Banish the Soloists – Let the People Sing (cont.)

The Cantor

The cantor then, was taking the monastic position of antiphoner, adapted to responsorial, rather than antiphonal, Psalm-singing. And as a singer, had to have training.

It is obvious, however, that cantors – or leaders of song – in most parishes have little or no musical training. They do not have the rigorous training of hazzans. (Also note: the GIRM's phrase was "the cantor of the Psalm", not "the soloist throughout the entire Mass.")

Visit a Protestant congregation that holds a traditional service, and you will search in vain for a cantor. The organist and choir lead the singing, and most of these congregations can put our own to shame when it comes to congregational singing! Many Protestant churches have multiple choirs: children's choirs, teen choirs, traditional choirs, bell choirs, but always a choir.

In the 17th century, Presbyterians and Independents removed organs and choirs from churches, as they removed sacred art and iconography, altars, vestments, etc., as too "Catholic in nature." Organs and choirs returned to the Presbyterian Church two centuries later. When Methodism broke from the Anglican tradition, choirs were abolished as "too Roman" and too much a part of "formalized liturgy." The best singers in the congregation sang up front to lead the singing, and eventually, choirs returned. Today only a few Protestant groups hold services sans choir: Amish, Old Order Mennonite, River Brethren, and the like.

The Soloist -- or the Choir

In stressing the importance of singing at Mass, the GIRM (2002) tells us that "When there is no choir, it is up to the cantor to lead the different chants in which the people take part" (GIRM 2002, III §104). Ah, the chants! The chanted responses.

At the monastery where I am now organist and music director, we do not have a cantor unless the choir is absent, and that is rare. A choir member announces the numbers of the pieces. The choir chants the Psalm and gospel acclamation, and, with the pipe organ, leads all congregational music. Because we have a balcony, we are unseen by the congregation. No matter: I play the pipe organ loud and strong, the choir sings with vigor, the nuns behind their grille sing out, and the congregation, seated between a balcony choir and a choir of nuns, can easily chime in knowing that their own individual voices will not "stick out." The singing is definitely a communal effort!

For certain special occasions, such as Christmas Eve and the annual Novena and the Triduum, we do use a cantor, even if the choir is present. This is necessary because the congregation attending these services is much larger than our ordinary weekly group, unaccustomed to our procedures, and cannot see me. We are blessed with a wonderful cantor, musically trained. He leads with his arms, bringing in the congregation on sung responses, etc. However, I do not "accompany" him (unless the choir is absent and the cantor is singing the Psalm alone). I open the organ up fully, for it is the people we want to open up! And so we do not have a soloist, we have truly communal music for worship.

Quo vadis?

Part of the problem stems from the fact that music in Catholic parishes is seldom in the hands of well-trained liturgical musicians. Committees, liturgy directors, or priests usually select music for the Mass according to their own taste, or worse still, following recommendations of "liturgy aid" publishers on "what is popular" (i.e., their own stable of composers and performers). The result has been banal music. And this has led many professional musicians with expertise in sacred music to seek employment elsewhere.

The situation has no easy cure-all. There is a time for soloists, but not during the congregation's parts. Congregations need to be led, not sung at. Soloists need to recede into the woodwork and let the congregation sing. The organ needs to be restored to its rightful prominence (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium 102; Musicam Sacram 62), and good organists need to be trained and hired, for the organ should lead the entire congregation, not serve as a quiet accompaniment to a soloist.

The cantor can fulfill a very important role in chanting the Psalm. For other music of the Mass and for hymns, the cantor should simply announce the hymn (if there is a visible number board, then no one need announce numbers at all), then step away from the microphone, and let the organ lead the congregation: let the people sing!

I know of several places where the sacristan turns down the volume of the cantor's microphone once the hymn or Psalm has begun (another possibility when the cantor seems to have delusions of solo stardom!) Or the organist can simply introduce the piece, thus allowing the congregation to sing and the liturgy to proceed gracefully, uninterrupted.

So, let us have soloists only for appropriate occasions when soloists are true soloists -- not during the parts of the sung liturgy that belong to the people and the choir.

Next week: Part II : Where Have All the Organists Gone?

Part I – Banish the Soloists – Let the People Sing looks at the cantor as soloist, a position not envisioned by the Second Vatican Council, and counter-productive to good congregational singing.
 

Part II – Where Have All the Organists Gone? examines the pipe organ and its value in leading music in Catholic worship.
 

Part III – Bells and Whistles, Guitars and Tambourines looks at "other instruments" and their suitability or unsuitability at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Lucy E. Carroll, D.M.A., is organist and music director at the public chapel of the Carmelite monastery in Philadelphia. She is also adjunct associate professor at Westminster Choir College, Princeton. She has taught high school through graduate school, and worked in Lutheran, Episcopal and Catholic churches and a Reform Synagogue. Her Churchmouse Squeaks cartoons appear regularly in the Adoremus Bulletin.

Copyright © 2003 Adoremus: Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

See also CNP's Index of Music for Cantor & Congregation