MUSICIAN’S SPIRIT
“Let’s seize upon the opportunities for evangelization and engagement stemming from live streamed and recorded events.”
family. Funerals and weddings can now be viewed by family members and friends unable to travel and be present. Parish meetings, retreats, and presentations can be recorded, shared, and archived. Might cantors and other music ministers hope to use this new-found parish technology as a way to interact with parishioners? Could new repertoire be made available for people to view and learn? Could concerts, sing-alongs, or solos be shared? Let’s seize upon the opportunities for evangelization and engagement stemming from live streamed and recorded events.
Solos in the liturgy
Perhaps no one is more attuned to the possibilities of solo singing in the liturgy than the faithful readers of this publication. Solo singing, apart from the liturgical texts, has been and continues to be met with suspicion in some places. I sense this stems from the notion that solo singing is a performance, yet all liturgical ministries have a performative element to them. Fear of solo performances in the liturgy need not be the case. Many of you cantors took the time to learn solo repertoire for all those liturgies recorded without a congregation present; you are to be commended and thanked for this! Along with reclaiming the possibility of solo music in the liturgy, the past two and a half years opened our ears to the possibilities of solely instrumental music in the liturgy. Prior to the pandemic shutdown, my congregation, like many
others, was apt to encounter congregational music, choral music, or instrumental music during the preparation of the altar and gifts. Te success of solo singing in recorded liturgies has inclined many of us to program more solos at that point in the liturgy. Please do remember that everyone does not have to sing everything! Might we hope to continue modeling different types of music at different places in the liturgy?
Belief in simpler music
Yet another challenge faced and overcome by music leaders was determining what type of music could and should be sung. Early on in the pandemic, many parishes removed hymnals and participation aids from the pews fearing they would transmit the virus. Many of us then moved into a phase where worshippers could be present but were not allowed to sing. When singing returned, it was done incrementally. Verse-and- refrain format, antiphons, and call-and-response music replaced strophic hymnody. We sang the “heart songs,” songs that could be sung from memory. We learned a new type of repertoire. Might we hope to keep some of this repertoire in order that our congregations be exposed to an even wider array of music? Much of this repertoire heightens the cantor’s role and responsibility in singing with the assembly. Tank you, cantors, for your willingness to lead this expanding repertoire.
Choirs experienced a diminished attendance during and even now after the pandemic. Two-part and even unison music became standard offerings for the choir. Whether you are a director or singer, please do not consider music scored for anything less than SATB voices as inferior or deficient! In fact, the transparency afforded by few vocal lines challenges singers to listen and sing as a choir, not just a section.
Gained and lost through time
Te pandemic experience gave us the gift of time. Tis gift of time comes with pluses and minuses. Many “positives” stemming from pandemic worship have already been identified in this article, and more will be mentioned. Yet we know that each passing week of no congregation singing, no Communion from the
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