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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Mind, Senses and Recorded Music

Veronica Brandt · September 5, 2015

lots of tapes AST WEEKEND I was away from home and visited another parish for Sunday Mass. Instead of a choir they had recorded music. The lyrics were displayed on several screens along with parts of the Mass.

I know recorded music at Mass is generally discouraged if not forbidden. It got me thinking what the effect of this music has on people.

I stumbled across this example of understanding enhanced by subtitles which got me wondering about how much people understand of what we sing without screens to show them the words. At my regular parish Mass we don’t have screens and rely on people to pick up hymnbooks and turn to the right page, which doesn’t always happen.

Also this example shows how much our experience of music depends on what we already know. This could be used as an argument to stick to obvious, flat music and lyrics, but we have dozens of Catholic educational institutions across the city. We have so much infrastructure dedicated to education, surely we can manage to raise Catholics with that modicum of liturgical literacy to appreciate Catholic music.

You don’t need to be conversant in Latin to get something out of chant and polyphony in Latin. A little familiarity with some hymns and psalms in Latin goes a long way to understanding what the choir is singing.

Here is a study showing visual cues were more important than sound in determining the winners of a music competition. From what I can read in the supplementary material the competition was a more classical sort, so shouldn’t be relying on glitz and glamour for points. Watching the performers was a major part of the experience.

Many people judge Gregorian chant to be “boring” but how many people have heard it sung with love and care and skill? I think this may be part of why even an inexperienced choir singing beautiful music live can be an awesome, uplifting experience, which is sadly lost when you try to record them.

And if watching people sing enhances the experience, how much more when we join in the singing?

And how much is lost when we substitute a CD instead.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Recording Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
    All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser
    To assist our fundraiser, Mrs. Kathleen Ostrowski has drawn several beautiful sketches which she offers to all our readers free of charge. If you have a moment, I invite you download them at this link.
    —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

“Young people have entrusted me with their absolute preference for the Extraordinary Form… […] But, above all, how can we understand—how can we not be surprised and deeply shocked—that what was the rule yesterday is prohibited today? Is it not true that prohibiting or suspecting the Extraordinary Form can only be inspired by the demon who desires our suffocation and spiritual death?”

— Cardinal Sarah to Edward Pentin (23 September 2019)

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