The Recovering Choir Director

Or, what Madison Avenue does that Church musicians would do well to emulate.

Why does 1958’s De Musica Sacra permit using the introits, offertories, and communion antiphons responsorially? And, flowing from that precedent, why according to the U.S. GIRM does music that sets the texts of the antiphons from the Missale Romanum, the Graduale Romanum and Graduale Simplex receive preference over hymns at these points in the mass, using verses from the same psalm or canticle?

Maybe the powers-that-be were hoping that people would take the word of God from the Mass, both the Real Presence and Sacred Scripture. Psalmody (either in Latin or the vernacular) especially in responsorial form, would “stick” better in the minds and hearts of the faithful, and has the advantage and guarantee of actually being the Word of God instead of a creative, ambiguous or outright incorrect interpretation of Scripture (see Arius).

A simple antiphon sung or heard quietly and repeatedly is easier to learn, remember, and even apply to daily life, than a three-verse strophic hymn. Advertising agencies apply this lesson well. Parish music ministries ought to consider it—is not the “product” we “advertise” much more valuable than, say, cat food?

Off the top of my head, here are ten Scriptural antiphons that I can remember:

1. “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.”—Psalm 22(23)
2. “Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.”—Psalm 50(51)
3. “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.”—Psalm 103(104)
4. “One thing I ask, this alone I seek; to dwell in the house of the Lord all my days.”—Psalm 26(27)
5. “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.”—Psalm 21(22)
6. “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”—Psalm 33(34)
7. “Our God goes up to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.”—Psalm 46(47)
8. “I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.”—Psalm 115(116)
9. “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”—Psalm 26(27)
10. “Let us sing to the Lord, he has covered himself in glory.”—Exodus 15

And here are some Madison Avenue antiphons off the top of my head (sung and recited):

1. “You’re not fully clean unless you’re Zestfully clean.”
2. “Where’s the beef?”—Wendy’s
3. “EA Sports—it’s in the game.”
4. “Eight hundred five eight eight, two three hundred—Empire Today!”
5. “Ding! You are now free to move about the country.”—Southwest Airlines
6. “Petland discounts, for the best that a pet can get.”
7. “McDonald’s—I’m loving it.”
8. “Subway—eat fresh.”
9. “Stop at the green!”—Hess Gasoline
10. “Dude, you’re getting a Dell!”

If the melody lines are accessible and/or memorable, there’s a greater chance that both the words and music of a responsorial antiphon will remain with the worshipper, regardless of genre.

By contrast, it’s much harder for me to remember on demand one verse of a hymn—even favorites. And this comes from someone more involved in church music than most. Sure, I can rattle off hundreds of titles and first lines, but that’s where it ends.* This tells me right away that usage of hymns in lieu of responses may be deficient.

How would someone apply the lessons of a hymn to everyday life if the person can’t remember it? Or, to use Madison Avenue again, who can rattle off all of the new features of the latest cell-phone you can get for free when you open a wireless account? The person who opens that account may not have used half of the phone’s features mentioned in the commercial one year after the account is opened—if the phone or account even survives that long.

How many antiphons can readers remember off the top of their heads? Hymns? Advertising slogans? Entire commercials?

*The only hymn I can recite is the Gloria, and only because it is sung every week.