Views from the Choir Loft

Adam Raha • Article Archive

Adam Raha has been married for 22 years, and together with his wife has embraced the role of being the first (and most important) teachers for their eight children.—Read full biography (with photographs).

About Adam Raha

Together with his wife, Adam Raha has embraced the role of being the first (and most important) teachers for their eight children.—(Read full biography).

Adam Raha · March 27, 2025

AI, Primary Things, & Our Parish Choir

Every Sunday, my family and I really want to attend no other Mass than the one the choir is singing at.

Adam Raha · November 28, 2024

Saint John of the Cross • Arrested & Imprisoned By His Own Carmelite Brothers

Many years ago, I was very calmly trying to de-escalate a disagreement I was having with someone close to me…

Adam Raha · August 17, 2024

Fathers Must Turn Their Hearts To Their Children

I don’t necessarily mean children with no dad. I mean “absent” fathers.

Adam Raha · January 10, 2013

Biography • Adam Raha

Adam and his family live a life close to nature, allowing their children to swim in rivers, climb trees, and spend ample time on trails in the woods.

Communion Chant (4th Sunday of Lent)

You can download the Communion Chant for the 4th Sunday of Lent (Year C). Its opening phrase calls to mind the authentic version. I have created a rehearsal video to assist volunteer choirs.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Entrance Chant” • 4th Sunday of Lent

You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (30 March 2025). Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. The authentic version is called “Laetáre Jerúsalem” and its memorable opening gesture is imitated brilliantly by this vernacular adaptation. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • 3rd Sunday of Lent

Some have expressed interest in perusing the “ORDER OF MUSIC” I prepared for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (23 March 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. During Lent, the pipe organ is greatly reduced. Therefore, I marked a red “X” on all the pieces we’re singing a cappella.

—Jeff Ostrowski

The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum

Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.

—Daniel Tucker

Antiphons Don’t Match?

A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music).

—Corpus Christi Watershed

The Lofty Nature of This Goal

It is important above all that we never lose sight of our true goal as church musicians: the right worship of Almighty God. This is not a pious sentiment that should cause us to be lax about technical elements of music. Rather, the lofty nature of this goal is should motivate and inspire us to pursue the techne of musicianship with even greater zeal.

—Dr. Samuel Backman

A hymn verse need not be a complete sentence, but it must have completed sense as a recognisable part of the complete sentence, and at each major pause there would be at least a “sense-pause.” Saint Ambrose and the early writers and centonists always kept to this rule. This indicates one of the differences between a poem and a hymn, and by this standard most of the modern hymns and the revisions of old hymns in the Breviary stand condemned.

— Fr. Joseph Connelly