Childhood choir loft memories
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Anybody got Funny ones?
    I remember burning the carols sheets during Midnight Mass, and holding hands at the Our Father while conspiring with some kid two next to me to swing the kid in the middle over the pew risers...

    Was I the only awful chorister who grew up to love choir?
    Thanked by 1expeditus1
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    In our parish choir directed by my mother, I remember our three Irish tenors often rolling in to practice with three sheets to the wind, as they say. They were always sober on Sunday morning, though. It did make for some colorful rehearsals.

    I also remember how the whole choir waited with bated breath every Easter to see if our star soprano (the rectory housekeeper) would nail the A in the Gloria in Gounod's St. Cecilia's Mass. If memory serves, she always got it, but it was sometimes a real cliff hanger to see if she would deliver.
    Thanked by 1expeditus1
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    I wasn't a chorister as a boy, though I wish I was - I was an altar boy.

    I do have memories of sneaking up to the choir loft when no one was around and checking to see if the organist left the organ un-locked (It would occasionally happen). I'd sit, throw on all the stops, open the boxes, and play a C major chord; and then noodle around, trying different stop combinations not really knowing what I was doing. I remember I liked the sound of the 8' & 2' swell flutes.
    Thanked by 3expeditus1 JulieColl Casavant Organist
  • expeditus1
    Posts: 483
    Good thread, MaryAnn. I have a suspicion that more than a couple of the Forum members here, held an impish child's view of the world, as being a great big comedy unfolding. I'd like to claim that I was exempt from such baseness while I was present in God's temple, but I was as fallen as the next mischievous mind. I blame my choirmate, because I like to think that left to my own vapid nature, I would have been perfectly responsible. I'm equally sure, however, that if you ask her, she would blame me. All I know, is that we were a combustible duo who tapped into each other's hidden interior comedian, at the most inopportune times, and should never have been placed next to each other on the risers. We routinely baited each other to see who would lose all composure in uncontrollable laughing jags. I fought so hard to visually imagine all means of torture and unpleasantness, so that I wouldn't lose control. If I had fought as hard to master myself, in the words of Marlon Brando's character, "I coulda' really been somebody." My choir nemesis went on to get her Master's in music and works in the theatrical world now. Me? I still find great humor in life's incongruities, but have now acquired a repertoire of social cues that I can tap into.

    I also played the organ for Mass, but found little humor there. I do have recall of slinking off the bench, on more than one occasion, when I felt I had not "met standard," and crawling on my hands and knees across the choir loft, so that no one could see who had been playing.
    Thanked by 2JulieColl kenstb
  • francis
    Posts: 10,822
    I was a music lover from my first breath of air. And it was music that I was meant to breathe.

    Upon my arrival to the choir in third grade, I was fully caught in the swell, captivated with every moment, in every note, of every chord, and I, myself, simply dissolved into the musical experience as though I was a sugar cube dropped into an ocean of sweet sound.

    SATB a cappella was the epitome of heaven on earth, all coming from our 40 member boy choir. I was one amongst our stunning soprano section and the tone that rang out from us held in the cavernous ceiling as though time was suspended for a moment, and that ocean unleashed flying fish at our command.

    We wore blue choir robes apropos because we were the Immaculate Conception Boys Choir. I still wear the blue robe... if only in my memories. We often sang at St. Joseph's Cathedral and I remember the unusually low choir rail that one could easily fall over and that it was so high up, so it seemed.

    I had my fill of singing the Hallelujah Chorus in that choir, countless times, always in stunning form. I WAS the Hallelujah Chorus! Then suddenly and without warning, our family departed from it all in the middle of eighth grade, and I never wanted to sing Handel ever again.

