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Views from the Choir Loft

The Choir Isn’t Everything

Richard J. Clark · September 23, 2016

USIC AT MASS is all about the choir, right? Wait, the cantor on a microphone? Really it’s all about the organist who can play the loudest. The musicians provide all the music that is important or that is needed, right? But the most obviously element to sacred music is often the most overlooked.

What happens when a priest sings the Greeting? Intones the Gloria? Sings the Collect? The Preface Dialogue and Preface? The Institution Narrative? The Lord’s Prayer? Etc.?

What is going on here?

The priest is singing more than the choir. The priest is singing the Mass. The people are responding to the dialogues. The choir sings. The people sing even more. Fitting are the words of the Exsultet: “Let this holy building shake with joy!”

Where appropriate, the choir sings. The choir has its role—a very important one: sometimes to simply sing with the congregation or enhance, fostering the unity of the faithful and exterior participation. Other times it is to sing alone to foster interior participation.

The choir’s role is indeed important, but it is only a part of a larger unified role. Ideally, sacred music is a wider effort that goes well beyond the choir loft. It emanates from the choir loft and from the sanctuary. It comes to fruition in the pews and resonates in song and in the heart. Music—hence prayer—is unified throughout the sacred space.

The priest’s musical role is enormously influential for the congregation. But not all priests are comfortable singing. Remember, a small amount of singing from a priest will yield enormous dividends. This can not be emphasized enough. Even singing recto tono (singing on one note only) for the Greeting or Collect can energize a congregation. (Keep it simple!) This in turn can kick start a congregation to sing everything else more robustly.

I encourage all priests to sing even a little bit. I encourage all music directors to work with and encourage their clergy. A few notes at Mass will be a mustard seed that will yield great fruit.

At all times, all sacred music—whether sung by the priest, choir, or congregation—the role of sacred music is to help the faithful pray the texts of the Mass. Ultimately, whatever our individual role is during the liturgy, all are working towards the same goal: the edification and sanctification of the people—the salvation of souls.

PRIESTS! DEACONS! CHOIRS! Want to sing the Mass and learn the chants of The Roman Missal? Here they are:

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: ICEL Chants, Singing the Mass Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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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).

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Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
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    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
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    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.

— Pope Benedict XVI, Letter accompanying “Summorum Pontificum” (7/7/07)

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