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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

A Musical Diet

Dr. Lucas Tappan · June 17, 2015

EVERAL WEEKS AGO, a friend of mine and I stood outside after Mass discussing literature and music. He is an English professor at the local university with an incredible grasp on the nature of a classical education and I am a musician who likes to talk. At one point, he asked me what kind of music I listen to in my down time, and I had to confess that I have so little love for pop culture that I am the freak who jogs listening to Viennese Masses and the like (there is nothing better for jogging than the Gloria from Haydn’s Heiligmesse). Outside of German folk music (it’s a family thing), my musical tastes gravitate toward classical music, including everything from chant to Taverner and MacMillan.

Such prodding made me curious to know if my friend read things like The Hunger Games, or if he kept strictly to the classics. He never gave me a direct answer, but he did tell me that literature is like food. Everyone’s diet should consist mostly of either good or great food (this was his tip of the hat to John Senior), otherwise one gets sick. At the same time, there is nothing wrong with a little junk food now and again (I assume he was talking about The Hunger Games), as long as one stays clear of anything poisonous (he gave the example of Fifty Shades of Gray). We eventually ended the conversation when our kids got restless, but I kept thinking about his analogy and how it applied to the music we hear every Sunday at Mass.

Ideally, one should enjoy a lot of good and great music, such as chant and polyphony, excellent hymns and beautiful Mass Ordinaries, either choral or congregational. At the same time, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing to sing to some schlock every now and again. I find that each generation has music, not necessarily of high quality, they are attached to for various reasons. Unfortunately, most parishes get their musical diets backwards, providing their parishioners (and ultimately the good Lord) with nothing but junk food and poison. I had to cringe once when I found myself at St. So-and-so and the cantor announced the hymn for Holy Communion, Precious body, precious blood, here IN bread and wine. Yikes!!! I asked my wife if we ended up at the local Lutheran church by mistake.

I usually hear the argument that this is what a certain congregation is used to and to change would be pastorally insensitive, or perhaps the pastor has bigger problems than music to deal with. When I respectfully disagree with these points I get the response, “Okay, so what would YOU do?” All right, that’s a fair question. Here is my response as a musical dietitian.

STEP ONE

If I were to find myself newly appointed to the musical helm of St. So-and-so, my first act would be to ask each organist, cantor, pianist, guitarist and choir member, you name it, to meet me for an hour at the local coffee shop in order to get to know them personally. I would find out about each one’s history at the parish, musical tastes, etc. I would ask if there were anything he or she felt they needed from me or from the parish to grow as a Christian or as a musician. Did they have any suggestions or hopes for music at the parish? Believe me, I know I would receive all kinds of answers. Someone would tell me that her favorite song was Precious body, precious blood. I would be prepared for anything, but I WOULD NOT try to convince them otherwise at that point. I would only get to know them. They would appreciate this more than I could ever imagine.

STEP TWO

Secondly, I would go through my parish’s hymnal and strike out any hymns that were openly heretical (I WOULD NOT strike out the junk food yet—depending on the hymnal, I might not have anything left). I would work through this list with the pastor, since he needs to be involved in the process, and get his feedback. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t find more than half a dozen openly heretical heretical hymns, which I would simply stop scheduling, and I would not send a letter to the musicians bringing it to their attention. This would simply cause an uproar. Most people wouldn’t notice anyway, and I would deal with those who did on a person-to-person basis.

STEP THREE

Thirdly, I would ask every group in the parish to start using the same singable setting of the Mass Ordinary for the next year. Proulx’s A Community Mass or The Heritage Mass come to mind (you might call me a traitor at this point, but if you think you can introduce even an English chant setting this early in your work, you are signing your own death warrant). If I were an average parishioner with no musical expertise,  two things would drive me batty. The first would consist of being forced to sing settings of the Mass that were overly syncopated and whose melodies jumped all over the place. The second would be having to learn a new setting of the Ordinary only six weeks after the last one had been introduced. No wonder Catholics don’t sing!

STEP FOUR

Fourthly, I would begin introducing one new piece of music every six months, either a new hymn or perhaps a chanted Kyrie, while at the same time discreetly removing another piece of schlock from the line-up.

STEP FIVE

Lastly, I would invite anyone willing to form a special group that I would teach to sing the Communio at one Mass each Sunday while father distributed Holy Communion to the army of Eucharistic Ministers (I would still begin the hymn as soon as father began distributing Communion to the rest of the congregation). After a couple of years I might even teach them to sing the Introit as a prelude. I have found that if I don’t subtract anything from the parish’s normal routine, I can usually get away with adding one thing.

I realize what I propose seems like moving forward at a snail’s pace, but considering how long the average parishioner has been in the liturgical and musical desert, anything more would cause the musical equivalent of refeeding syndrome, and you might as well hand in your resignation. You will slowing turn your congregation from arsonic and cyanide, chips and soda, to meat and potatoes. Who knows, you might even serve them a lobster one day!

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 Dr. Lucas Tappan

Dr. Lucas Tappan is a conductor and organist whose specialty is working with children. He lives in Kansas with his wife and four children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ the High Priest on Calvary is and will remain the basis for the active participation of the faithful in the liturgy. Membership in the Church, which is brought about by valid baptism, makes one a part of the Mystical Body of Christ, THE PRIEST, to whose priesthood one is interiorly conformed through the baptismal character.”

— “Divini Cultus Studium” (Dr. Robert A. Skeris, 1990)

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