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Views from the Choir Loft

A self-fulfilling prophecy and why we don’t sing the Creed

Richard J. Clark · November 28, 2014

HOPE THE TIDE IS TURNING. I believe it is. But still how many times have we heard: “We shouldn’t use that because nobody can sing it”? This reasoning is often applied to various chants, (if not all chants), especially in Latin. Startlingly, I’ve heard this in reference to the simplest of chants, including Ubi Caritas and Missa XVIII or the ICEL Chants based on such. The logic of avoiding chant is justified by its very neglect, so therefore we must avoid it even further.

This is a self-fulfilling prophecy, is it not? Don’t sing something because it won’t yield instant external results. Of course, the people won’t sing something that’s been neglected for decades. Shall we pound the nail into the coffin ever deeper by continuing the status quo? Or shall we do the hard work required to preserve and foster our treasure of sacred music with great care as Vatican II demands? (Sacrosanctum Concilium §114) Additionally, Sacrosanctum Concilium §115 states: “Great importance is to be attached to the teaching and practice of music in seminaries, in the novitiates and houses of study of religious of both sexes, and also in other Catholic institutions and schools. To impart this instruction, teachers are to be carefully trained and put in charge of the teaching of sacred music.”

Furthermore, the 2007 US Bishop’s document Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship (SttL) states:

75. Each worshiping community in the United States, including all age groups and all ethnic groups, should, at a minimum, learn Kyrie XVI, Sanctus XVIII, and Agnus Dei XVIII, all of which are typically included in congregational worship aids. More difficult chants, such as Gloria VIII and settings of the Credo and Pater Noster, might be learned after the easier chants have been mastered.

The document also encourages:

132. “…one should never underestimate the ability of persons of all ages, cultures, languages, and levels of education to learn something new and to understand things that are properly and thoroughly introduced.

ITH REGARD TO THE CREED, not singing it is a bit more curious. Why do we not sing what we profess to believe? This is arguably one of the most important liturgical actions of the mass and therefore demands “greater solemnity.” (“…sacred music is to be considered the more holy in proportion as it is more closely connected with the liturgical action…” S.C., §112. )

However, it is lengthy and perhaps intimidating to some. But my feeling is that the impediment at this time is more cultural than musical: For example, Anglo-Catholics would rarely consider not singing the Creed. They sing it every week, usually the same setting and in English, so to them it’s musically easy. It is part of their culture.

And it used to be part of ours. It still is in some pockets. But forget the complaining and let’s take stock of where we are now. How can singing the Creed become a regular part of the liturgy once again?

1 • Heed the direction of SttL §75 & §132 (above), with special attention that music and concepts in liturgy be “properly and thoroughly introduced.”

2 • Pick only one setting of the Creed and sing it every week. Would one expect a Gloria, no less a Credo, to be learned by a congregation in just one or two weeks or with sporadic use? This will take time and patience. It will not yield instant results.

3 • We must catechize: Why sing the Creed at all? Because it is an extraordinarily important liturgical action of the priest and congregation together. Its purpose is “…that the whole gathered people may respond to the Word of God proclaimed in the readings taken from Sacred Scripture…and that they may also honor and confess the great mysteries of the faith…” (GIRM §67) Singing brings about a fully active response to the Liturgy of the Word. Confessing the great mysteries of our faith is greatly enhanced by the marriage of melody and word. Music often expresses the mysteries that words alone cannot.

RECENTLY HAD A REVEALING CONVERSATION with my mother. She grew up in the 1930s and 40s in a parish in New York City where they sang the Credo every week. Remarkably, she said, “It’s easy,” as she sang the Credo III from memory. She hasn’t sung it in over fifty years. (Not a professional musician, she was a school teacher in NYC.) Who today would say singing “Credo III” is easy? Anyone who grew up singing it every week. It was normative. Not controversial. Easy.

Can we ever get there again? Perhaps not anytime soon for most parishes, but yes for those with vision and courage. Consider that with the new ICEL Chants, the leap is no longer so great. The ICEL version of Credo I is not at all intimidating when one experiences its repeated phrases. Also, singing it in English may reduce anxiety for some pastors who may consider taking the leap:

      * *   There’s also the ICEL version of Credo III, here although I suspect this one is still easier in Latin.

Need an accompaniment? Here they are for free from ICEL:
      * *  ICEL Chant, Credo I | Organ Accompaniment | • Roman Missal, Third Edition
      * *  ICEL Chant, Credo III | Organ Accompaniment | • Roman Missal, Third Edition

      * *  Or try Jeff Ostrowski’s gorgeous St. Felix Creed with free scores.

      * *  Or an SATB Creed from the Mass of the Angels | Gary Penkala’s description here:

“The Credo can be handled responsorially, with the congregation singing the opening phrase of Credo III, “Credo in unum Deum,” accompanied by organ, as a refrain. The cantor (unison) or choir (SATB) would then sing eight verses, in pairs, to a recurring pattern, with a refrain after each pair of verses. The congregation also may sing the full text to the recurring pattern. The movement ends with the Amen music from Credo III.”

It takes fortitude to try to sing a Credo every week. But in time, it should bear much fruit. My prayers are with you!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Musical Setting of the Creed, Singing the Credo, Singing the Mass 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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President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

At papal Masses, the regulations against tardiness were more stringent than at Masses celebrated by cardinals or bishops. Giovanni Maria Nanino records that any singer who is not in his place—and in his vestments—by the end of the repetition of the “Introit” will be fined eight vinti. At papal Vespers, the singer who is not present at the “Gloria Patri” of the first psalm pays a fine of fifty balocchi.

— Giovanni M. Nanino (d. 1607), Papal “Maestro di Cappella”

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday

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