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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

The Real Reason We Sing

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · November 8, 2017

4015 Alfred Calabrese OST PEOPLE join a church choir because they love to sing sacred music. Some love the chance to sing chant or Renaissance polyphony, some love the chance to sing in extra things like concerts or during the Christmas season, some sing because they have their favorite pieces and they know that eventually the choir will get around to singing it again. There are several other reasons why people join choirs and they’re all good reasons. But sometimes it’s important to remind choirs the real reason we are doing what we’re doing.

Last Thursday we had the opportunity to sing for the first ever Requiem Mass for All Souls in our parish. We hired an orchestra, and for the propers sang the Fauré Requiem (with movements shifted appropriately). I constructed a catafalque, someone sewed a black pall, our priest wore a beautiful black vestment, we used the altar bells at the epiclesis and elevations (which has not happened here for years), and we had lots and lots of incense. It was a beautiful and seminal moment in the life of this parish. The choir loved doing it, but I felt that I needed to remind them that apart from the good feeling they got about themselves for being part of this, there was a bigger reason to consider.

Below is the letter I wrote to them following the Mass.

Dear Choir,

Thursday night was wonderful and I’m proud of your hard work and commitment. Like anything else, live renderings have their strengths and weaknesses and we can talk about all of that another time. But I’d like to bring a perspective to what we did, and why.

Q. Was it great fun to sing the Fauré Requiem? Of course.

Q. Was it neat to see the black vestments and black draped catafalque? Yes.

Q. Was it a cool to hear the altar bells rung during the Mass? You bet.

All of that is great and gives us reasons to love doing this. But here is what is really important. We, the Church, are the custodians of the good, the true, and the beautiful. What’s true is beautiful and what’s beautiful is true. The ars celebrandi (the way Mass is celebrated) is directly related to the idea of lex orandi, lex credendi (what we pray is what we believe).

Bells, smells, Latin texts, chants, beautiful vestments, reverent gestures, formal traditions, are more than just cool, neat, warm memories of days gone by. The art of the church in all its forms brings us out of the everyday culture and places us nearer to heaven. The Mass is truly the near-collision of earth and heaven, as close as we can get without actually piercing the veil.

We, as liturgical musicians, are caretakers of the most important of the sacred arts, and it should at all times be good, true, and beautiful. In a culture that is absent of beauty, when noise is all around us, when goodness is an unknown quantity, when ugliness and iconoclasm reign supreme in our architecture, when the secular has replaced the sacred, then what we did is important. Not because we are good, but because it is good.

I will always consider myself an academic, a teacher. And so you, by default, are a teaching choir, teaching those gathered in our church what the deposit of the faith is all about. The spiritual effect is immense and yet unknown. We may never know the fruits of it. But we know it is good, and true, and beautiful.

God bless,

Al

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

    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 21st in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir returns on Sunday, 24 August 2025. Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for it, which is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website. When it comes to the feast of the Assumption (15 August 2025), I have uploaded the music list for that Mass—but not the “bi-lingual” Mass in the evening (Spanish, Latin, and English) which has completely different music.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Entrance Chant” • 21st Sunday Ordin. Time
    You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) which is coming up on 24 August 2025. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. It’s set in a melancholy mode, but if you heard my choir’s female voices singing it your soul would be uplifted beyond belief. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I tried to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“Gerard Manley Hopkins once argued that most people drank more liquids than they really needed and bet that he could go without drinking for a week. He persisted until his tongue was black and he collapsed at drill.”

— A biography of Fr. Gerard M. Hopkins (d. 1889)

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