Cantors have been known to cause heartburn, anxiety, dismay and hearing loss. Everyone could relate a story about the Cantor who made a liturgy nearly unbearable because of the volume, tone or gestures. Did he reach the high note that starts “On Eagle’s Wings?” Probably not, and neither did the rest of the congregation.
A cantor is supposed to lead the musical/congregational prayer of the liturgy. I try to be as unobtrusive as possible. I say as little as possible, I only move to bring the congregation in (usually with one arm) and I move away from the mic when the range is such that I don’t need the mic and when it’s time for the congregation to sing. There’s nothing worse than what Thomas Day calls “Mr. Caruso” – the cantor that has the mic planted firmly between his front teeth and is extracting every decibel possible from the parish’s shoddy sound system.
If cantors remembers it’s all about prayer to God rather than all about themselves, that usually goes a long way to helping the situation.
I could go on and on, but I’m out of time and I’m sure you have opinions.
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My opinion is that my wife does a wonderful job being a cantor, and should be the model for all other cantors throughout Christendom.
(I hope she reads the comment above.)
Ditto for my wife as well.
I am a cantor, and I agree 100% with what John says. But you wouldn’t believe how much some of us have to fight to be allowed to NOT use a mike, to stay in the balcony in the rear of the church, to avoid obnoxious intros to the hymns (e.g., “As we gather as a faith community to affirm our [blahblahblah], please turn to “Gather Us In” in the OCP Missalette, No. 250″), and to conduct “rehearsals” before Mass while people are trying to pray. It is a real struggle for a cantor to be unobtrusive and reverent!
One thing all of the cantors did at our parish was say “As we receive Christ as a community, please turn to [hymn number].” My wife decided that she didn’t like the “as a community” stuff, so she stopped saying it, on the grounds that we receive Christ individually, even if we are a “community.” The other cantors eventually followed suit, until inexplicably last Sunday, another cantor said it. Maybe it was a slip.
You know what’s funny about most introductions? They sound like this to the congregation:
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
Let us turn to page 435 and sing “Onward, Christian Soldiers!”
The intro is often theological/liturgical jargon that gets ignored.
Ok. So people aren’t announcing Onward Christian Soldiers much these days.
But I did pick “A Mighty Fortress” on Reformation Sunday one year just for irony’s sake.
A simple announcement — “Number five-eighteen” — is so tasteful and peaceful. Just think of it: isn’t it nice?
The unspoken message is: you’re already praying in the quiet; the organ is going to make its sacred sound in a few seconds, and we’re all going to sing this hymn for the glorification of God and the edification of our souls; and the last thing you need right now is a bunch of verbiage from me distracting you from your attention to the Lord.
The unspoken message is: you’re already praying in the quiet; the organ is going to make its sacred sound in a few seconds, and we’re all going to sing this hymn for the glorification of God and the edification of our souls; and the last thing you need right now is a bunch of verbiage from me distracting you from your attention to the Lord.
This unspoken message is then promptly ruined by a trumpet blaring a grand flourish for “City of God.”
When I was pastor I eliminated the cantor role. The psalmist was seen only for the Psalm after the first reading, the verse at the gospel, and for the psalm or song at communion.
The numbers for th hymns were listed on the front of th bulletin. There was no need for anyone to be seen or heard. The assembly simply stood and sang as soo as the organ introduced the hymn. We always used a hymn that the congregation knew, or a simple antiphone from the Graduale simplex that was easy to learn.
I have spoken about this on my blog many times, and there is a link to a document I wrote on music ministry in the parish.
I want Father Keyes to come be our pastor.
I too am a Cantor and I definitely agree. The cantor is not a soloist and should be selfish. The mass is not the place for a concert or a recital. Cantors are supposed to connect with the congregation and invite them to praise the Lord musically. No matter how beautiful a cantor’s voice is, there is no reason to show off. Loud, overbearing cantors make the congregation shy away from singing. Cantors need to look past themselves and think of the congregation for once.
Excuse me “should NOT be selfish”