The Recovering Choir Director

The final part of Paul Hume’s Catholic Church Music (1956) is dedicated to general tips for the successful choir director, as well as for the choir director intent on employing the vast repertoire of Gregorian Chant for the liturgy. Much of it is “common sense”.

A sampling:

• Choir rehearsal should be held as close to Sunday morning as possible; or, putting it less subtly, it should be held on Friday night….The musical memory of the average choir simply cannot cope with a longer span for keeping in mind the numerous exhortations that the director will have to give in order to obtain a superior performance…[The choir] will not deliver first-class results unless it meets for a “warm-up” session before High Mass on Sunday.
• A rehearsal of one and a half to two hours will usually provide the best results.
• Regard each minute of rehearsal time as very valuable indeed, and make use of it accordingly.
• The piano is far more helpful than the organ in giving exact pitch and in indicating proper attacks.
• If you want to help out a weak singer, put him in front of a strong singer, not next to him.
• Start your rehearsal with a prayer, for the obvious reason that you need all the help you can get, and for the secondary reason that it will put the group in the frame of mind for serious work by reminding them what they are doing there in the first place.
• If your choir finds the Propers difficult, by all means use the simple psalm-tone settings.
• Your choir’s attitude in rehearsal and in performance should reflect its awareness of its privileged responsibility, as it undoubtedly does.