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Views from the Choir Loft

The Future of the Pipe Organ

Fr. David Friel · March 15, 2015

OMETHING HAS STUCK with me since I read an early post of our new contributor, Dr. Lucas Tappan. In his second post, he recalls his parish priest offering to pay for the organ lessons of any student in 4th – 8th grade who was willing to learn. That generous endeavor turned at least one young man into an organist.

A recent article in the Catholic News Herald (newspaper of the Diocese of Charlotte, NC) addresses the modern travails of the pipe organ in Catholic worship, but with a decidedly positive outlook toward the future.

The article interviews Paul Skevington, a past chairman of the NPM section for organists. Skevington observes that the main problem is not so much a shortage of organists, but rather a dearth of full-time, well-paying, church organist positions. This strikes me as sad, especially in a Church that grants principium locum (“principal place,” as translated by Dr. Mahrt) to the pipe organ. Too often, the instrument that should hold “principal place” in the sacred liturgy is allocated “no place” in parish budgets.

These ideas have been rolling around my head for the last couple of weeks. The result is the following set of three easy steps to be taken at the parish level:

1. Increase the amount of funding allocated to sacred music. Quality music programs come at a cost, but so do poor music programs. The difference is that quality music programs only cost money, whereas poor music programs cost money & parishioners.

2. Deliberately foster the talents of potential young organists. What better investment could a parish make than to offer lessons for a couple of its aspiring musicians? If you want to go whole hog, pay to send them to the CMAA Colloquium, too.

3. Help parish building committees to understand that the cost of a pipe organ & its maintenance are worth it. If a parish is building a new church or undertaking a renovation, make sure to include qualified musicians in the design phase. Instruments, choir areas, & acoustics should never be treated as mere afterthoughts.

Most of our readers do not need to be convinced of the importance of the pipe organ or the “principal place” it deserves. But perhaps we could choose one or more of these steps and become a leader at the parish level. That’s where real change happens, and that’s where the future of the pipe organ will be secured or lost.

“The manifold possibilities of the organ remind us of the immensity and the magnificence of God.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Passing on Tradition, Pipe Organ, Sacred Music Colloquium, Simple Steps To Improve Parish Music Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

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

“No official approbation is required for hymns, songs, and acclamations written for the assembly.”

— Statement by the “Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy” (10-NOV-1996)

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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