Author: Arlene Oost-Zinner

Fr. Allan McDonald offers an insider’s account of All Souls Mass at St. Joseph’s in Macon, GA:

Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48, between 1887 and 1890. I wonder if he thought it would be sung at Mass in 2012 in Macon, Georgia? I wonder if Bishop Annibale Bugnini would have thought so too? God acts in mysterious ways…The major mistake that should not have happened and threw me into major discombobulation around the time following the Pater Noster is that I had warned the deacon acting in the sub deacon capacity not to forget to take the ciboria from the credence table to the altar when the chalice was placed on the altar at the Offertory. HE ALONG WITH THE PAROCHIAL VICAR ACTING AS DEACON FORGOT…

Read more and see the entire Mass at Father McDonald’s blog, Southern Orders. Join Fr. McDonald, music director Nelda Chapman, and the CMAA at St. Joseph’s in January for the Winter Chant Intensive. Registration deadline is approaching.

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, site of the upcoming Winter Chant Intensive, is featured in this short video produced by Georgia Public Television. If you have a hankering to go to the Chant Intensive and visit a lovely and historical city in the Deep South, this might push you over the edge! Register here.
Thanks to Fr. Allan McDonald for passing this on to me this morning.

Children of the Madeleine Choir School in Salt Lake City spent time earlier this week lending their voices to a new CD that will accompany Words With Wings.  The CMAA thanks the children, their parents, Gregory Glenn, and especially director Melanie Malinka, who you can see working her magic in some videos we took in the studio.  The CD will be available by Advent.

This week I’m in Salt Lake City, where Melanie Malinka, some of the choristers from the Madeleine Choir School, and I will be meeting up in a recording studio to lay down new tracks for a CD to accompany Words With Wings.  Because some other plans I had for Sunday fell through, I had the great fortune of making it to the Cathedral of the Madeleine for the 11:00am Mass. Melanie had told me that the kids would be singing the entire Mass, so I’m secretly pleased my other plans didn’t pan out.

A cursory look at the program before Mass showed me there was a lot to look forward to.  The children would sing the Gregorian Introit, Laetetur cor and the Communion antiphon, Laetabimur.  The ordinary consisted in Credo III, a Proulx Sanctus, and the Gloria and Agnus from the Rheinberger Mass in A major. The program was rounded out by Doug O’Neill on the organ playing a Bach Prelude, a Postlude by Kenneth Leighton, and the children singing motets by Faure and Leighton.

I had been at the Cathedral for the 11:00am Mass before, but this was in the summer time, when school is not in session.  So I wasn’t fully prepared, intellectually, and most surprisingly, spiritually, for what happened during Mass.  The children’s Introit, under the direction of Madeline Choir School director, Melanie Malinka, was exquisitely crafted.  Moreover, it set the tone that would be carried through all the of the music I experienced this morning:  the music moved.  It was never stationary. It always moved forward, like time itself; yet each note, each word, was carefully placed, pure, and eternal.  It was breathtaking. 

I was fully expecting it to be outstanding – despite their tender ages, these are some of the most well trained singers in the country.  Ms. Malinka, as teacher and conductor, is precise and driven.  The Rheinberger Mass, and the Faure and Leighton, as sung by children’s voices, were sung with enviable  volume, control, intonation. and sensitivity.  Beautiful and pure, the repertoire selected was perfectly suited to serve at an OF Sunday morning Mass.  The Gregorian Communio, Laetabimur, was just as spectacular and moving as the Introit.  It accompanied almost all of the Communion procession with numerous repetitions and Psalm Verses.  What a privilege it was to hear these children sing in Liturgy, or, in other words, to sing when and where it really matters.

It wasn’t just the children’s singing or Ms. Malinka’s direction that made the experience so amazing.   The celebrant, the Rev. Msgr. Joseph M. Mayo, did his share of singing his parts of the Mass.  The cantor did a fabulous job of leading the congregation, again, in a way that kept things moving forward through time.  Doug O’Neill is also to thank for his confident and masterful treatment of all things organ – from his solo performances before and after Mass, to his improvisations on the chant, to his accompaniment of choir and congregational singing.  The organ added to the musical progress of the Mass in the most delightful and fundamental way.  Beware anyone who thinks the organ slows things down or makes things stodgy or inaccessible…go listen to Mr. O’Neill.

The Mass I attended this morning was, in my estimation, as close as it comes to what the the second Vatican council intended.  People’s parts were important, and integrated perfectly with the roles of celebrant and choir at Mass.   Timing was impeccable: you often see choral Masses slowing things down to a halt – with the celebrant patiently, and sometimes painfully, waiting until the music was over  to resume his part.  This didn’t happen.  Organ, choir, people, celebrant, people, cantor, choir, organ – sometimes alone, and sometimes layered – all came together in a  Mass that was solemn, inclusive, riveting…and above all, joyous.

