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Views from the Choir Loft

Which Masses Would You Choose?

Fr. David Friel · April 3, 2016

PRIEST I KNOW is pastor of a small parish (roughly 150 families). He is working to introduce the beauty of sacred music and has arranged for musicians from local symphonies to provide music at the parish’s Christmas Midnight Mass and the Easter Vigil. In addition to SATB vocalists, the instrumentalists have included an organist, cellist, violinist, horn player, and trumpeter.

Such a project, of course, is limited by funding. At this point, the pastor would like to expand the number of Masses throughout the year at which these musicians play. He has set up two options.

Option 1: Bring in the musicians for the official Vigils of the Church. These Vigils include:

1. Easter

2. Christmas

3. Pentecost

4. Ascension

5. Nativity of St. John the Baptist

6. Saints Peter & Paul

Option 2: Arrange for the more festive music for certain Holy Days of Obligation. These feasts include:

1. Mary, Mother of God

2. Ascension

3. Assumption

4. All Saints

5. Immaculate Conception

6. Christmas

The goal of both options would be to help catechize the congregation about progressive solemnity and to reinforce the importance of either the Vigils or the Holy Days.

If you were this pastor, which option would you choose? If you were his music director, what recommendation would you give him? If you had the funding to add music to 2 or 3 more Masses in addition to Christmas at midnight and the Easter Vigil, which Masses would they be?

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty in the Catholic Liturgy, Progressive Solemnity, Simple Steps To Improve Parish Music Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
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    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
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    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
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