Wandering in the Desert (part 2)
Common Misconceptions
1 – There is no need for a choir in today's parish.
If you have one, its only function is to support congregational singing.
But the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) says: "Among the faithful, the schola cantorum or choir exercises its own liturgical function, ensuring that the parts proper to it, in keeping with the different types of chants, are properly carried out and fostering the active participation of the faithful through the singing." (103)
It is clear that the Council (SC 114, 116, 121) intended the choir to have a specific and substantial role with a proper repertoire, not simply sing along with the congregation.
Is there any wonder that choirs have dwindled when what they are asked to sing is so simplistic and uninteresting and produces such little effect?
Parish choirs grow when they are challenged to sing good music by enthusiastic and capable choir directors.
As someone once said, the difference between the choir and the congregation is that the choir rehearses.
Just as the celebrant must excel at presiding, the lector at reading, and the homilist at preaching, so the choir must excel at singing.
2 – The liturgy requires a leader of song.
Regarding the "leader of song," the GIRM says: "It is fitting that there be a cantor or a choir director to lead and sustain the people's singing.
When in fact there is no choir, it is up to the cantor to lead the different chants, with the people taking part." (104)
This sounds good on paper but frequently sounds bad in church.
Is there anything more detrimental to congregational singing than an ill-prepared cantor crooning into a microphone and waving his or her arms as if sending semaphore messages to the faithful?
Yet parish after parish has been convinced that a "leader of song," no matter how inept, is the sure-fire way to improve the singing.
Note that the GIRM specifies that it is up to the cantor to lead the singing when there is no choir.
I served at a parish for many years that had no "leader of song;" instead the congregational singing, which was unusually robust for a Catholic church, was led by a trained choir and an accomplished organist who knew how to simultaneously guide and support the congregation.
If a "leader of song" is required, then he or she should be a trained professional whose voice does not need amplification except in the largest of churches.
3 – Mass must open with a congregational gathering song.
The GIRM says:
The singing at this time (at the Entrance) is done either alternately by the choir and the people or in a similar way by the cantor and the people, or entirely by the people, or by the choir alone.
In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Entrance Chant:
- the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting
- the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual
- a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms
- a suitable liturgical song similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop. (48)
A congregational hymn or song as the Entrance chant has become de rigueur, yet it is not required by the GIRM.
The American version of the GIRM permits it but only as the last of four options.
The original expectation was that the Introit (part of a psalm with its antiphon sung while the celebrant and ministers enter the church and approach the altar) from the Roman Gradual or the Simple Gradual would be used. Since these melodies are beyond the capability of most congregations, they are rightly the purview of the choir.
There are occasions when singing the proper Introit would seem especially appropriate. The Introits for the first Mass of Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Easter, Pentecost and the Requiem are unequalled in their insightful encapsulation of the theme of the liturgical celebration. These Introits add greatly to the solemnity of these days.
In those places where a chanted Latin Introit is not pastorally advisable, the Introit from the English version of the Simple Gradual or as set to one of the traditional psalm tones can be used.
The GIRM also says
After the people have gathered, the Entrance chant begins as the priest enters with the deacon and ministers.
The purpose of this chant is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical season or festivity, and accompany the procession of the priest and ministers. (47)
Notice that the proper name for the song at the entrance is the "Entrance chant," not "Gathering Song."
"Gathering is only one purpose of this chant.
4 – The nine-fold Kyrie, required in the pre-Vatican II Mass, is obsolete.
But the GIRM says: "As a rule, each acclamation (of the Kyrie) is sung or said twice, though it may be repeated several times, by reason of the character of the various languages, as well as of the artistry of the music or of other circumstances." (52)
There are many good settings of the Kyrie that should not be cast aside simply because they are nine-fold.
One way of performing a nine-fold Kyrie is to have a cantor or part of the choir sing the 1st, 4th, and 7th invocations, the congregation respond with the 2nd, 5th and 8th, and the choir sing the 3rd, 6th and 9th polyphonically.
5 – The Gloria is strictly a congregational part.
Yet the GIRM states: "The Gloria is intoned by the priest or, if appropriate, by a cantor or by the choir; but it is sung either by everyone together, or by the people alternately with the choir or by the choir alone." (53)
The popular adaptation of the Gloria in which a soloist or the choir sings parts of the Gloria while the congregation repeats a refrain (typically "Glory to God in the highest" or some variation thereof) as if it were a responsorial psalm violates the structure of the hymn.
The Gloria should be sung straight through.
As the GIRM indicates, the form in which sections of the Gloria are sung alternatim between congregation and choir (which may render its portions polyphonically) is perfectly acceptable; this form is frequently used at the Vatican.
6 – When the psalm between the readings is sung, it must be sung responsorially.
Regarding the psalm, the GIRM says:
The responsorial Psalm should correspond to each reading and should, as a rule, be taken from the Lectionary.
It is preferable that the responsorial Psalm be sung, at least as far as the people's response is concerned.
Hence, the psalmist, or the cantor of the Psalm, sings the verses of the Psalm from the ambo or another suitable place.
The entire congregation remains seated and listens but, as a rule, takes part by singing the response, except when the Psalm is sung straight through without a response.
In order, however, that the people may be able to sing the Psalm response more readily, texts of some responses and Psalms have been chosen for the various seasons of the year or for the various categories of Saints.
These may be used in place of the text corresponding to the reading whenever the Psalm is sung.
In the dioceses of the United States of America, the following may also be sung in place of the Psalm assigned in the Lectionary for Mass: either the proper or seasonal antiphon and Psalm from the Lectionary, as found either in the Roman Gradual or Simple Gradual or in another musical setting; or an antiphon and Psalm from another collection of the psalms and antiphons, including psalms arranged in metrical form, providing that they have been approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop.
Songs or hymns may not be used in place of the responsorial Psalm. (61)
Of all the changes affecting music, the restoration of the responsorial psalm has been, in my opinion, the least successful.
There are many parishes that do not have a trained cantor at their disposal and as a result, the congregation is often made to suffer through what seems an interminable test of faith as a well-intentioned but miscast soloist sings the psalm verses.
The responsorial approach, meant to permit instant congregational participation, unrealistically assumes that the congregation can sing the antiphon (response refrain) confidently after hearing it only once.
Add to that the penchant of contemporary composers for writing syncopated and tonally ambiguous antiphons, and one has a foolproof recipe for disaster.
If the psalm is to be sung responsorially, a simple seasonal antiphon with the proper psalm verses sung to one of the traditional psalm tones may be a better choice.
It is not necessary that the antiphon or the verses be accompanied.
In fact there is great power in hearing a congregation singing in unison without supporting instruments.
There are other options however. The GIRM recommends congregational participation but does not require it.
The proper gradual, either from the Roman Gradual or Simple Gradual, can be chanted in Latin or English by the choir, or it can be sung in parts (falso bordone).
The psalm may be sung straight through without an antiphon.
A method that I have used quite effectively is to have the psalm sung antiphonally between choir and congregation.
The choir sings the first half of each psalm verse; the congregation, the second.
This method requires that the congregation has a pointed version of the psalm to indicate phrasing, but with modern computer capabilities, this does not require much effort.
The approved texts of the psalms are available on the Internet at New American Bible.
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