Music at Low Mass
If you would like to introduce singing at Mass on a regular basis, remember that Rome was not built in a day. A parish accustomed to a silent low Mass cannot produce a beautiful Missa cantata from one Sunday to the next.
A more modest goal—an intermediate step, if you will—is to plan a low Mass with hymns. Even that requires attention to a multitude of factors and circumstances. This article provides a basic recipe. First, though, some definitions.
The ordinary prayers of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) are invariable. They are the oldest example of Christian congregational singing.
The Mass of each day on the liturgical calendar has its own proper prayers (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Offertory, and Communion). They are set to music in Gregorian chant and are sung by a trained schola.
The rubrics of a Missa cantata (sung Mass, which can be either high or low) call for singing all the ordinary prayers, all the proper prayers, and the dialogues between the priest and the people (for example before the Gospel and at the Preface). Sung prayers cannot be introduced into the Mass at the musicians’ convenience. A Missa cantata is a package deal.
The simpler alternative described in this article is Low Mass with hymns or motets at any or all of the following points in the Mass: Processional, Offertory, Communion, Recessional.
What You’ll Need:
Permission
On Sundays and holy days of obligation, Mass at an SSPX chapel is usually attended by many families with small children; some of them travel from a great distance. Singing at low Mass adds five minutes or more to its duration. Will those extra minutes be an additional burden and try the patience of the worshippers? Is a half hour of blessed silence important for some who attend the low Mass? The celebrant or the pastor is in the best position to evaluate these concerns. If he says, “No music at Sunday Mass,” his decision should be respected.
On the other hand, the same priest might welcome the offer of liturgical music for a special weekday Mass when attendance is optional, for example on the Solemnity of the Annunciation or on the patronal feast day of the church.
Once permission to sing at a Mass has been obtained, the initial program of music should be submitted to the celebrant for approval.
Director
Even a small parish choir needs a director to consult with the celebrant or pastor, to schedule performances and practices, and to program the music. If there is no experienced choir director among the parishioners who wish to plan a Low Mass with hymns, then a good candidate for the job would be someone with extensive experience in choral singing. He or she will understand how a rehearsal is run. A schoolteacher or a person who has done public speaking may also be a “natural.” In any case, the director of the choir should have poise, a good ear, and a great deal of tact.
Singers
One lone voice cannot lead a congregation in song. Singing into a microphone and over a loudspeaker system would be incongruous at a Traditional Latin Mass. Two singers will always be heard as separate voices. Therefore at least three singers are necessary for a choir at Low Mass.
How does one identify and recruit good singers? It is a good idea to start by personal invitation. A musical family in the parish or a group of students who already sing together at school could become the core singers in a future parish choir. If they show interest, then a general announcement can be made from the pulpit or in the bulletin.
Women almost always outnumber men in the choir loft. One reason for this in a Traditional parish is because many boys and men serve at the altar. The motets for women’s voices in The St. Gregory Hymnal (1920) suggest that a century ago it was not unusual for a Catholic parish to have an all-women’s choir.
Organist (optional)
Congregational hymn singing, when led by a good choir, does not need to be accompanied! If a usable organ is available and an organist is willing to help with the music at a low Mass, then that is a blessing. But it does not necessarily make him or her the choir director. Few organists, even Catholics, have played sacred music for the Traditional Latin Mass; they themselves will need guidance regarding dynamics, tempo, breathing with the singers, sacred silence, liturgical seasons, and suitable repertoire for preludes and postludes.
Practice space
On a Sunday morning when the choir is scheduled to sing, they must practice before the Mass so as to take attendance, warm up their voices, and review the music and any special instructions. This practice should not be held in the church. Many parishioners regularly arrive early for Mass to pray or meditate. For them, bits and snatches of choral music and the director’s voice in the background would be a distraction. Then, too, a choir does not sing its best when it has to compete with a congregational recitation of the Rosary.
Reverence requires a separate space for practice “on the day of.” It can be held in the church basement or hall or a suitable large room in the rectory or school.
Rehearsal time
A typical parish choir has a longer rehearsal on a weekday evening. For many who attend an SSPX chapel, an extra trip to church during the week is just not possible. Therefore, unless all the singers live near the church, the most convenient time for the choir to practice is right before the Mass at which it sings.
A new choir should have at least two rehearsals for each Mass that it sings. For example, if they are scheduled to sing once a month, they could practice every other week. They need the additional rehearsal time to get used to singing together and to learn repertoire.
If practice time is very limited, online resources can help. The director can send to the choir members an email link of a good recording of an unfamiliar hymn or a motet so that they can begin to learn the music on their own.
Combining the Ingredients
If you have the necessary ingredients, you can plan music for a low Mass with hymns. Start small and keep it simple. Singing can mark a liturgical season, for example, a Sunday in Advent or Lent, with a few English hymns that are familiar to most of the congregation.
Ideally, the singers should stand in the choir loft. If the church or chapel has no loft, then for reasons of acoustics and decorum they should sing from the back of the church.
Processional and recessional hymns are not officially part of the Mass; therefore singing in the vernacular is permitted then. During the Mass itself, though, only Latin should be sung. Most Catholic hymnals have a good supply of Marian and Eucharistic hymns or antiphons in Latin. These can be used at the offertory and communion respectively.
Choir members should set an example of correct Latin pronunciation. Internet recordings are not always helpful with this. You may hear a choir pronouncing Latin consonants as though they were German, “hissing and fizzing like snakes,” or singing Latin endings with French nasal vowels.
After your first low Mass with hymns, get feedback from the celebrant, the singers, and the congregation. Was anything distracting or unsuitable? What went well? If even a few people ask how they can join the choir, you’ll know you’re on the right track.
When the choir gains skill and confidence, it can sing more often, and a more elaborate program can be planned for a major feast day. If enough singers attend choir practice regularly, singing in parts (polyphony) can be introduced, for example, the easy Lambillotte setting of the hymn Panis Angelicus. If the choir is all or mostly women, there is a wide selection of Latin motets for three equal voices (in this case, first soprano, second soprano, and alto).
He Who Sings Well, Prays Twice
At a Low Mass with hymns, the choir does not sing the prayers of the Mass itself. Nevertheless, its purpose is to help those in the congregation to lift their minds and hearts to God in prayer. It will do this more effectively if the singers pray together as a choir.
Even though the Sunday morning rehearsal will probably not be in the church, the singers should still be recollected and reverent. Often it is enough to sing the English hymns thoughtfully.
Some parish choirs begin each practice with a musical prayer, for instance, a chanted Ave Maria, and end with a recited Gloria Patri.
TITLE IMAGE: A Village Choir, Thomas Webster, 1847.