ROWING UP, I heard an adage: “Never discuss politics or religion in polite company.” As we approach the end of the year 2025, it seems there’s one thing our culture refuses to talk about or acknowledge: viz. the reality of death. We’re supposed to pretend we’re going to live forever—but Saint Paul reminds us (Heb 9:27): “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.” For this reason, it’s crucial to begin each day with the morning offering. Never open your phone until you’ve offered your day to God. We must offer God all our joys and all our sufferings. Constantly throughout the day, it’s important to renew that offering. Doing so takes 3 seconds: renew your intention and make the sign of the cross.
Secrets Revealed • Like a miser, some directors ‘hide’ their secrets and techniques. But here at CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED, our goal is to serve God by building up the Church however we can. We gladly pass on to our readership all we possess. That’s why we began a special series of articles in which our contributors reveal their “Top Three” repertoire for children’s choirs. (If you’re finding our series helpful, I hope you’ll let us know.) Today is my turn.
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Choral Extension Round
I have argued that rounds are the best way to introduce children to the concept of polyphonic singing. The following KYRIE is a choral extension suitable for both the Ordinary Form and the Extraordinary Form. However, it’s actually a ROUND (‘canon’)—and that’s the way it ought to be introduced to your children’s choir. On page 2, I provided a keyboard accompaniment for teaching the ROUND, but it must only be used during rehearsal. Yesterday evening, my son and daughter recorded the following rehearsal video:
* PDF Download • KYRIE in honor of Saint Alexander Bryant
—Married to Kyrie Rex Genitor (EDITIO VATICANA). Based on a work by Max Exner.
You can listen to this rehearsal video that has the top voice—i.e. the “round”—louder than all the other voices.
Below is a live recording of our parish children’s choir attempting this piece (singing at Mass for their 2nd time):
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Plainsong Introit in Unison
This year, I’ve had tremendous success in teaching the various ENTRANCE CHANTS assigned by the Church to my children’s choir. We sing the texts from the GRADUALE ROMANUM, not the Adalbert Propers because the Adalbert Propers are only for ‘spoken’ Masses—i.e. Masses without singing. The musical scores can be found conveniently posted at the marvelous feasts website. Here’s the one for this coming Sunday, which is the First Sunday of Advent (Year A):
Below is a live recording of our parish children’s choir attempting this piece (singing at Mass for their 2nd time):
Here’s the direct URL link.
Needless to say, don’t spend the entire rehearsal teaching nothing but the ENTRANCE CHANT. That might lead to boredom. I make sure to “mix things up” during rehearsal—constantly hopping from one piece to another. My repertoire includes ‘serious’ compositions, such as INNSBRUCK (which the children love dearly) as well as ‘fun’ pieces like Are You Going To Scarborough Fair?
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2-Voice Hymn Arrangements
This year, the children have really enjoyed learning 2-Voice Arrangements of the wonderful tunes in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal. I have been adding these as the weeks roll on; e.g. if you scroll to the bottom of Number 258 (Jesu Nostra Redemptio) you will see such an arrangement. Here is what we have learned for this coming Sunday:
* PDF Download • 2-Voice Arrangement (ADVENT HYMN)
—This tune (“IOANNES”) is used throughout the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal.
Below is a live recording of our parish children’s choir attempting this piece (singing at Mass for their 2nd time):
One must be careful with this tune, which is known as “IOANNES.” When the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal was reviewed in a scholarly journal, the organist who was writing the review claimed this was actually ST BOTOLPH. But the author was incorrect. While similar, the tunes in different meters. You’d be surprised how frequently that happens with hymn melodies! Play through the first few bars of the following, and you’ll see what I mean:
