Corpus Christi Watershed

Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

Views from the Choir Loft

Are Hymns Boring?

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686 ORGANIST HE MAJORITY of parishes I’ve attended sing hymns like this:

1st Verse:   Congregation, choir, & organ

2nd Verse:   Congregation, choir, & organ

3rd Verse:   Congregation, choir, & organ

4th Verse:   Congregation, choir, & organ

5th Verse:   Congregation, choir, & organ

6th Verse:   Congregation, choir, & organ


By the fourth verse, I’m already asleep … so boring!   Here’s how I like to sing hymns:

1st Verse:   Treble voices only with soft organ registration

2nd Verse:   Entire congregation with louder organ registration

… organ interlude/improvisation

3rd Verse:   Men’s voices only with organ

4th Verse:   Entire congregation with even louder organ registration

… organ interlude/improvisation takes the hymn into a higher key

5th Verse:   Choir singing SATB harmony without organ accompaniment

6th Verse:   Entire congregation sings, men on the melody, women on a descant, while the organist plays a different harmonization with heavy chromaticism

By the way, Our Lady of the Atonement uses something similar, and it’s marvelous.

WHEN I WAS COMMISSIONED to compose accompaniments for strophic Gregorian hymns in the 2012 edition of the St. Michael Hymnal, I insisted on providing different harmonizations for each verse. After all, this has been “standard practice” for almost 100 years (at least when it comes to composers who really know what they’re doing). The editors were not able to include them all (since this would have made the book too large) but I made it part of our official agreement that a link would be included next to each piece, showing where they can download the full accompaniments, and the editors agreed. Here’s that link:

      * *  Organ accompaniments to Gregorian hymns in St. Michael’s Hymnal

Was this a big deal? If you look at the CRUX FIDELIS or the SALVE FESTA DIES, you’ll begin to understand why this task required many hours.

I provide a video demonstration here:

      * *  Video explanation of Gregorian accompaniments

One of the people involved with Watershed at that time asked, “Why are you giving away all your compositional secrets?” The answer is simple: Watershed has always been about doing whatever we can to improve Church music. That is why, for instance, we made all 3,000 pages of the NOH available (here) for free download in 2008.

In the end, “variety” is the name of the game. Here are some articles which explain the importance of variety in Catholic liturgical music:

      * *  The G.I.R.M. Mentions “Hymnus” Only Once

      * *  A Simple Plan To Improve Music At Mass

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

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Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization recognized by the state of Texas on 19 October 2006. Our statement of purpose notes that we “employ the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.”