The genesis of my interest in chanting at Mass.

Over on the Musica Sacra Forum Jeffrey Tucker posed the following question:

How did you hear about chanted liturgical music?  What got you going?

Well...my answer to that question is rather long, so I messaged Mr. Tucker and told him that I would type up the whole saga on my blog this afternoon.

I'm finally done with algebra homework (a pox on the inventors of that accursed system), so here goes...

I have long enjoyed listening to Gregorian Chant.  My music collection contains several cds of chant that are many years old.

Until a couple of years ago however, I thought chant was a neat bit of church history...not terribly relevant to the Mass today. 

Don't get me wrong I had attended Extraordinary Form Masses (before they were even called that), but they were all low Mass with Vernacular hymns.  I had never in my life heard Chant within the context of the Mass.

Then my oldest daughter met a wonderful young man, they fell in love, courted and he proposed.

She was away, attending school full time and working.  My dear friend David offered to do the music for her wedding as his gift to her.  My daughter asked me if I could coordinate the music with David, and of course I said yes.

So David and I started thinking about the music, and at first I was thinking in the direction of some nice choral pieces and of course the Bach Gounod Ave Maria, which I had heard my friend Eden sing for Mass twice, and it moved me each time.  Eden was also my daughter's voice teacher, so that was set.

Now since Eden had moved to Rhode Island that meant a plane ticket and such, but nothing was too good for my daughter.

and then...and then...

I read this article.  My homepage on the internet is a nifty site called www.mycatholic.com

The cool thing about this site is that I get to choose from a long list of catholic news sites and blogs and put them on this page (rather like my personalized version of the Drudge report).

So...I'm browsing and reading the article titles and I come across this one on music.  I think it was in Crisis magazine, but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, this article was written by this guy Jeffrey Tucker, and he's talking about Gregorian Chant, and this website called Musica Sacra which has all this great music for download.

I was intrigued.  So intrigued that I went to the Musica Sacra site www.musicasacra.com

What an amazing site.  Seriously.  Did you know that people are still chanting the Propers at Mass?  Do you know what the Propers even are?

I sure didn't.   But being the history buff that I am, and due to the fact the both my daughter and her future husband, AND both sets of parents were Civil War reenactors, I started thinking about how cool it would be to have a Proper Nuptial Mass including the chants.

So...I called David.  Now, David had already begun this journey of discovering these beautiful chants of the church and he was way ahead of me, so to say that he was pleased when I asked about doing the chanted Propers would be understating the case (slightly).

However.  He cautioned me that it wouldn't sound as good with just one voice, that we should probably think about having a choir. 

I started seeing dollar signs...LOTS of them.  But then...my dear friend Eden made the suggestion that I should think about asking friends in the parish if they would sing for my daughter's wedding.

So I did.  And they all said YES!!!  Of course at the time, they didn't quite know what they were saying yes to.

And of course, David and I needed to find the chants.  Enter Musica Sacra to the rescue.  I love the search feature on that site.  I didn't find all my answers there, but I did find a fair few.

So, my daughter's wedding was beautiful.  A fully chanted Nuptial Mass, with an Octet and a soloist.  I can never thank these friends enough for giving up so many hours on weeknights to come rehearse the music for my daughter's wedding. 

But the story doesn't end there.  See, I began looking into this in August of 2011, for my daughter's January 2012 wedding.

And then...school started.  I live in Hillsdale, home of Hillsdale College.  There were a number of students who were used to chanted Propers at Mass in their home parishes, and had asked the music director about singing them. 

So while I was discovering that chant WAS relevant to the modern church, here comes this group of young people who began chanting the Propers. 

I was in so far over my head it was silly, but they were uniformly sweet while this old dog began to learn a new trick.  (I was quite literally the only person over 25 in the choir that year.)

I didn't care.  I was in love.  I started talking about it to anyone and everyone who would listen.

Many times to the point where eyes would start to glaze over.  But mostly people were very happy for me that I was so happy.

Then I heard about the Sacred Music Colloquium. The mountaintop to which the musical Moses could ascend.

But it was in Utah.

I live in Michigan...hotels, meals and petrol to drive there...

because I don't fly.

EVER.

I talked about it anyway.

How cool it would be to go.

How much I wish I had the money.

Ah well, I had a dairy cow and six children at home. 

I couldn't go anyway.

But then...my parents called me.

On THEIR wedding anniversary.

To tell me that they wanted to subsidize my trip and make it possible for me to attend.

I was staggered.  They are retired.  They're comfortable but certainly not rolling in money, and this was a lot of money.

