LOR PEETERS. Listening. Plainchant scholarship. Abuse of musicians. How will I be able to tie together such disparate topics? I will do my best. The first thing I would bring to your attention is the subject of LISTENING. I personally know priests, organists, and choirmasters who seem incapable of listening. One can explain certain subjects (e.g. the ADALBERT PROPERS) over and over…but it matters not. They aren’t listening, and they’ll go to their grave still not understanding. When you’re speaking, such folks are thinking about what they’re going to say next. They’re just waiting for you to stop talking so they can talk! I find this situation peculiar. Some of these folks are quite talented—but they’re permanently handicapped by their inability to LISTEN. I will circle back to this topic below. It’s something I’ve been pondering lately.
(1 of 2) Listening • For any serious musician, LISTENING is crucial. If you watch Vladimir Horowitz, he’s motionless during performance from the shoulders upwards because he’s listening. When the phonograph was invented in the 19th century, a famous piano teacher was shocked to hear his own playing. “Is that really me?” he exclaimed. “But how can that be? I’m making mistakes I spent the last fifty years telling my students to avoid!” Listening to yourself sing isn’t fun, but it’s crucial if you wish to improve. Even more important is listening to recordings of your choir singing—but most choirmasters aren’t willing to do that for two reasons: (a) it’s a lot of work; (b) it’s painful to hear the mistakes of one’s choir.1
Flor Peeters • Last Sunday, we attempted a beautiful hymn by Flor Peeters (an organist who received rave reviews when he toured the United States in the 1950s as a performer) which can be found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal. Below is a recording. In some ways, the recording is beautiful. But it also shows me that we still have work to do:
Chant Scholarship • When one LISTENS, one hears the truth. Musical sounds cannot lie. Lamentably, some can’t handle hearing the truth. Others take “refuge” from the truth by hiding under fake scholarship. I possess several recent books on plainsong which I’d like to explore someday with our readers. These books are considered the height of scholarship, yet they say absolutely nothing. I’m talking about “scholars” incapable of saying anything of significance. In a certain sense, what they do is remarkable (but not in a good way) because they fill up 400+ pages without making a single significant statement. I wish I had time to elaborate—and provide copious examples—but that must wait for another time.
Indeed, I’ve personally encountered music directors who consider themselves “experts” in certain manuscripts: Bamberg6LIT|905, 239Laon|927, 121EINSIE|961, and so forth. And yet, they direct choirs incapable of singing a simple SATB hymn! Let me be clear: when I’ve heard their choirs sing, they struggle with a simple SATB hymn. It goes without saying that one must first master the basics before going on to more advanced studies. By way of analogy, only a fool would allow a student to study the Brahms-Paganini Variations if that student can’t find MIDDLE C on a keyboard.
Exhausting Work • I repeat: When one LISTENS, one hears the truth. There’s no escaping it! Listening to one’s choir is exhausting because one cannot help but notice all the mistakes. It’s the hardest work a choirmaster can do. Before listening to playbacks in the recording studio, Artur Rubinstein (d. 1982) used to remark: “Now it’s time for me to take my lesson.” The following is a recording made by our choir last Sunday:
On the one hand, I am so very proud of my volunteer choir. My singers have made tremendous progress in just a few months! On the other hand, that recording shows we still have more work to do. For instance, the tempo is slightly on the slow side. (And I hit a wrong note on the pipe organ during the psalmody.)
(2 of 2) Listening • I’ve heard organists who earned doctorates—and sometimes more than one doctorate!—from major universities perform works by Sebastian Bach. Their interpretations were sometimes so poor and unimaginative I could barely stand to listen. If they just took time to LISTEN to themselves playing they’d realize such interpretations damage the church music situation; they don’t make it better. But very few musicians are willing to LISTEN to recordings of their own performances. (I suspect it’s because they’re afraid of what they might hear.) But unless one is willing to do the hard work of listening, one cannot improve.
(1 of 4) Abuse of Musicians • Historically, musicians were treated very poorly. When the noblemen ate dinner, the musicians often played through cracks in the floor. It was felt that noblemen shouldn’t have to look at “trashy” musicians while they ate—but they still wanted music. Even the very greatest musicians of all time were abused and treated shamefully. I’m talking about men like Sebastian Bach (d. 1750) and Father Francisco Guerrero (d. 1599). If memory serves, Franz Schubert (d. 1828) led a life of abject poverty, occasionally selling his compositions for the equivalent of 15 cents. An exception to the rule was Franz Liszt, although even he was denied entry (!) to the conservatory by Conservatoire de Paris by its director, Luigi Cherubini (d. 1842).
(2 of 4) Abuse of Musicians • The conscientious choirmaster is no stranger to abuse. I could easily spend the next 60 days—were I so inclined—detailing instances in which Catholic choirmasters and organists have been shamefully abused, insulted, and exploited. However, I do not believe God wants me to spend my time in such a way. Perhaps just one example will suffice. After my Sunday Masses, I often stand outside the church asking whether anyone’s interested in learning more about our music program. People who are willing provide their telephone number to me—and I follow up with them during the week. Yesterday, I reached a women who’d provided me with her telephone number after Mass. Without allowing me to say more than three words, this person cussed at me, hung up the phone, and blocked my number.
(3 of 4) Abuse of Musicians • I began this article talking about priests, organists, and choirmasters who seem incapable of LISTENING. I wonder if this is a type of “defense mechanism” they’ve developed to deal with abuse. In other words, musicians are routinely abused and treated with disrespect. As a result, I wonder whether some put up the “defense mechanism” of not listening. After all, if you don’t listen to anyone you’re less likely to be insulted or hurt!
(4 of 4) Abuse of Musicians • I suspect any serious musician reading this article could tell me ways in which they have been treated with disrespect. All of us—myself included—need to remember the prayer that the Cardinal Merry Del Val said each morning:
Conclusion • That prayer by Raphæl Cardinal Merry Del Val is certainly “easier said than done.” But those who have the grace to pray it with conviction are truly invincible.
1 Earlier, we spoke of musicians incapable of listening while others speak. This “tendency” or “habit” or “inclination” also manifests itself in a reluctance to study recordings of one’s own performances. It seems a type of arrogance: i.e. believing that one is too “important” to spend time listening to what everyone at church has no choice but to listen to!
