By Virginia A. Schubert, PhD
This is a signature volume chronicling the history of the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale, founded in 1955 by Father (later Monsignor) Richard J. Schuler. The Chorale is now in its 42nd season of singing with professional orchestra the great Classical and Romantic Masses of composers like Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert, as a part of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass celebrated in Latin at the Church of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul, Minnesota. This book also recounts the important role that Monsignor Schuler played in the area of sacred music in the post-Vatican II Church. It was his heroic commitment, through word and deed, to the authentic implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s document on music and liturgy, that helped keep the patrimony of Catholic sacred music alive in the United States for a new Renaissance.
When Monsignor Schuler was accused of living in the past, he often said that he was rather forty years ahead of the times. And he is being proven correct.
ABOUT THE AUTHORVirginia A. Schubert has sung in the soprano section of the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale for many years, and is currently president of the Board of the Chorale. She assisted Monsignor Schuler when he was editor of Sacred Music magazine, and is a member and former officer of the Church Music Association of America. She is a professor emerita of Macalester College, where she taught French, chaired the French Department, and served as Associate Provost during a 37 year career. Dr. Schubert was decorated by the French government as an Officer in the Order of Academic Palms. She is a Lady Commander in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Dr. Schubert is a member of Saint Agnes parish and the parish of Nativity of Our Lord, both in Saint Paul, MN. To contact the author, email at saintceciliapub@gmail.com
THE BOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE BEGINNING DECEMBER 8, 2015
TO ORDER COPIES OF TO SING WITH THE ANGELS visit:
• Leaflet Missal Co., 976 W. Minnehaha Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 (651-487-2818 or 1-800-328-8582), www.leafletonline.com
• www.saintceciliapublications.com
• Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-0-692-42105-5 260 pages including 16 color plates $24.95
PRAISE FOR TO SING WITH THE ANGELS: “To Sing with the Angels is an account of the unique Twin Cities Catholic Chorale and the splendid Latin liturgy for which it sings at the Church of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul, MN. Behind it all is Monsignor Richard J. Schuler, who had a consistent vision of the mandates of the Second Vatican Council maintaining the Church’s magnificent treasure of sacred music….” -William P. Mahrt, President of the Church Music Association of America and Editor of Sacred Music
“Dr. Schubert’s remarkable history of the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale is a beautiful witness to the preservation of sacred music in the liturgy, a truly great endeavor that can and should be repeated in many parishes and dioceses throughout the world.” - Reverend Mark Moriarty, Pastor, Church of Saint Agnes
“To Sing with the Angels” is an account of the unique Twin Cities Catholic Chorale and the splendid Latin liturgy which it sings at the Church of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul, MN. Behind it all is Monsignor Richard J. Schuler, who had a consistent vision of the mandates of the Second Vatican Council maintaining the Church’s magnificent treasure of sacred music; this was an unfailing guide to the liturgy, fulfilling the hermeneutic of continuity articulated by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI.” - Jeffrey Tucker, Editor, New Liturgical Movement.org; Director of Publications, Church Music Association of America
“Though the artistic heritage of Catholic sacred music was acknowledged and encouraged (by the Second Vatican Council) …as a treasure of inestimable worth, five decades after the last Council the musical tradition of the Universal Church has in fact been eliminated from Catholic sanctuaries and choir lofts…except at the Church of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul, MN. This book explains how and why that happened.” - Reverend Robert A. Skeris, Director for Ward Method Studies, Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.