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Views from the Choir Loft

Restoring Catholic Music in the Home

Veronica Brandt · June 15, 2013

LITTLE WHILE AGO another mother said she would like to teach her children good hymns but she had no idea where to start. She had a feeling that the music at her local parish was not enough and she could do better, but with no training she felt totally inadequate to the task.

My first reaction was – just go trawl youtube and see what you like. That’s what I would do. But I have twenty years or more experience of trawling through hymnbooks. Much of this music is totally new to most of the Catholic population. It’s like someone wanting to learn to swim and pointing to the ocean and saying “Go for your life! Heaps of water in there.”

But, on the other hand, taste in music is subjective, especially in what you sing at home. The whole point of hymns is to be an aid to prayer. If it works for your family, then go for it! Everyone in the house is going to have different favourites. By listening to their feedback, your own family’s style will emerge.

Keep fishing for new music too. The more you learn, the more you can learn. Music directors keep getting told to slow down introducing new music, but in the home that doesn’t matter so much. Your group is smaller and easier to manoeuvre than the average parish.

Something I realised I could do to help was to post a new hymn and chant each week. So far I’ve managed three weeks. I send out an email each Friday with the links. There’s also a little copywork sheet with a few words from the upcoming Sunday’s gospel (Extraordinary Form so far). See brandt.id.au if this appeals to you.

In necessities, unity. In doubtful matters, liberty. In all things, charity.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: September 18, 2022

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
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“Parish Priests have to think first of the simple faithful: people now used to the Roman Missal at Mass. They don’t want change.”

— Cardinal Spellman (one of the Vatican II fathers)

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