NE OF THE CHOIRS I direct has rehearsal every Thursday night. We did something rare on 26 September 2019—we canceled rehearsal. Instead, the singers from that choir sang for a special Mass, since it was the feast of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America: SS. John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, and companions.
The balance of voices isn’t quite right—as we would expect from an iPhone resting in somebody’s pocket—but here’s a little Palestrina:
And here’s some Guerrero—with the normal caveats 1 about trying to capture choral sound:
Sometimes it seems like evil will prevail. Sometimes it seems we choirmasters have so many obstacles to overcome. Reading the lives of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America will remind us that serving Jesus Christ is all that matters. Let us repeat the prayer of St. Gabriel Lalemant during his martyrdom: “Jesus, have mercy on us!”
NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:
1 Choral sound cannot accurately be captured by microphones, and necessarily sounds “harsh” when reproduced on an iPhone or some other device. Nothing can substitute for the physical presence of a true choral sound.