Once they convinced me to say yes, I asked my Mom if she could go with me.  (My husband would have loved to go, but someone had to stay home with the children and the livestock.)

So...we went.  My dear friend Leah very VERY generously watched the children (and the cow) during the day so my husband could go to work.  For two weeks.

My Dad stayed home with my niece (who lives with my parents) and let me have my mother all to myself.  For two weeks.

My Mom and I got to go to Utah and climb that musical mountaintop.

The fallout from that experience is still being felt all over the place.

My mother talked to the music director at her church...who is going to Colloquium this year.

I've gone back to school (grandmother that I am) to pursue a degree in music.  Which led in a roundabout way to me leading the choir in my home parish.  Another long story, and one I won't relate here.

We are a small parish, and our choir is just beginning to chant.  The students, God bless them, have all graduated, but they inspired a number of us, and now we have a choir and a small chant schola that is learning.

The choir is excited.  VERY excited.  Our choir is growing rapidly, and we're growing together.

Without the resources online...Musica Sacra, Corpus Christi Watershed, Richard Rice Adam Bartlett and many others, who have generously given of themselves and their talent, we would not be anywhere near where we are in terms of music at my parish, and I daresay in many other parishes as well.

Without the support and advice of the many wonderful musicians that I am privileged to know, Charles, David, Eden, Stephen and Wendy, I would never have had the courage to take on leading the choir. 

I also consider myself very blessed to be able to call on my colleagues (I have colleagues now-how cool is that?) on the Musica Sacra Forum and ask my questions and they'll answer. 

No question is too basic for them.  I have never once been made to feel like I was asking a stupid question.  For someone like myself who's self-image isn't the highest, that has made an enormous difference in my confidence.

Sometimes  I ask a question and get three completely different answers, but honestly I think that's a good thing.  It makes me think and sometimes leads to other questions, all of which help me learn, to better serve God and my parish.

So...there it is.  My long story about discovering chant in the liturgy in the new millennium.

May the story continue.  Higher up and further in...

Thanks for reading.
 

Ok...So it's been more than a day or two...

However, I have very good reason (excuse).

Our parish has formed a Traditional Music Choir and the pastor asked me to lead it.

Talk about your learning curve.  I have knowledge, I have resources, I even have skill sets to bring to bear.

What I don't have is a lot of experience in the conductor's position.

I'm learning, and I think I'm getting more comfortable and improving weekly.  I'm also sure I'll make a few mistakes.  

Fortunately...most of the people in the newly formed choir are just as excited as I am, and very supportive.

The one or two that are not...I can't do anything about that, so I don't let it worry me. 

The negative behavior has not gone unnoticed by the rest, though I do my best to encourage people to brush it off.  The negative nellies will either improve or leave.  Either way, we can't let it affect what the choir as a whole is doing.

Some people just don't like change.  But most of the people do.  Those in the choir...and those in the pews.

What we're going to do is make some beautiful music to offer God and the congregation in the Mass.

I can hardly wait.

The new choir sings their first Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday.  Which has always been my favorite feast after Easter and Christmas.

Which God knows.

I am so incredibly blessed I have a difficult time containing my enthusiasm, and my joy.

So much beautiful music...so very little time.

Thanks for reading.

Life...

Has been happening with a vengeance. 

However, watch this space as I will be returning to my regularly scheduled rantings within the next day or two.

Tree Day...

Ok so this isn't exactly tomorrow...life happens.

The next major happening in our house for Advent is Tree Day.  More commonly known as the first Sunday in Advent.

Tree Day starts with Mass.

In our house...everything major and most things minor start with Mass.  If you don't make God the center around which your family revolves...family life is much more likely to spin out of control.

After Mass, we come home and change into outdoor gear.  Then everyone goes trooping out to the tree farm and walks up and down the rows of trees for several hours, trying to find the perfect tree.

The discussion can become quite passionate over the relative merits of each tree.

Eventually...we all get cold enough that we settle for one that's close to perfect.

(For the record we have YET to find the perfect tree...but we keep looking every year.)

Then comes the cutting down of the tree.

Everybody takes a turn with the saw.  Even the baby.  (With Dad helping of course).

Then we load it up into the small open trailer we have, take it up front to be shaken and wrapped, and drive home singing Jingle Bells.  Ralphie's version complete with raspberry at the end.

The drive takes about 5 minutes since the tree farm is just down the road.  Shop your block is a philosophy we really try and follow.

When we get home...everyone is very cold, so I immediately begin the making of the hot chocolate and hot food.

