In Paulist priest Ricky Manalo’s book, “Chanting on our Behalf”, published by Pastoral Press he asks a very important question:
“What is the future of sung liturgy? Not only sung liturgy in terms of the participation of assembly, cantor and choir. What is the future of singing as part of the role of ministers of word and sacrament?” If the church is One Body, then we should all be united with one voice during liturgical worship. This includes not only the voice of the assembly, cantor and choir’s voices, but also the priest and deacons as well.
What inhibits this process from happening naturally? In order to answer this question, we need to explore some misconceptions.
Firstly, some claim to be tone deaf. Actually the research shows that very few people are tone deaf. It also is a fact that humans have an innate ability to sing. Out of the individuals who are tone deaf, the majority can match pitch. Most likely the person claiming to be tone deaf has been discouraged from singing by a teacher, family member or from a peer.
Secondly, some people do not think they have good enough voices to sing. If the church is “One”, and we are a “broken body”, then being good enough should not matter. One should just sing anyway. Ricky Manalo notes in his book that, this does not seem to matter to people in America when they sing “Happy Birthday” as the same people who claim to not have a good enough voice, sing at the top of their lungs this song, and even with harmony!
The last misconception to be considered is that people do not think it is their role to sing. This should be left to the choir and ministers. However, in actuality the Mass is a song rite with the assembly as the primary choir.
The inhibitors to this process include an unwillingness to prepare, an unwillingness on the part of instructors to instruct, and unwillingness to change.
Preparation includes the proactive approach on the part of all involved. What works in one community, may not work in other communities. Having a plan for success is key. Working together as a team can really aid this process. Deciding on which parts of the Mass will be chanted, and which parts will be recited should involve not just the priest celebrating the Mass. This information should be shared with the music director and the assembly. Once decisions have been made in this regard, the decision needs to made as to what modes of chant will be used. How many tones will be used? Chanting can be done on a single note, two notes or several notes. Will the chants be creative chants or will the chants be those taken directly from the Roman Missal? Next comes the practice of these chants. If the celebrant feels confident, individual practice is excellent. If the celebrant needs help, then they should seek help from their music director. With a trusting relationship between music director and priest celebrant or deacon, coaching can be very valuable.
Small steps are better than trying to attack it all at once. Also, think about what is currently being done and just be more proactive to make sure things work.
Here at the Cathedral, for instance, I know that Fr. August will chant at daily Mass and Sunday Mass the “Lord Have Mercy”. At Daily Mass, I know Fr. August will chant the Lamb of God, using the version he used at the seminary.
I know that when Fr. Andrew celebrates Mass, that he will chant the Mass propers directly from the Roman Missal at Sunday Mass and our response with the “Amen” is two tones. I know he will chant the preface as well.
Bishop Steven will chant the Mass propers most of the time with chant being a single tone “Amen”.
Choir members rehearse the diologues in preparing the assembly to respond.
Next week, we will continue this series with a look at chanting the introduction dialogue to the preface.