I have some thoughts about the \u201ctraditional choir\u201d in Catholic liturgy. I know the term is imprecise, but I\u2019m going to go with it. I\u2019m coming from my background as an organist, Gregorian chant scholar, and devotee of the Church\u2019s heritage of sacred choral music, and I own that limitation.<\/p>\n
This post is about what Sacrosanctum Concilium<\/em> said in article 114 that \u201cChoirs must be diligently promoted, especially in cathedral churches\u2026\u201d I have in mind the type of choir that sings solo anthems, accompanied usually by organ but sometime by piano or unaccompanied, with literature generally from the \u201ctreasury of sacred music\u201d (no, I\u2019m not going to define that here), and usually with SATB voice parts. Such choirs sometimes also sing global music in various styles and languages, which is all to the good.<\/p>\n Four roles<\/strong><\/p>\n I see four distinct liturgical roles for the choir, though these sometimes overlap a bit.<\/p>\n Some examples of each of these four:<\/p>\n 1a. Solo Free-standing:<\/strong> Palestrina, Bach, Rutter, etc. \u2013 anthems or motets sung e.g. as prelude, at preparation of the offerings and altar, during or after communion, or as a postlude.<\/p>\n 1b (Solo Dialogical):<\/strong> Responsorial psalm verses sung in parts in alternation with congregational refrain; one stanza of a congregational strophic hymn sung by choir alone in parts when congregation sings the rest of the stanzas.<\/p>\n 2 (Congregational):<\/strong> Congregational opening hymn led by pipe organ, choir members pick up the hymnal and, just like everyone else, sing in unison without having rehearsed the hymn, following the organ and not needing a conductor.<\/p>\n 3 (Stimulator).<\/strong> Like #2 except the hymn is not well-known, or is a bit difficult, or the congregation for whatever reason probably won\u2019t sing it well, so the choir rehearses it ahead of time and is prepared to sing it confidently so it goes over well.<\/p>\n 4 (Enhancement).<\/strong> Congregational hymns and all the Mass parts are sung by congregation, while the choir sings the same music in parts, generally doubling the organ harmonies.<\/p>\n More solos for greater impact<\/strong><\/p>\n To lay my cards on the table: I think choirs need to do more of #1 and less of #3 and #4. Yes, you read that right. I think choirs need to focus more on their solo choral singing and less on leading the congregation and enhancing the congregation\u2019s singing with harmonies.<\/p>\n Why? Greater impact. Rehearsal time is limited; it is better spent on the music in which the choir has the greatest impact upon the liturgy. In fact I think this is what choirs are mostly for: to provide choral music as a unique gift that the rest of the congregation is not meant to offer.<\/p>\n Consider this hypothetical scenario, an example of what I find problematic: the choir spends its rehearsal time on 6 or 8 or 10 pieces of music, most all of them in harmony. It\u2019s pretty much all the music of the Sunday liturgy \u2013 the hymns, the Mass parts, the responsorial psalm refrain and the communion antiphon. The choir is there to, you know, lead the congregation, not to, you know, perform. Vatican II and all that. So the sopranos sing the congregational melody line and the other choir parts fill in with harmonies at lower pitches.<\/p>\n What happens in this scenario? Either the congregation really sings well \u2013 which we all want \u2013 and nobody hears the choir harmonies. It was a waste of rehearsal time and, let us be honest, for God\u2019s ears only. Or \u2013 in cases where the congregation doesn\u2019t sing well, perhaps because their repertoire changes too much, the choir ends up singing the congregation\u2019s music for<\/em> the congregation. What started as a good intention to lead congregational singing (Vatican II!) ends up as a musical program as choral-dominated as any Latin High Mass before Vatican II. The congregation mostly sits it out and listens to it all.<\/p>\n Sometimes in the above scenario the conductor, in full view of the congregation, ignores<\/em> the congregation, perhaps with his or her back to them, while conducting the choir which is singing the congregation\u2019s <\/em>music. Hardly wonder they don\u2019t sing \u2013 the conductor\u2019s body language is suggesting that this \u201ccongregational\u201d music is really for the choir.<\/p>\n A better way<\/strong><\/p>\n I think the following hypothetical scenario would be a better way.<\/p>\n Note what the choir is not spending rehearsal time on in this scenario: congregational Mass parts in harmony, congregational refrains in harmony, congregational hymns sung in harmony while the congregation sings.<\/p>\n As I see it, in the above scenario the congregation gets more bang for the buck \u2013 they get to hear more choral music that is polished and done well for their edification. And the choir members have a more rewarding experience of offering artistic music.<\/p>\n Liturgical music is fundamentally congregational<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n In my favored scenario, the choir\u2019s focus on choral performance does <\/span>not<\/em> make the liturgy more chorally dominant, it actually respects the fundamentally <\/span>congregational<\/em> focus of most music. It respect that the most important sung portions of the liturgy are to be sung by the congregation. The choir doesn\u2019t spend time rehearsing most of the liturgy\u2019s music precisely because most of the music is congregational. The choir just joins in on it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
\n1a. Solo Free-standing<\/strong>.
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01.b. Solo Dialogical<\/strong>\u2013 in alternation with singing congregation.<\/span><\/li>\n\n