After I put on a Christmas CD of course.  Music is good, no matter what the occasion.

Meanwhile, Dad and the children set up the tree in the tree stand and untangle the lights and put those on the tree.  I'm allergic to pine, so I stay out of the way for that part.  Besides...I'm cooking.

Once the lights are on, it's break time.  We eat and have hot cocoa.This is usually a pretty big meal.

Then...let the decorating begin.

First, one of the littler children and whoever is the tallest person present, put the Angel on top of the tree.

Tall person picks up small person.  There is a lot of giggling during this activity.

We buy a new angel every year.  After their stint on the tree, each angel gets added to my collection on the piano.

Non-breakable ornaments on the bottom...more fragile ones on the very top, everything else around the middle somewhere.

The tree never looks the same, and that's a good thing.

Afterwards, we stand around and admire the tree for awhile...

Then we make popcorn and watch A Muppet Christmas Carol.

We only watch that movie on Tree Day.  The rest of the year JR hides it.

By this time...it's bedtime, and since everyone is pretty tired, we say our evening prayers and go to bed.

Which is a good thing...because cookie baking starts the next day.

Thanks for reading.

So what do we do for Advent...?

A friend asked this question of all of her friends on facebook.

Never being one for short answers I told her I'd blog it for her.

We have a lot of family traditions for the season...so this will probably take several posts.

Advent for us actually starts before the liturgical season does.

Advent is after all a time of preparation for Christmas.

Which for our family, begins the day after Thanksgiving.

We have a strict rule of no Christmas music in the house until after Thanksgiving.

So...Friday morning we put on Bing Crosby's Christmas Album.

On, not in.  It's a record.  As in vinyl.  We have the cd of course, but it doesn't sound the same.

We have breakfast and then I go to Joann Fabrics with some of the children while the rest of the children tidy up the house and get the Christmas stuff out of the closet they are stored in.

I'm usually home by 10am, but always by noon. (I only go to the fabric store on Black Friday.)

After lunch we start decorating the house. 

We hang up the greenery and the ribbons, put up my angel collection and JR's nutcracker collection.

We also put up the small nativity scene that belong to JR's uncle Father Ed.

While doing this we listen to Christmas music.

We have leftovers for supper.

We start reading Christmas books during story-time too.

Everything from the Bible, to Charles Dickens to Dr. Seuss, culminating with the infancy narratives on Christmas Eve.

We don't put up everything today, but we start.

Decorating the house takes pretty much all of Advent.

We do it in stages, and put the finishing touches out on Christmas Eve.

That whole preparation thing.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about Tree Day.

Thanks for reading.

Thanksgiving...

There's a trend on Facebook right now.

For the entire month of November, people are supposed to list one thing they are thankful for every day.

Nice idea, but I never quite got around to it.

I thought about it though...what am I thankful for?

Lots of things actually.

Most of them little.

Some not so little.

For instance.

I'm thankful for my family.  My WHOLE family.  Even the ones I don't always see eye to eye with.

Sometimes especially those relatives.  They challenge my assumptions and make me think, but I can't just avoid them, and therefore never have my assumptions challenged.  Because they're family.

I'm thankful for my close friends.

Especially the ones who know where all the bodies are buried and love me anyway.  And the ones who put up with my ranting.  And the ones who call me on it when I'm being stupid.  It's the same people who do all these things for me by the way.  Not a large group mind you, but definitely worth their weight in gold.

Finally...for this post anyway...I'm very grateful for the way in which my parents raised me.  I had NO idea when I was young... how much of a leg up my upbringing would give me compared to my peers.

Believe you me, I have an idea now...and am doing my level best to repeat that upbringing for my own children.

As society continues to degenerate, I'm convinced that it may literally make the difference between a decent quality of life and grinding poverty for my children.

Ooooh...that's getting depressing.  Let's not go there.

Let's just say I'm very grateful.

and leave it at that.

Thanks for reading.

Sometimes...

you need to just face facts, cut your losses, and move on.

Which I have just recently decided to do.

It's a shame, but my stress level dropped exponentially.

I'll be able to spend more time with my family.

I'll be able to focus on the important things.

Don't panic, I'm not quitting school.

I love school.

I'm learning so much and bringing it home to share with my family.

There is music in the house every day.

No, I'm talking about trying to help with the music at my church.

After today, I finally realized that as long as the current music director is in place, forward motion is not likely.

Not being the type of person to engage in futile activities, I've decided to focus my energy elsewhere.

As I said in the beginning...sometimes you just have to cut your losses and move on.

I haven't felt this free in quite a while.

Thanks for reading.