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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

Don’ts for Choirmasters (Part 1)

Andrew Leung · January 4, 2018

CTL Christchurch Priory IGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, I had the opportunity to work with Paul Phoenix, the former tenor of The King’s Singers. Paul sang with the ensemble for 17 years and he “retired” in 2017 to start his own company: Purple Vocals. He now tours around the world to coach and helps “building” choirs. It was definitely a wonderful and unique experience! He conducted the choral workshops from a singer’s perspective instead of the conductor’s and I was rediscovering some of the basics of choral singing. During our time together, Paul introduced me to this new book called Don’ts for Choirmasters, written by John Newton. The book was rediscovered and republished recently, and Paul wrote a foreword for its 2017 new edition.

Little is known about the author John Newton (different from the John Newton who wrote “Amazing Grace“) except that he was the organist and choirmaster at Christchurch Priory, England, from 1922 to his death in 1928. And we know that he wrote a series of manuals for church musicians and Don’ts for Choirmasters is one of them. It is a 43-pages booklet and it is a pretty easy and fun reading; John Newton listed 70 straightforward advice in point form. Even though this book was first published over 90 years ago, I think it is still pretty relevant for church musicians nowadays and I believe our readers would enjoy reading it a lot.

I was very surprised to find out that John Newton, coming from an Anglican background, showed great appreciation for plainchant (and also “the spirit of Gregorian chant”) and praised it highly in his book!

12. DON’T be satisfied with merely a correct rendering of the pointed psalter, but aim at an intelligent rendering of the psalms…put the words first, and let the chant—whether plainsong or anglican—be your humble and obedient servant, not your master…

13. DON’T be too fond of the double chant; singles are usually preferable. What more destroys the rhythm of a psalm or canticle than the repetition of the second part?…we must bear in mind that in all church music WORDS matter most. The Church does not exist for choirs, but choirs for the church…

52. DON’T forget that rhythm is the soul of music…The three fundamental principles of rhythm are: (1) Accent, (2) Time, (3) Grouping. And now to acquire rhythmical singing—first of all sing less music that has been built in brick-wall fashion, and sing more “free” music of the Palestrina school, sing also Missa de Angelis and Merbecke, above all sing Plainsong.

And to sing modern music rhythmically—(1) think less of strong, weak, medium, weak, in quadruple time, and let the words bear their right accent: (2) try not to see the bar-lines, forget their existence as much as possible: (3) observe and mark the balance of the sentences, catch the antiphonal spirit…

57. DON’T neglect the study and practice of plainsong. Apart from its use for public worship no choirmaster can afford to neglect such an important study, and its influence is enormous. Read up this subject with an open mind: hear plainsong correctly and well sung by those who have caught the spirit of this music, which is in the world but not of it: introduce it at an organ recital (I have actually sung and played chants in recitals before and people always find it very inspiring) or weekday evensong, it matters not whether you are four strong or four hundred, if carefully and lovingly sung—yes, that’s the secret, con amore…plainsong creates an atmosphere and does not smell of the pier, the theater, or the restaurant.

Stay tuned for the second part. I will share more of Newton’s practical, spiritual and entertaining ideas and advice.

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 Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 July 2025). 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 the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
    All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser
    To assist our fundraiser, Mrs. Kathleen Ostrowski has drawn several beautiful sketches which she offers to all our readers free of charge. If you have a moment, I invite you download them at this link.
    —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

“Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another… It teaches that all are to be tolerated, for all are matters of opinion. Revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste; not an objective fact, not miraculous; and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy. […] Men may go to Protestant Churches and to Catholic, may get good from both and belong to neither.”

— Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman (May of 1879)

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