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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

Bring Your “Lost Motets” to Life

Keven Smith · May 4, 2020

OST of us church choir directors across the U.S. are experiencing a severe disruption to our normal liturgical lives. Some of us at least have the privilege of singing for live-streamed Masses with scaled-down choral forces. Others are waiting on the sidelines—and I can only imagine how difficult that must be for you.

In either case, there’s much we can do to build up the liturgical lives of our parishes even after having our wings clipped. Here’s just one idea: take this time to educate your parish on what your choir was working on before you had to suspend rehearsals.

Think about it: you were probably preparing full steam for Holy Week and Easter when you got the word in mid-March to stop indefinitely. Some of that music may have been ready for Mass, while other pieces needed more polish. But you and your singers put a lot of work into all of it.

So, why not let your parishioners know a little bit about these pieces? Describe what you love about this music and why you selected it. Tell them briefly about the composers. Share an anecdote or two about the musical challenges your choir overcame in rehearsals. Express your optimism that you’ll have a chance to sing these pieces at a future Mass.

I’ve begun doing exactly this in a series on my own blog that I’m calling “The Lost Motets.” Depending on your situation, you might prefer to send a message to your parish email loop, post an article on your parish website, or even create a YouTube video. Consider including some audio, whether it’s an actual recording of your choir or a YouTube recording of another choir.

I can think of several potential benefits here:

  1. You’ll send the message to your parish that your choir works hard to make all those beautiful Masses possible.
  2. You’ll increase appreciation of the music you sing at Mass. It’s not just pretty background noise for prayer—it’s sacred!
  3. You’ll capture the attention of potential choir members—perhaps even from other parishes. Surely there’s someone in your pews who has always meant to ask about joining your choir but just hasn’t gotten around to calling you.
  4. You’ll give parishioners a chance to get to know you better through your writing, even if they’ve never spoken with you in person.
  5. You’ll be striking yet another blow against the comfortable mediocrity that has plagued liturgical music for decades.

You don’t have to do much to do a little good. Let your natural passion for your work shine through, and encourage people to listen to a recording so that the music can speak for itself. And then keep praying.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: choir director Last Updated: May 4, 2020

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About Keven Smith

Keven Smith, music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr, lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 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 propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —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

Had the Church never spoken on this matter, it would still be repugnant to our Catholic people’s sense of what is fit and proper in the holiest of places, that a priest should have to struggle through the prayers of the Holy Mass, because of such tunes as “Alice, where art thou?” the “Vacant Chair,” and others of more vulgar title, which, through the carelessness or bad judgment of organists, sometimes find their way into our choirs.

— Preface to a Roman Catholic Hymnal (1896)

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