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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 a staff substitute organist at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, CO, and associate organist at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (FSSP), Littleton, CO—(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —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

Tournemire could be charming or he could bite your head off. One day I could not replace him at St. Clotilde because I had a wedding to play at another church. Tournemire played on Sunday, period—that was all. He did not play weddings and so forth. (He put all that on my back.) So I went to Tournemire’s house to tell him, “Master, I am sorry but, for once, I cannot replace you. I have another obligation to fulfill.” He said, “Get out of here!” I left for good.

— Testimony of Maurice Duruflé

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Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

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