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Views from the Choir Loft

Chris Mueller’s Unique Voice in the Propers

Richard J. Clark · December 6, 2013

HRIS MUELLER is an astonishingly prolific composer, director and performer. His extraordinary musicianship comes to mind as a natural follow-up to my to my Challenge for the “Big Three” – Is there a Market for the Propers?

Heard on NPR, EWTN, and at the 2012 Sacred Music Colloquium, his Missa pro editione tertia, is perhaps already familiar to many of you.

From his own website:

Appointed in February, 2012 as the Director of Music for the Basilica of St. John the Evangelist in Stamford, CT, and following 12 1/2 years as the Director of Music for the Church of Notre Dame, Christopher Mueller (pronounced “miller”) conducts Gregorian chant and sacred Renaissance polyphony for the 12:00 p.m. Mass late on Sunday mornings. He has composed over 200 sacred choral works, the bulk of which were written for parish liturgies. Many, though not all of them, are settings of Gregorian chants – for instance, there is a nearly complete cycle of the Sunday Introits.

VERY UNIQUE COLLECTION is his quickly growing set of free-composed English Offertory propers. Many of them are available for purchase on his website and you can click on “Audio Samples” to hear some of them. I hope he publishes a collection of his works—most likely in several volumes!

In the past year, I have had the privilege of previewing a large number of his Offertories. While Mr. Mueller refers to them as “miniatures” they are only modest in length, but not in treatment. Each is unique and made fully alive in the text it serves. They are short enough to be accessible for many parish choirs, but reveal a depth of character that gives them lasting power. He has developed a voice all of his own, a voice that greatly serves the liturgy in beauty and in prayer.

One can spend a great deal of time on his website listening and learning. It is perhaps just a small testament of a lifetime of commitment to producing music that is sacred, beautiful and universal. His stamina and commitment are exactly what the Church needs. I don’t believe he will stop anytime soon!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Propers Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    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?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“If the right is given to African tribes to include their pagan traditions in the liturgy, I think the same should also be given to the rite of a thousand year-old Christian Church, based on a much older Roman tradition.”

— Professor László Dobszay

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