Today during after-Mass refreshments, we all learned a lot. Jeffrey Tucker learned about etymology, ancient history, and botany. We all learned about Utah’s Sunday laws. And it was confirmed for me, by Jeffrey Morse and Matthew Williams, that children love a challenge.
All of us have established groups of choristers, and all of us have had the same experience. The children do not want to take the easy way out. No Rossini, thank you! No Psalm-tone propers! Credo I, the solemn Salve, one of the real Kyries instead of #18–they want to sing the most difficult chants.
The young people in my Schola are incredibly nice. The only time I get the almost-unavoidable eye-rolling of their age group is when I suggest they cannot do something. With no insult intended, sometime choir directors want to take the easy way, for the sake of a polished performance. But for the young people, who have in fact proved themselves capable of rising to any occasion, we really should allow them to sing the very best music for God.