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Views from the Choir Loft

I’ve made this an essential part of concert preparation.

Richard J. Clark · December 1, 2017

NCE IN A while I gain insight or discover something that should have been obvious my entire life—so obvious, it is almost embarrassing. But instead, it has taken me nearly five decades to figure it out. I suppose I should get used to this sort of thing.

Musicians are very busy this time of year performing concerts. Much of what I say goes for preparation of the Sacred Liturgy. Concert preparation, especially of sacred music within one’s own parish, school, institution, etc., can be wonderful, and at the same time an added stress. As a Director of Music, one is often responsible for myriad things well beyond the scope of music.

For example, in addition to being a performer, one is also the promoter, contractor, program designer, music librarian, stage manager, building custodian, ad hoc recording engineer, etc. Did I leave anything out? Several items, I am sure.

It’s easy to become completely wrapped up. So much so, that it is a luxury to perform elsewhere in which one can concentrate fully on music.—on being an artist.

This brings me to an essential list of concert preparation. Some obvious, some subtle:


PRACTICE. OBVIOUSLY!

Clearly practice. But how much? That varies for each individual and for the task at hand. But I like to feel fully prepared about three weeks in advance if possible. Additionally, I’ve battled nerves many times in my life, so I make it a priority over prepare. This is not to be confused with risking tendonitis (which I have experienced) or risking one’s mental state.

If I’m conducting, especially an orchestral score, I have taken the advice of Edward Schaefer to mark my score with colored pencils, e.g., different colors for entrances, dynamic, tempo, meter changes, etc. My scores are lit up like a Christmas tree so my eight-year-old son should be able to follow them—and it helps me keep my eyes up.


TAKING CARE OF ONE’S BODY

Preparation that is less musical can have enormous impact on a program. Fatigue is the enemy! One is sleep and one’s surrounding schedule. As a parent of young children I lose sleep all the time. This affects performance and health. I’ve suffered from both as a result. It is vital to gain some control of one’s schedule surrounding practice and the concert itself. I have learned from my mistakes—having not performed the way I would like, or suffering poor health as a result of burn out.

Eating: I make it a ritual to eat a light meal high in protein before every rehearsal I conduct or before the concert itself. It’s gotten to the point that what I eat is entirely predictable. Additionally, one also should be careful to eat the right amount of time before a performance, e,g, avoid eating right before as the body needs to be energized, not slowed down. This varies on the individual, of course.


QUIET ALONE TIME THE DAY OF A PERFORMANCE

Quiet time away from one’s instrument (and time with one’s scores) is essential for all performances, especially the day of a concert. The day of a concert, it is ideal to practice little and rest—not always a possibility. Make it a priority!


ESSENTIAL: QUIET PRAYER IMMEDIATELY BEFORE A CONCERT

For many of you, this is already obvious. However, nearly five decades on planet earth, I’ve finally figured it out. I’ve made a certain amount of quiet prayer within minutes of a performance an essential concert ritual. I’ve only begun doing this only in the last year. I am not pious, and I am a great sinner. (Many of you are nodding your heads…) But I’m embarrassed to say, I feel I have only discovered this necessity recently. This does not simply make me “feel good” or calm my nerves. It might. But I could find any number of other things to do that.

But a quick decade of the rosary literally minutes prior to performance has recently helped me focus on what matters: Even in concert, what we do is not for our own glorification, but to serve God in the way He intends. Prayer assists one to be the mindset of gratitude to God for the opportunity to compose, perform, to transmit spirit, emotion, and therefore prayer to others. It is a rare opportunity and a gift to be able to do so.

I have found a bit (or all) of the rosary helpful in that I allow my mind to rest and for God to take over. I don’t have the right words.

It is also exceedingly important to set up a place to do this away from distractions: other performers, a page-turner, family, friends, etc. It may be anti-social in the moment, but it is for the greater good.

Performance is a time that a performer’s heart, soul, and mind is exposed—baring all to an audience. Likewise, prayer helps bare one’s heart, mind, body, and soul to God. What we do, we do for Him.

Soli Deo Gloria

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 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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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

We cannot exaggerate our indebtedness to Dr. Julian’s “Dictionary of Hymnology,” a monumental work, without which we could not have reached the high standard of accuracy, as to both texts and authorship, which we set before us when entering upon our labours.

— Committee for “New English Hymnal” (1906)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday

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