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Views from the Choir Loft

The Organ Postlude: Distraction, or Powerful Aid to Devotion?

Patrick Torsell · January 25, 2020

OU walk into a beautiful cathedral with a friend. Your friend looks around and asks: “why all the gold? Why the bright stained glass? Why the ornate architecture? Why the statuary? Isn’t it all distracting? Shouldn’t I be focused solely on God, not on all of these distractions?” How would you reply? If you’re anything like me, you’ll explain to your friend that rather than distracting you from God, all of those beautiful sensory inputs in fact help lift your heart and mind up out of the banality of the world and toward the worship of Almighty God.

So how do we answer when faced with a parishioner (or perhaps even a pastor) who finds the organ postlude distracting, and “too loud”? I say we answer the same! Silence is, of course, absolutely necessary in our prayer and at the appropriate times in the liturgy. But silence is not the only way to dispose oneself to prayer.

As human beings we are creatures of body and soul, and Holy Mother Church employs our bodily senses to help create the necessary dispositions for prayer and worship of God in the liturgy. In fact, all our senses are fed in the liturgy: our sense of sight as we observe the art, architecture, vestments, and movements of the liturgy; our sense of smell as the incense burns, or catching the wafting fragrance of the Easter lilies; our sense of touch in our postures as we stand, sit, kneel; our sense of taste as we actually receive Our Blessed Lord under the form of bread; and, of course, our sense of hearing in spoken and sung word and instrumental music.

As creatures with a limited mode of understanding we attribute to God various qualities or characteristics, despite our understanding that God is perfectly One. We might, for example, speak of God’s might, or His omnipotence, or His mercy, or any other of the myriad attributes we apply to Him to help our limited intellect in its feeble attempt to comprehend Him. Music has a great ability to lead the mind to the various dispositions that inspire contemplation of those different characteristics that we attribute to God. For example, a gently flowing melody on an 8’ flute with a celeste and string accompaniment during Communion might call to mind the tender love and mercy of God, leading the soul to adore Him. A brilliant bit of Baroque counterpoint as a prelude might inspire admiration for the order of God’s creation and His own perfections. A grand French Romantic composition at the postlude can evoke awe as we contemplate the majesty, might, or even justice of God.

With this in mind, we can present the postlude—even the loud, bombastic, minor-keyed works like the great Allegro from Widor’s Sixth Symphony pictured above—as yet another opportunity to cultivate certain dispositions, in this case the great rejoicing, thanksgiving, and awe of God’s greatness that should pour forth from our hearts after the unfathomable privilege of assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and receiving Our Blessed Lord. As Dr. Kwasniewski put it so well in his (much more eloquent than mine) defense of the organ postlude: “That is what an organ postlude does better than anything else can do: it makes creation resound with the divine praises as we get ready to step forth into the world again.”

This blog post is a brief summary of a more detailed exposition on this topic that I presented in our parish’s “Ask the Music Director” YouTube series. That full video can be viewed here:

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

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Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 25, 2020

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About Patrick Torsell

Patrick Torsell is the Director of Music and Organist at Mater Dei Latin Mass Community in Harrisburg, PA.—(Read full biography).

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Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The pope regrets that this trade in African slaves, that he believed having ceased, is still exercised in some regions and even more cruel way. He begs and begs the King of Portugal that it implement all its authority and wisdom to extirpate this unholy and abominable shame.”

— ‘Pope Pius VII, writing to the King of Portugal’

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