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Views from the Choir Loft

Repeating Repertoire? • Father Friel

Fr. David Friel · April 2, 2020

NLIKE many of my fellow bloggers, I am not presently engaged in directing a choir or providing music for liturgies week-to-week. Nor am I a pastor tasked with oversight of a music director. Necessarily, therefore, I bring less to this discussion, but I nevertheless have two brief thoughts to share. The first is more practical, while the second is more theoretical.

First, I did spend about a decade singing regularly in a choir. During that time, there were a number of pieces that I can remember being part of our “repertoire.” The director never referred to them that way, nor did any of the singers, but we all tacitly knew that these pieces were planted firmly in our bag of tricks, ready to be taken out whenever duty might call. Our singing of these works was polished, natural, and confident. The pieces in our repertoire shifted to some degree over the years, although a handful of pieces remained perennially on the list.

My recollection is that these pieces of repertory were a stabilizing factor for us as singers. They reminded us of our capabilities and afforded a needed sense of security. After embarking upon a challenging new piece at rehearsal, particularly if it didn’t go well, our director would often follow up with something sturdily in our repertoire. In doing so, he wordlessly reminded us that—despite apparent evidence to the contrary—we could actually sing.

Second, speaking a bit more theoretically, I think there is value in a balance of the new and the familiar, the repetitious and the adventuresome. Repetition and variety are opposites, yet they are also complementary. This is precisely what makes the genre of “theme and variations” delightful. It is what makes the ABA sonata form and the AABA song form so satisfying. Each involves an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation.

An excess of repetition results in mere sequence, the sort of monotonous product spit out by mechanistic assembly lines.

An excess of variety, on the other hand, is chaotic and “novel” in its pejorative sense.

The right dose of repetition conveys order. The right dose of variety creates interest. Together, they forge something beautiful.

This truth, I believe, can be fruitfully applied to parish music programs. Having a certain “repertoire”—a home-base to which you and your choir can return—is a good and stabilizing thing. So, too, there is value in introducing new music, taking a chance that stretches comfort zones and keeps skills sharp.

Beauty is found in the balance.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty Last Updated: April 3, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    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
    “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

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

It is unworthy that the stone holds Him, Who encloses everything in His hand, Locked in by the forbidding rock. (“Indígnum est cujus claudúntur cuncta pugíllo | Ut tegat inclúsum rupe vetánte lapis.”)

— SALVE FESTA DIES (Eastertide)

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