F I WANTED TO, I could dwell on certain injustices we see in the Catholic Church. But then I wouldn’t get any work done—because I’d get angry. Just as Christians must practice “custody of the eyes” vis-à-vis pornographic images, we must learn to fend off thoughts which aren’t part of God’s plan for us. For example, certain powerful clerics have spent years pretending to value “listening to the faithful” (synodality). Yet those same clerics devised ways to ostracize Catholics pleading ardently for the Church’s traditional rites. If I dwell on this, I won’t accomplish anything. Nor will I get closer to the Lord. Nor will I grow in holiness.
Is This The End? • The fact is, very few bishops and priests are willing to support authentic and excellent church music. (This will come as a surprise to none of our readers.) Frankly, many bishops and priests barely tolerate it when they hear it. But without support from (most) clergy, how can our movement continue? Will it continue?
Below, I offer three reasons I believe it will. First of all, please listen to a ‘live’ recording of our 100% volunteer choir singing yesterday at Mass:
My Approach • I am absolutely determined to prove that a ‘normal’ parish can have authentic choral music weekly—without any paid singers—using only singers recruited from the congregation. I have been at this parish for about 15 months. Not long after I arrived, an elderly man approached me after the 10:00AM Mass. He said: “I want to thank you. I’ve been going to this church for 40 years, and this is the first time we’ve ever had a real choir.” Examples like that (and there have been many such ‘testimonials’) convince me we’re on the right track.
Three (3) Reasons
Choral Music Will Survive:
[Doctorate] As you can see by the recording above, I love to teach Catholics how to sing in harmony. You may think I’m crazy, but I have a belief when it comes to choral music. I believe that a Catholic who’s exposed correctly to choral music will fall in love with it—and their life will never be the same. In a certain sense, my entire career has been spent trying to create these experiences (i.e. “moments”) for Catholics. One never knows when such a “moment” will happen. I hope the reader will permit me one brief example. For ten years, I’ve been responsible for selecting music for the Sacred Music Symposium. The booklets I create (given to each participant) are usually 300+ pages long, containing the fruits of much original research. I myself compose many of the harmonizations we use—although I don’t tell the participants. Anyhow, there was one particular year in which I wrote harmonies for the ISTE CONFESSOR melody found in the Brébeuf Hymnal. The entire symposium (100+ singers) sight-read my arrangement during VESPERS (1962 edition), which is how we ended each day. It was a “moment” none of us will ever forget. It inspired a young man who went on to get his doctorate in composition—and that “moment” and melody (ISTE CONFESSOR) stayed in his heart and mind for more than half a decade.
[School Teacher] A young lady was deeply touched by that “moment.” It was one reason she continued earning a professional music degree from a major university. She now teaches music at a Catholic school and sings in a high-level parish choir. I don’t wish to flatter myself or “blow my own horn” … but I was a major influence on her career choice (according to her parents). In particular, she loved the 16th-century counterpoint lessons I gave her. Of all the arrangements and compositions in that book, why did that particular one spark the “moment?” I have no idea. But it was a key ingredient in terms of this young woman’s career. By the way, I recently stumbled upon that melody in a Roman Catholic hymnal from 1859:
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, since the Brébeuf Hymnal went out of its way to feature melodies from our tradition. Indeed, a footnote at the bottom of each page shows the impressive number of Catholic historic hymn books using each melody. This stands in stark contrast to hymnals created by people like Nicola Montani and Edmonds Tozer. Their hymnals are not traditional at all, because 90% of the melodies were written by them!
[Choir Director] Another attendee was so moved by that “moment,” he went on to form numerous choirs, and they perform at quite a high level. Currently married with children, this good fellow continues to run 3-4 choirs in his city. He does all that as a volunteer. (His professional career is impressive, and he earned multiple doctorates … but not in music.) He’s totally ‘hooked’ and will never stop spreading the love of authentic choral music.
I hope these three examples will
cause you to start thinking about
all the people you’ve influenced.
Love for authentic sacred music
has a “ripple effect” that will
never be stopped.
(1 of 3) Conclusion • I have mentioned that conscientious choirmasters must persevere, even though the hierarchy isn’t willing to “lift a finger” to help them. If we take a few moments to read about the sufferings of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America, we will realize our sufferings are minuscule—and we will cease to complain.
(2 of 3) Conclusion • That being said, I do feel a bit of frustration sometimes. Our organization is in the public eye, which means we’re the recipient of a certain amount of hate mail and slander. Frequently, strangers write to us asking favors. When we reply (fulfilling their request) we never hear back from many of them—which strikes me as slightly rude. It would seem a simple ‘thank you’ would be in order. Perhaps my biggest frustration has to do with certain questions we regularly receive via email. Folks write to us and ask why they have trouble retaining volunteer singers. For many years, I have provided advice in this area. For instance, I have said over and over it is good to end rehearsal by learning SATB parts (or even just the ALTO) to a hymn in the Brébeuf Hymnal. I have emphasized that doing so gives your singers a feeling of accomplishment. Moreover, the Brébeuf tunes and harmonies are the cream of the crop. That means your singers will enjoy singing them—and it’s always advisable to give them a little bit of ‘fun’ at the end of a long rehearsal.1
(3 of 3) Conclusion • But when certain people write to us, they claim they’ve never heard me say that. And this frustrates me because I feel like I’m repeating myself too much. I just don’t understand how they could have missed that advice! For the record, below is a ‘live’ recording from Mass with my children’s choir singing (with the females from our parish choir) a few Sundays ago:
That video demonstrates that the Brébeuf melodies are haunting, memorable, and impart theological truths. Let me end by repeating what I’ve said time and again: I could not run my program without the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal.
1 Please don’t write to me and tell me Renaissance polyphony is also fun. I’m well aware of that. Indeed, I have dedicated my life to Renaissance polyphony since 1999. I’ve conducted choirs for decades—in real life during Masses—singing masterpieces by Morales, Victoria, Palestrina, Guerrero, Lassus, Giovanelli, Marenzio, Byrd, and so forth. When I say “choirs” I’m not referring to an ensemble of soloists; I mean real choirs. Believe me, I’m eminently aware that Renaissance polyphony is gorgeous and fun. Nevertheless, I stand by what I said about teaching the Brébeuf hymn tunes as an excellent way to conclude each rehearsal.
