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Views from the Choir Loft

Choir Rehearsal Is Prayer

Richard J. Clark · February 13, 2015

O I JUST FINISHED directing one of the most enjoyable choir rehearsals in quite some time. That is saying a lot because I usually feel highly energized by choir rehearsals. No matter how early in the morning my five year old and/or eleven month old sons wake me up, by the end of a choir rehearsal, I’m flooded with endorphins and can’t sleep — like right now. Ironically, it is quite possible we won’t get to sing the music we rehearsed — a problem everyone in Boston is facing this Sunday.

Oh, it was not the best sounding rehearsal by far. Many, including some of my best singers were unable to attend in part because of the 72” (182.88cm) of snow on the ground in Boston. It seems we are due for another 10-18” on early Sunday morning—the fourth major storm in three weeks. This annoys me. Why does it have to hit Saturday evening into Sunday morning? Even late Sunday morning works for me. I’ll figure out how to get back later. Oh, I almost forgot, I learned the National Guard was in front of my house during tonight’s rehearsal removing snow. I already got work without them. In fact my choirs have been showing up in surprisingly wonderful numbers despite all the recent snow.

I digress.

HIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST REHEARSALS because my volunteers, including two new singers this week, accomplished a great deal in their own right. They beautifully learned the Introit, Esto mihi in Deum protectorem from the Graduale Romanum, choral anthems for Sunday and Ash Wednesday, a beautiful psalm setting by Jeff Ostrowski (one of his best, Psalm 32), a communion proper, etc., etc. Without some of my best singers and many others missing, they responded thoughtfully and sensitively to correction and direction. New singers weren’t completely freaked out by trying to sing Gregorian notation, despite a lack of experience. They tackled various styles, as always, imbuing reverence and nuance. As such, the more I respect a choir’s ability, the more critical I am in rehearsal. I was very critical, and I was very proud of them.

I think many of us are lucky to experience this in choir rehearsal. While we left knowing Sunday’s weather forecast looked dire, I told them I was grateful for this time together in prayer. Rehearsal is prayer. These great texts of the church are prayer. Hopefully, the music we add is sacred, beautiful, and therefore, universal.

Snow annoys me, because selfishly, I’d like to implement what we so lovingly prepared. It may end up being that the prayer of rehearsal will have to be good enough this week. One of the best rehearsals ever might be followed up by a fizzle.

But it won’t be. I am deeply grateful for the beautiful people around me who also want to serve the Church and each other. This will live on in our hearts with more music to pray.

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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Richard J. Clark

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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Can You Spare 33 Seconds?

Here’s an audio excerpt (33 seconds) of a setting for Kyrie VIII which was recorded live last Sunday at our parish in Los Angeles. The setting (“Missa de Angelis”) is by composer Richard Rice, and you can download the free PDF if you click here and scroll to the bottom. I think Richard’s composition is marvelous. I missed a few notes on the organ, but I’ll get them right next time.

—Jeff Ostrowski
5 April 2021 • When Girls Sing

Covid restrictions here in California are still extremely severe—switching “two weeks to flatten the curve” into “two years to flatten the curve.” Since 2020, we’ve had police breaking into our church to check if everyone is wearing a mask…even when only 5-6 people are present! But we were allowed to have a small percentage of our singers back on Easter Sunday, and here is their live recording of the ancient Catholic hymn for Eastertide: Ad Cenam Agni Providi. The girls were so very excited to sing again—you can hear it in their voices!

—Jeff Ostrowski
29 March 2021 • FEEDBACK

“E.S.” in North Dakota writes: “I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU for all the hard work you have put—and continue to put—into your wonderful website. In the past two years, my parish has moved from a little house basement into a brand new church and gone from a few families receiving Low Masses twice a month to several families (and many individuals) receiving Mass every Sunday, two Saturdays a month, and every Holy Day. Our priest has been incorporating more and more High Masses and various ceremonies into our lives, which has made my job as a huge newbie choir master very trying and complicated. CCWatershed has been an invaluable resource in helping me get on my feet and know what to do!!! Thank you more than I can express! May God bless you abundantly and assist you in your work and daily lives!”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

A hymn verse need not be a complete sentence, but it must have completed sense as a recognisable part of the complete sentence, and at each major pause there would be at least a “sense-pause.” Saint Ambrose and the early writers and centonists always kept to this rule. This indicates one of the differences between a poem and a hymn, and by this standard most of the modern hymns and the revisions of old hymns in the Breviary stand condemned.

— Fr. Joseph Connelly

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