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Views from the Choir Loft

Kids Are Colorblind But Adults Are Not

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · May 3, 2017

AST WEEK in my article, I mentioned my daughter, so I thought this week I’d reference my son. When he was about three years old we lived in Atlanta and he was in a daycare with children of many different races. His best friend there was a Chinese boy. My son never asked about the color of anyone’s skin or the shape of their eyes. To him and all the other kids there, they were just kids—all the same. They didn’t have any prejudices or biases. Here’s a beautiful example of what I’m talking about.


Isn’t this kind of colorblindness always the case? Until, of course, adults and society get involved, and begin to inflict their biases on children. I’ve often thought that this is what happens with music, especially music in the Church.

ANYONE INVOLVED WITH TEACHING music to children, especially very young children, will know that they’ll gladly sing anything you put in front of them. If they know you like it, they’ll like it. If you tell them, “this is what you’re supposed to do,” they’ll gladly do it. It’s been wonderful to hear the first and second graders in our school sing hymns like Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All (SWEET SACRAMENT). They absolutely love it! It’s equally great to know that my choir kids love Panis Angelicus and Fauré’s Ave Maria.

Too often, however, adults (parents, teachers, older children) tell them that’s not the music they’re supposed to like. It’s not cool. And besides, aren’t kids supposed to be cute? What normal kid would like Latin? What modern Catholic kid wouldn’t want to sing something exciting, with fun things like clapping and stamping and raising up their arms? It’s when they experience these prejudices that kids start to think twice, biases set in, and we’ve lost them.

What’s both interesting and sad is when adults with these prejudices hear children joyfully singing traditional music, they dismiss it as an aberration. Further, they often stereotype these kids. They’ll say that the little ones are too young to know better, or that the choir kids are just a little “different” (weird, or worse). “Just wait until they become teenagers,” they say, “then they’ll really rebel.”

I’m convinced that kids and teens have been taught by adults with an agenda to dislike solid hymnody, chant, and anything that smacks of tradition in the Church. So many adults find it necessary to inflict their prejudices on these children instead of just staying out of it. I think I know why. Do you?

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 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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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“I have, on the other hand, retained several more or less traditional tunes, absolutely valueless and without merit from a musical point of view, but which seem to have become a necessity if a book is to appeal—as I hope this one will—to the varied needs of various churches.”

— A. Edmonds Tozer (1905)

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