OT FAR FROM Los Angeles is a special place called “CATALINA ISLAND.” Only extremely wealthy people live there because everything necessary for existence (food, water, and so forth) must be brought daily by boat. It’s about 25 miles away from the mainland, and I’m told visitors—by means of little ferry boat—are allowed to visit and explore the island during the day. As a young man, Ronald Reagan was a radio sportscaster for the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs. In those days, the Cubs held their spring training each year on CATALINA ISLAND. (I have no idea why they were allowed to do that, but I’m sure the weather was fabulous.) Reagan—who had never left the Midwest—was allowed one year to accompany the Cubs to CATALINA ISLAND. On that same trip, Reagan decided to visit Warner Bros. Studios, where he did an audition. (He’d always secretly wanted to be an actor). The audition went well, with the result that Reagan became an actor. Later on, he was elected governor of California. During the 1980s, he was elected President of the United States. It’s possible, therefore, to say that Reagan became president because the Cubs did spring training on CATALINA ISLAND.
Musical Diversity • Now a word about musical diversity. Reagan was “exposed” to Los Angeles because of the story I told above. Here at Corpus Christi Watershed, we try to “expose” readers to various approaches, inspiration, and suggestions. During my seminar, one theme I constantly “harp on” (pardon the pun) is the importance of stylistic diversity. Today, I will illustrate three different ways choirs can sing a hymn. For this demonstration, it seemed advisable to use the same text. I chose AD CENAM AGNI PROVIDI, which Catholics have been singing (in Latin) for 1,500 years. Its earliest vernacular translation is a special manuscript created around 1050AD, which presents the text twice: (a) in Latin; (b) in rearranged Latin translated into Anglo-Saxon:
* PDF Download • AD CENAM AGNI PROVIDI (1050AD)
Option #1
This is probably the most common way. We have the choir singing SATB with their notes ‘doubled’ on the pipe organ:
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Option #2
Here is the same text, sung by females only, with organ improvisation in between verses:
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Option #3
Finally, here is half of each verse sung by females with organ, the other half a cappella SATB:
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