NOW THIS: it’s impossible to succeed as a church musician if one must constantly “justify one’s existence.” That is to say, the vocation of a choirmaster is already extremely difficult (physically and mentally). On top of all that, if one must constantly persuade one’s boss of one’s value, that’s too much—at least, in my humble opinion. Years ago, I worked for a priest whom I had to “entertain.” He demanded different songs at all five Masses each weekend—and if he wasn’t sufficiently entertained, the musician paid a heavy price. It was terrible! Therefore, one must find a priest who already understands the Catholic Mass demands a certain type of music that isn’t up for debate. One must find a priest who already knows that the Holy Mass is not about entertainment; it’s about glorifying God. At the same time, the music should be sung well. It must be beautiful and fitting. It should be a source of delight to anyone who hears it. In 2013, I spoke about the need for a diversity of styles during the Holy Mass. Some pieces should be organ only. Others, organ with voices. Some, voices only. Some Renaissance. Some Baroque. Some Gregorian Chant. Some Modern. And so forth and so on. I still believe this to be quite important.
Diverse Music For Mass
My colleague, Keven Smith, recently spoke of rebooting your choir, post-Covid. I have already described the difficult situation here in California due to Covid-19. We are not allowed to have choir rehearsals, which has caused me great anguish. In spite of this, I hope you will allow me to share some audio examples from last Sunday’s Mass—even though we aren’t allowed to have rehearsals—to illustrate ten ways you can obtain diversity:
(1) Modern Music
We like to sing modern music. Here’s an excerpt from Sunday, composed in 2013 by Richard Rice:
* Mp3 Excerpt • MODERN MUSIC
—Recorded live at the FSSP Mass in Los Angeles.
(2) Common Practice Era • Unison
We like to sing hymns in unison. Here’s #785 from the Brébeuf hymnal, recorded live:
* Mp3 Excerpt • UNISON HYMN
—Recorded live at the FSSP Mass in Los Angeles.
(3) Common Practice Era • Trebles
We like to hear just the Alto and Soprano sections. Here is #258 from the Brébeuf hymnal, a tune called “La Rochelle” with the text of Jesu Nostra Redemptio (“Redeemer of our fallen state”):
* Mp3 Excerpt • SOPRANO + ALTO
—Recorded live at the FSSP Mass in Los Angeles.
(4) Common Practice Era • Mixed
It is possible to sing hymns with Tenor, Alto, and Soprano. Here is #434 from the Brébeuf hymnal. It’s a tune called “Notre Dame” with the ancient text of Rex Sempiterne Domine (“Eternal King of Heaven’s hosts”):
* Mp3 Excerpt • TENOR + TREBLES
—Recorded live at the FSSP Mass in Los Angeles.
(5) Mediæval Harmonies
We like to sing Mediæval polyphony, and we did that for the AGNUS DEI:
* Mp3 Excerpt • MEDIEVAL MUSIC
—Recorded live at the FSSP Mass in Los Angeles.
(6) A Cappella Plainsong
Of course, there was plenty of plainsong without organ. Here is Post Dies Octo Januis Clausis (what Father Lasance calls the “Greater Alleluia”):
* Mp3 Excerpt • PLAINSONG WITHOUT ORGAN
—Recorded live at the FSSP Mass in Los Angeles.
(7) Accompanied Plainsong
And there was plenty of accompanied plainsong, as well. Here’s the Vidi Aquam sung by the ladies:
* Mp3 Excerpt • PLAINSONG WITH ORGAN
—Recorded live at the FSSP Mass in Los Angeles.
(9) Harmonized Plainsong
We even sing “harmonized” chant—as I spoke about in a recent blog post:
* Mp3 Excerpt • HARMONIZED CHANT
—Recorded live at the FSSP Mass in Los Angeles.
(10) Chant With Drone
To evoke a more “peaceful” feeling, we had the men sing a “ison” for Gloria IX:
* Mp3 Excerpt • Gloria IX with Drone
—Recorded live at the FSSP Mass in Los Angeles.
In addition to every combination you could imagine (soloists, female only, men only, men and female, and so forth), we also had—needless to say—organ music of every genre: French, Baroque, Modern, and so forth.
