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Views from the Choir Loft

Getting the most from your choir: Passion

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · September 24, 2015

259 Gloria In Excelsis N LITURGICAL MUSIC, based as it is on biblical faith, there is, therefore, a clear dominance of the Word; this music is a higher form of proclamation.” (The Spirit of the Liturgy, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, p.149)

This statement really gets my juices flowing! It makes me passionate about what we do each week in choir rehearsals and Sunday Masses. The texts that we are privileged to sing are truly the focus of our work. How we prepare and present those texts, couched so often within masterfully crafted music, is a crucial element in the success of a liturgical choir or schola. Here are just a few of the things I try to keep in mind when preparing to conduct music for the liturgy:

Look deeply into the text. Often in singing Renaissance polyphony, too many people think of the music as ‘old’ or ‘ancient,’ and end up producing a perfect but antiseptic rendering of the piece. But early music was new once! Remember, Renaissance composers are people too. They had feelings. How does Victoria’s priestly vocation affect how he sets a text? Can Byrd’s status as a persecuted Catholic in reformed England be heard in his music? Study the life of composers. Do they have a special devotion? How does their age at the time of composition affect the piece?

Fall in love with what the choir is singing. Why did you choose this piece? What do you love about it? It could be the texture, the beautiful chord structure, the overall affekt, or just one special phrase. Whatever it is, find it, teach it, and communicate it with heartfelt passion.

Be passionate about diction. Take great care to teach and insist on round, classical vowels, devoid of regional accents and colloquial pronunciations. The most formal approach to diction lends beauty and importance to the text, which is, after all, what we are presenting. If we value beautiful vestments and vessels, expect precise and practiced gestures from liturgical ministers, and insist on art and architecture that speaks to a New Heaven and New Earth, then only our very best efforts at a pronunciation that is elevated from the mundane will suffice for the Holy Mass.

Passion for words and for the work of preparing and presenting liturgical and sacred music is a tremendous engine for achieving the very best results. Again, from The Spirit of the Liturgy, (p.209):

“…the Church as a whole must, for the sake of God, strive for the best, for from the very nature of the liturgy—by an inner necessity—comes a culture that becomes a standard for all secular culture.”

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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Dr. Alfred Calabrese

About Dr. Alfred Calabrese

Dr. Alfred Calabrese is Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Rita Catholic Church in Dallas, TX. He and his wife have two children.—(Read full biography).

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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“One must pray to God not only with theologically precise formulas, but also in a beautiful and dignified way. The Christian community must make an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy.”

— Pope Saint John Paul II (26 February 2003)

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