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Views from the Choir Loft

Paul McCartney Likes Choir Music

Fr. David Friel · September 4, 2016

HIS IS A TIME for new beginnings in many facets of life. Among those things that start fresh in September, of course, is choir season.

Before you leap into practicing for fall Masses and—yes—for Advent and Christmas concerts, perhaps you are looking for something that will inspire you and your fellow singers to take up your art with renewed fervor.

I recently found such inspiration from an unlikely source. It appears that Sir Paul McCartney, the great Beatles singer-songwriter-guitarist, has a soft spot for choir music.

In his own words:

“I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity—to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.” — Sir Paul McCartney

Choir singing is so human (in the best sense) for many reasons. For certain, the teamwork involved is extraordinary, and the unity achieved by a good choir can be very rewarding, for both listeners and singers.

I love McCartney’s phrase about people “devoting themselves to a piece of music.” As a singer or choir director, do you do that? Have you experienced the thrill of really devoting your time and energy to making a piece of music come alive?

As choir seasons around the globe begin, I wish each of you many blessings. May your music enrich the prayer of your fellow worshippers, and may be a source of nourishment for your own soul!

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all you lands! Sing to the Lord; bless His name; announce His salvation, day after day! For great is the Lord and highly to be praised; awesome is He, beyond all gods. (Psalm 96)

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 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.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Unfortunately, on the one hand a deadly error in judgment placed the official leadership of this committee into the hands of a man who—though generous and brave—was not very knowledgeable: Cardinal Lercaro. He was utterly incapable of resisting the maneuvers of the mealy-mouthed scoundrel that the Neapolitan Vincentian, Bugnini, a man as bereft of culture as he was of basic honesty, soon revealed himself to be.”

— ‘Fr. Louis Bouyer, an important member of the Consilium’

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