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Views from the Choir Loft

Is your Congregation Ready?

Andrew Leung · March 5, 2015

CTL Congregation AN YOU BELIEVE IT?, The Sacred Triduum will be here in less than a month. The Holy Week is the highest point of the liturgical year and this is my first one as a full-time music director. As I mentioned here, preparation with the choir is very important and is the key to prayerful singing. I have been working really hard with my choirs. But other than working with the choir, it is also very important to be a “pastoral” musician. When I say “pastoral”, I mean to care about the spiritual needs of the people, not just give them what they want.

In the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium), the Church asks that:

“All the faithful should be led to that fully conscious, active participation in the liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy, and to which the Christian people, ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people’ (1 Pet. 2:9, 4-5) have a right and obligation by reason of their baptism.”|

I am sure that many music directors, like me, have “big plans” for this upcoming Holy Week. As music directors, one of the ways to help the congregation to enter into prayer during the Sacred Triduum is through catechesis. It is very important to educate the congregation so that they will be prepared for the “big plans”. I wrote a short note on my parish bulletin last Sunday explaining what the Proper is and why we chant at Mass. And I am going to write another note soon explaining why the choir will be singing a polyphonic Mass on Holy Thursday. This kind of formation helps people understand more about the Church’s teaching and participate in the Liturgy more actively.

Of course, liturgical catechesis should also be given outside of Holy Week; but Holy Week is such an important and special time of the liturgical year. The Liturgies of the Triduum are so rich and beautiful. It is the perfect time to show people the true sacred music and help them to better appreciate its beauty.

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 Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Gerard Manley Hopkins once argued that most people drank more liquids than they really needed and bet that he could go without drinking for a week. He persisted until his tongue was black and he collapsed at drill.”

— A biography of Fr. Gerard M. Hopkins (d. 1889)

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