The Gospel we heard this morning (Mark 10: 46-52) reads: Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you? The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see. Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”

As a musician attending a Mass that seemed like a modern day miracle, I paid special attention to Christ’s words this morning.   What do we want Him to do for us?  As musicians, what would he like Him to help us do or see? If we open our eyes and look around, we will find beauty everywhere…but mostly in examples of unshaken faith, like that of the blind man. We spend a lot of time lamenting the sorry state of music in parishes, and yes, even at some Cathedrals…but are we stepping off of our soapboxes long enough to look around and see Christ’s love working through those whose faith knows no soapboxes, and remains constant?

Gregory Glenn, founder and director of the choir school, and all who work with him – Ms. Malinka, Mr. O’Neill, cantors and staff, and of course the children – are wonderful examples.  It is because of their faith and dogged perseverance that they have achieved what they have.  It is through their hard work and fidelity that visitors and parishioners of the Cathedral of the Madeleine can come together on a Sunday and worship as the Church – and Christ – desire.

Tuesday, June 18
Breakfast on your own
8:30 am: Morning prayer (Choir School Oratory)
9:15 – 10:45am: Chant sessions
11:00 – 12:00pm:  Morning breakout sessions
12:00pm– 1:30 pm: Catered lunch at Choir School
1:30pm – 2:30pm: Lecture (Cathedral)
2:45pm–  4:15 Ppm Polyphony Rehearsals
5:15 pm: Mass, 11th Sunday of the Year (English)

6:30pm: Dinner on Cathedral grounds
7:30pm: Organ Recital ; Compline

Wednesday, June 19
Breakfast on your own
8:30 am: Morning prayer (Oratory)
9:15 – 10:45am: Chant sessions
11:00 – 12:00pm:  Morning breakout sessions
12:00pm– 1:30 pm: Catered lunch at Choir School
1:30pm – 2:30pm: Lecture (Cathedral)
2:45pm–  4:15 Ppm Polyphony Rehearsals
5:15 pm: Mass (11th Sunday; OF, English, Latin and Weber propers)

Dinner on your own

Thursday, June 20
Breakfast on your own
8:30 am: Morning prayer (Oratory)
9:15 – 10:45am: Chant sessions
11:00 – 12:00pm:  Morning breakout sessions
12:00pm– 1:30 pm: Catered lunch at Choir School
1:30pm – 2:30pm: Lecture
2:45pm–  4:15 Ppm Polyphony Rehearsals
5:15 pm: Mass (EF Polyphonic Solemn Requiem)

7:00pm: cocktails (cash bar), followed by Gala dinner and Follies at Grand America ballroom


Friday, June 21
Breakfast on your own
8:30 am: Morning prayer (Oratory)
9:15 – 10:45am: Chant sessions
11:00 – 12:00pm:  Morning breakout sessions
12:00pm– 1:30 pm: Catered lunch at Choir School
1:30pm – 2:30pm: Lecture (Cathedral)
2:45pm–  4:15 Ppm Polyphony Rehearsals
5:15 pm: Mass (EF Missa Cantata, St. Aloysius, chant with organ improv)

Dinner on Cathedral grounds

8:00pm Vespers (psalmody of Friday; chapter, hymn, Mag. antiphon from Common of Confessor not a Bishop

Saturday, June 22
Breakfast on your own
8:30 a.m.: Morning prayer (Oratory)
9:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. – Chant rehearsals and seminars
11:00 a.m. – 12:00am – morning breakouts
12:00-1:15 – Catered lunch on Cathedral grounds
1:30 – 2:30pm- polyphony rehearsals

5:00pm CMAA Member meeting
Dinner on your own

Sunday, June 23
Breakfast on your own
10:00am  Lauds (Cathedral; optional)
or 10:00am  rehearsal (polyphony for Mass) 
11:00 a.m.: Mass (OF, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

1:00 p.m.  – Closing brunch (Little America Hotel ballroom; cash bar)
2:30pm.  – adjourn

I’m in a plane somewhere over of Memphis, TN and working on details of Sacred Music Colloquium XXIII. Thanks to the wonder of in-flight internet I’m able to give you a first look at what’s in store. This is going to be such a thrilling year: sublime repertoire, a stellar faculty lineup, more English Masses and resources than ever before…and the return of the Follies! Preliminary schedule (really want to get that posted – think I  can do it before this plane lands?) and registration form forthcoming.