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Views from the Choir Loft

Showing Off During Mass

Aurelio Porfiri · January 20, 2015

440 John Vianney Mass Quote LEASE CONSIDER WITH ME the following scenarios: your doctor is curing a health problem for you and he demonstrates good medical skills, but you’re unhappy about that; your driver shows his ability to drive you properly, but that drives you crazy; the teacher of your children is so excellent it makes you insane…

Yes, you think there is something wrong here: it’s you.

Now, these apparently nonsensical situations are very common in one field: church music. It happens, quite frequently, that if the choir is singing well or in polyphony there is always the frustrated person that feels compelled to comment that they are showing off. Of course sometimes people show off, but going from one extreme to the other is not the right solution: IN MEDIO STAT VIRTUS (“virtue stands in the middle”).

We know that the choir also has to help the congregation to join in some parts of the Mass. But please ponder that carefully. “Also” is not “only,” but “also.” However the real problem here does not deal with liturgy, but rather with insecurities and frustrations of people raising this kind of objection. Where we should praise God for showing His greatness through the work of dedicated choirs, there are some who would rather take pleasure in having the whole world matching their level of mediocrity.

We need to know that it is good to resist to these ways of falling down to mediocrity. The American writer Scott Alexander says it very well: “All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy.” When people talk to me about lowering standards to meet the needs of the people, it is like wanting to help the poor by being sure to remain poor.

Many years ago I had a spiritual director that gave me a lesson that I have never forgotten: beware of the evilness of mediocre people. I came to realize that mediocrity is possibly the worst sin, because it’s the mother and father of many other sins. When we make ourselves beautiful for God, in our singing, painting, preaching and so on, we are doing what we would do for someone we truly love. We give our best for God, like the widow of the Gospel, giving little when you only have little, giving more when you have more. God is not a lover deserving to be loved with cheap stuff.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Aurelio Porfiri

Renowned as composer, conductor, theorist, author, pedagogue, and organist, Aurelio Porfiri has served the Church on multiple continents at the highest levels. Born and raised in Italy, he currently serves as Director of Choral Activities and Composer in Residence for Santa Rosa de Lima School (Macao, China).

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Quick Thoughts

    PDF • “For General Use Until Advent”
    If you conduct a volunteer choir, you might consider using this Simple Piece #40273 (“Adésto Sáncta Trínitas”) which can be used during the rest of the liturgical season until Advent. It's based on the well known hymn tune: OLD HUNDREDTH. Rehearsal videos are available at #40691. A live recording of #40273 (“Adésto Sáncta Trínitas”) by a volunteer choir is here (#40065).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • (This Coming Sunday)
    Our volunteer choir appreciates training videos, so here's my attempt at recording “Exáudi Dómine Vocem Meam,” which is the INTROIT for this coming Sunday. This coming Sunday is Dominica Post Ascensionem (“Sunday after the feast of the Ascension”). It is sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Volunteer Choir Attempts “Kýrie Eléison”
    My volunteer choir attempted the polyphonic KYRIE that will be sung at this year's Sacred Music Symposium. If you're interested, you can listen to the live recording from last Sunday. The piece is based on the ancient plainchant hymn melody: Ave Maris Stella. Polyphony like this is truly intricate and wonderful. It reminds me of the quote by Artur Schnabel: “music that's greater than it can be performed.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

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“Worse, composers are now setting the introits of the missal [instead of the Graduale] to music, even to chant, though these texts were explicitly for spoken recitation only.”

— ‘Dr. William Mahrt (Fall, 2015)’

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