . 3 3 H . . . . . 3 ' 7 , 1n ' K4 ' as ' ' 1 ' x . , , ' . . . H - - 3 n J ' D ' . . . 1 1 . - 9 . . . , , - - - . 3 ' ' ' ' u ' n N , 3 3 3 . . . , - . 3 3 3 3 ' . 7 - 3 ' J . . - - , - , - . - . , . . . . - n , . 0 - . . - . ' 9 2, H H . . . . . . . . 0 1 . . , . . .