Views from the Choir Loft

Believe. Connect. Disappear.

Richard J. Clark · October 2, 2015

HAVE MELLOWED considerably in my old age. So I thought. But it’s not true. Even if I have, it’s not saying much. I have a very long way to go. But if I’ve softened in some ways, I’ve become much more intense in others. Priorities are clarified and heightened. Yet, the soul is relatively more centered, I pray.

And then there are days I feel I’m more of a mess than I’ve ever been. Then it’s time to remember God is in charge, and we are to serve Him.

Service to God and the faithful is the primary responsibility of our roles in the liturgy. If I have calmed my musical approach as an organist or director, it is because I have become more intense about this notion of service.

For example, the older I get, the more I spend time practicing and preparing hymns and service music. I play mass every day. Shouldn’t I know these, just show up and play them? Yes, I could do that. But I’m spending even more time choosing the specifics of text, tune, harmonization, and registration. Why? Because this is one of the most important things I must do in a week. I owe it to the people and to God. The flashy postlude is of far lesser importance.

As years go by, I prepare more—not in order to receive accolades—but to become invisible. To be solid, reliable, and therefore unnoticed is an essential goal these days. My, I have mellowed! But not: to lead and uplift while pointing away from myself and toward God is the ultimate goal I’m chasing.

R. RYAN DUNS, S.J., a newly ordained priest, shared with me a simple guide from his homiletics class: Believe. Connect. Disappear. It is something he clearly puts into practice during his wonderfully edifying homilies. This is also a great model for liturgical musicians.

We must not only make beautiful music on the surface. We must also believe fervently in our hearts in order to inspire and therefore connect.

Then we must step aside in order to allow the faithful to take this sacred melody and text into their hearts.

ALL SACRED MUSIC MUST BE CENTERED IN CHRIST. It must point to God alone and to no one else. Doing so serves the faithful. As musicians for the liturgy, this is our true goal.

AMDG

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

About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

“Common” Responsorial Psalm?

I try to avoid arguing about liturgical legislation (even with Catholic priests) because it seems like many folks hold certain views—and nothing will persuade them to believe differently. You can show them 100 church documents, but it matters not. They won’t budge. Sometimes I’m confronted by people who insist that “there’s no such thing” as a COMMON RESPONSORIAL PSALM. When that happens, I show them a copy of the official legislation in Latin. I have occasionally prevailed by means of this method.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • 5th Sunday of Easter (Year C)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 5th Sunday of Easter (18 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The Communion Antiphon was ‘restored’ the 1970 Missale Romanum (a.k.a. MISSALE RECENS) from an obscure martyr’s feast. Our choir is on break this Sunday, so the selections are relatively simple in nature.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Communion Chant (5th Sunday of Easter)

This coming Sunday—18 May 2025—is the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year C (MISSALE RECENS). The COMMUNION ANTIPHON “Ego Sum Vitis Vera” assigned by the Church is rather interesting, because it comes from a rare martyr’s feast: viz. Saint Vitalis of Milan. It was never part of the EDITIO VATICANA, which is the still the Church’s official edition. As a result, the musical notation had to be printed in the Ordo Cantus Missae, which appeared in 1970.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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