Views from the Choir Loft

Sing Like the Angels

Andrew Leung · December 21, 2015

ERRY CHRISTMAS! Christmas is upon us and I would like to wish all our readers a blessed Christmas. About two thousand years ago, the angles appeared to shepherds, announcing to them the good news and sang “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests”. (Lk 2:8-14, from the Mid-night Mass Gospel) What can we learn from the Holy Angels? There are two things we can learn from the best and most perfect choir.

(1) Deliver the Message – We know from Luke’s Gospel that the angels delivered the good news to the shepherd outside of Bethlehem and the shepherd understood them clearly. Although our choirs on earth might not be perfect, we can all do our best to deliver the message. One way to make sure that messages are delivered is to sing with good diction. Imagine that the angels who spoke and sang to the shepherds mumbled the whole time, the shepherds probably wouldn’t have gone to adore our Lord. Also, when the chant or choral pieces are not in the vernacular, it would be nice if we can help the congregation to understand the text. Do everything you can to get the message across, especially to those who are visiting your parish during Christmas.

(2) Constantly Praying and Praising – Christmas can be a stressful time for church musicians. But it really should be a prayerful time. So, learn from the Holy Angels this Christmas and make every pieces of music a prayer to God. There will probably be quite a few “CEO (Christmas and Easter Only) Catholics” in church who will be “singing at Mass”. But we have to make sure that we sing the Mass. We are not just performing or caroling, but we are singing the Mass itself! Try to understand and even meditate on the texts that you will be singing. This will allow you to pray the texts as you sing and this will also help deliver the message.

Asking for the intercession of the Holy Angels is also a good idea. Through their intercession, may the Lord help us to grow closer to Him, sing joyfully and prayerfully to the world the good news. And as the conclusion of every Preface in the Mass says, may we “join in one voice with all the Angels and Heavenly Hosts” and proclaim the Glory of God.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

“Music List” • (Christ the King Sunday)

This coming Sunday—24 November 2024—is Christ the King Sunday (a.k.a. “Final Sunday in Ordinary Time”). Some have expressed interest in perusing my “ORDER OF MUSIC.” If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. You’ll notice we’re learning Moreau’s “Congregational Polyphonic Enhancement” for the OUR FATHER. And the the Mode 3 ENTRANCE CHANT is utterly sublime.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Entrance Chant” • Christ the King

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Solemnity of Christ the King (24 November 2024). It mimics the Mode III Latin version in a truly spectacular way. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • (33rd Sund. Ordinary Time)

This coming Sunday—17 November 2024—is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. Some have expressed interest in perusing my “ORDER OF MUSIC.” If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. You’ll notice we’re learning Moreau’s “Congregational Polyphonic Enhancement” for the OUR FATHER. For the record, our opening hymn is particularly beautiful. So is the Mode 6 ENTRANCE CHANT.

—Jeff Ostrowski

The Breviary in the Life of the Laity

Recently I have been enjoying looking through the inaugural (1927) edition of a 20th-century liturgical magazine called Orate Fratres. The July 1927 issue included an excellent article by a Chicago laywoman named Ellen Gates Starr entitled “The Delights of the Breviary: From the Point of View of a Lay Woman.” As we in the 21st century have recently undergone a (blessed!) re-translation of the missal into English, and as we await with joyful hope (please God, before Jesus comes back!) a similar re-translation of the breviary, the opening of her article reminded me of that old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Nearly a hundred years ago, she penned words that could just as easily have been written today: “It is indeed a privilege to be allowed any participation, however slight, in the liturgical movement in the Church – the movement to bring back the classics of devotion, the Missal and the Breviary, into general use by the laity. The wonder is that they should ever have fallen into disuse. Nothing can take the place of these great universal prayers of the Church, the prayers of the Mass and the divine Office. One has only to know them to find them indispensable. And alas, how few of the laity know them!” I know that I have been tremendously nourished by regular praying of the breviary as of late, and my wish is that you and I, dear reader, may continue to nourish our interior lives with the official prayer of the Church, which present to us (in the Mass) and extend (in the Office) the fullness of Christ’s greatest gift to us – the gift of Himself – in the Most Holy Eucharist.

—Daniel Tucker

Principles vs Preferences

I ran into this idea recently: principles vs. preferences in planning out a curriculum or music lineup. In this idea, it is imperative to not misconstrue personal preferences into principles—that the music (or subject matter) is great because: “I have good taste, and I like it.” De gustibus… Education, study and docility to the Magisterium of the Church on matters of liturgical music must be present in those who make the music at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Hours. Who knows? Maybe you might start to prefer the music that is fitting according to the principles Catholic Sacred Music?

—William J. Fritz

Liquescent Notes in the Official Edition

The official edition—the EDITIO VATICANA itself—is somewhat inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes. If you wish to see a perfect “apples-to-apples” comparison, click here. Such “inconsistency” was not owing to ignorance on the part of Abbat Pothier: the manuscripts themselves are inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes.

—Jeff Ostrowski