The Recovering Choir Director

Peace, all.

I thought Lucy Carroll’s story about the church sound system being piped out to the far corners of the parking lot was hilarious. And too true.

However, I found her dot-connecting to be a bit strained. Choirs were encouraged and praised in the US since Music in Catholic Worship. Certainly as many folk groups popped up as organ choirs faded, so I don’t see that group singing died out as much as was transformed. She misses the cultural and technological reasons why choirs are in decline across all denominations and even into the secular sphere. If Catholics wanted choirs, every parish would hire a children’s choir director and be sure the Sunday worship experience included active people from a young age. Without music education in schools and without liturgical choirs for youngsters, we’re battling upstream on a rubber ducky without a paddle. Vatican II had nothing to do with it.

Help…

I know this is a personal blog, but can you help?
Where can I find the correct melody for the psalm for exaltation of the cross?

It starts “do not forget the works of the Lord”.

We usually use gather, but I don’t like those psalms and I have to arrange the music for that day and teach it to the choir and I thought we could do chant.

(Not in latin though.)

I have an old liber usualis here but I don’t know how to find the Latin equivalent of those words in all the indexes.

I though if i could just find the right melody for the response we could do the verse on a psalm tone like everyone knows.

But I need to have it for a rehearsal Sunday afternoon and I don’t even know how to look for it,
Thank you for any help you can give me, sir.

“The anti-beauty crowd predated the Council.”

I would not disagree.

“The philistines you have always with you.”

But the council gave them the opportunity to get their jack-booted foot in the door.

“The perception that Vatican II dumped chaos on a smoothly running system in 1965 is bunk”

Fine, whose perceptions are these supposed to be that you are debunking?
Who claimed any such thing?

This dovetails into my huge pet peeves at my parish (maybe she’ll talk about them in the 2nd or 3rd part). I hate it when congregational songs, like the Gloria or the Sanctus, are turned into verse-response songs like the psalms. No, I want to sing all the words that I’m supposed to, not just the fun little ‘glorias.’

My other HUGE pet peeve is when we’re singing the Agnus Dei, and all of the sudden we get all of those other words besides ‘lamb of God’ at the beginning. I mean, how many translations of Agnus Dei are there?

Peace, all.

Many parishes I know have the people singing the verses anyway on the modified Gloria format. There’s nothing really from stopping people from singing the whole deal.

I’ve never quite understood what the fuss was about on addressing Christ with alternate titles in the Agnus Dei. Every setting I know begins and ends the litany with “Lamb of God” and the Roman Missal does permit the extension of the piece to accommodate and accompany the liturgical action. Using tropes similar to the Kyrie permits an ease of accompaniment and cueing at the Fraction Rite. A good friend of mine has suggested altering harmonizations or having extended instrumental sections, but these solutions present their own challenges, especially to musicians.

The phenomenon of a “responsorial” Gloria arose probably to facilitate learning musical settings, easing people in gradually as the music was learned, or at least giving them a minimal part in a piece the Roman Missal also says the choir can sing alone.

I think these examples are less the hype of novelty and more a consideration of pew folks and the musicians who lead them.

At a concelebrated mass like for a priest’s funeral, if the Holy, Holy, Holy the parish usually uses isn’t long enough for all the priests to arrange themselves around the altar for the EP, would it be okay to add a few lines of appropriate poetry we wrote ourselves to the Holy, Holy Holy to make it long enough?

One of our deacons likes to kind of “process” showing the book to the whole assembly when he goes to the ambo to read the Gospel, should we on our own initiative write a longer verse to add to the proper acclamation?

If the scripture readings don’t make quite the impact you feel they could and should, do you add on a few words from Kahlil Gibran to the old testament reading?

As you say, repeating words or phrases is NOT the same as adding in new ones of ones own devising.
Yes, in my opinion, and that of the Church, it IS that far off.

The problem with troping the Agnus Dei is that, while all those other things about Christ are true and wonderful attributes, at that point, we are supposed to be focusing on that one aspect of Christ - His being Lamb. Christ as the sacrifice for all. The Roman Missal allows for repetition for more than 3 times if needed, and there is no reason to need more than a few times.

Not much different than the Day’s 1990 “Why Catholics Can’t Sing”, except the conclusion that the way to stop “Caruso” is to banish him, (versus “mike off”) and then LET’S CRANK UP THE VOLUME of the organ and choir…oh boy.. people listen to a LOUD organ and choir, they don’t sing.

Why can’t we crank up the congregation to sing? Even if it is simple plainsong, or use (I prefer) Day’s alternative to all sing “a cappella” until we all learn the songs..

Forgive my intrusion, but I stumbled upon this list and the topic caught my eye. I am not a Catholic, although I have played in many Catholic churces, a cathedral or two and many more mainline protestant churches.

There is one key to good, lusty, musical, congregational singing and that is unfragmented, competent, musical leadership. Whether it is the organist, the choir or the cantor, excellence fosters a desire to participate. If the organist is a leader, let him/her lead. If the cantor is the leader or the choir, then let him/her/them do it without having to compete for musical turf. Unified leadership moves people.

I respectfully disagree with your colleague who believed that folks do not sing when the organ or the choir provide loud leadership. Whether loud or soft, almost any congregation will respond to powerful leadership.

What I miss the most in Catholic music is the absence of congretational harmony. The alto, tenor and bass genes have disappeared from the ecclesiasical gene pool. It may be a function of the dominant unison music of the 21st century church, but it is a loss.

Just a Methodist’s two cents worth.
Pax tecum.

JCM