E ALL HAVE been there! In your practice room, you discover the most magnificent hymn (which you never knew about). Naturally, you want to share it with everybody, so with excitement in your heart you program it for Mass the following Sunday. Everything’s going great … until you start playing and singing. Suddenly it dawns on you that you’re the only one who knows this hymn! A terrible feeling comes over you, and you become very self-conscious. Your voice cracks and you start hitting wrong notes. Instead of playing all the verses as you’d planned, you break off after the second verse. In your brain, you make a private vow never again to program a hymn people don’t know.
Solving The Conundrum • So what’s the solution to this conundrum? Playing the same handful of hymns over and over again until you die doesn’t seem right. The following video—as explained by Natália—is something you must watch! [I provided the background music, so please don’t criticize it too harshly.]
Here’s the direct URL link.
Last Week • Last week, I was on the telephone with a wonderful musician from the Midwest. I was telling this person how the Brébeuf Hymnal had completely transformed my volunteer choirs, and explaining various items (including the powerful and innovative “shared melody” strategy). After an hour’s conversation, the person had just one remaining question: Is the Brébeuf Hymnal Catholic? This was because his pastor was fully committed to orthodox texts. I almost shouted my response: “Not only is it Catholic, it’s the most Catholic hymnal you’ll ever find and was named in honor of Father John Brébeuf, the patron saint of North America!”