    The effect of that experience was absolutely foundational to my becoming a choirmaster, organist and composer in the mystical tradition, as I am positively sure I was destined to be. If the church had only maintained its course as the Barque of Peter, I would not now be the fish-out-of-water that I have sadly become, gasping for that breath, beached, with gills pining for water and life, withering away on the sand by the sea in which I am no longer able to live.
    Thanked by 6JulieColl expeditus1 Felicity melofluent CHGiffen Casavant Organist
  • expeditus1
    Posts: 483
    ...and the ocean unleashed flying fish at our command


    Such descriptive literary language, francis! Might the crafters of flying fish puppets be old choirmate acquaintances of yours?

    Comparing and contrasting our childhood accounts, it is quite obvious that you were a better man in the making than me.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,822
    expeditus

    I certainly hope not, but it is entirely possible, now that you mention it. I was certainly no better than you or anyone in making, but I did have a wonderful experience of singing choral music even though it lacked the authentic dimension of sacred music for the liturgy (i.e., GC and polyphony)
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    I was and to some extent still am the most likely to start giggling at a note sung off key. The spanking I remember most from my childhood was after a church concert where my mother (the parish organist) caught me playing Mary Had A Little Lamb on the choir manual while majestically playing All Glory Laud And Honor on the great and pedals. I don't think I sat down for a week. I don't think anyone but her actually caught on to what I was doing though.
    Thanked by 3JulieColl expeditus1 Casavant Organist
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Oooooh you naughty little stinker!
    I'd have whallopped you, too!
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    francis, as Exp1 stated, your sharing is most extraodinary.
    If the church had only maintained its course as the Barque of Peter, I would not now be the fish-out-of-water that I have sadly become, gasping for that breath, beached, with gills pining for water and life, withering away on the sand by the sea in which I am no longer able to live.

    Perhaps we can imagine that our Lord looked at Dysmas, maybe even called him by name, before assuring him, "This day, you will be with Me in Paradise." Do not despair, my friend.
    Thanked by 2JulieColl francis
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    We had a choir director/organist who, although quite accomplished, was manic depressive. He had been a prominent Episcopalian organist and had migrated to Catholicism. He was so thoroughly obnoxious, especially when he didn't take his medication, that our parish and one Presbyterian church were the only ones in town that would put up with him. He would work in our parish for awhile, get mad over something inane, move to the Presbyterians for awhile, then get mad at them and come back. He had a children's chorus of elementary and middle school kids. Two of the little boys found themselves alone in the loft and plotted revenge. They took 3 or 4 principal pipes with them when they left. They maintained strict silence and pretended to know nothing for several years. Of course the nutty organist almost had seizures when he discovered the pipes missing, while playing for Sunday mass, of course. After nut-job left for the final time, a relative of the kids apologetically returned the pipes. I couldn't do anything but laugh. A pretty good way to get even.
    Thanked by 2expeditus1 Casavant Organist
  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,190
    I learned to play poker in the choir loft as a child chorister. I was taught by older guys.
    Thanked by 2expeditus1 Casavant Organist
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,414
    Ah! If your choirs had been 'in choir' as they historically are in Anglican churches such hanky-panky would not have happened - you would have been dazzled by your nearness to the divine proceedings in which you had a crucial role to fulfill.
    Boo on choirs in choir galleries.
    Thanked by 2Daniel Bennett Page kevinf
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    CharlesW...were you one of those naughty (brilliant) children who took the pipes? Inquiring minds want to know... ; )
    Thanked by 1francis
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    No, I wasn't involved in the taking, just the retrieval and restoration. I give those little guys credit for being creative. They were around 11 or 12 when that happened.
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    Sweet....
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    They were around 11 or 12 when that happened.


    How have they found prison life to be for them?
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    They are fine and were not in any significant trouble that I know of. That DM/organist was a terrible person that hardly anyone wanted to deal with. He would work cheap, which our pastor at the time liked. As I mentioned earlier, only one other place would put up with him.

    I taught middle school students and you either like them or you don't. I found it much easier to treat them as scatterbrained potential friends than enemies. Anyone who would deliberately antagonize a bunch of boys is really asking for it to begin with. They always outnumber you.
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,798
    That DM/organist was a terrible person
    As proved by his reaction to the theft, one supposes.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    No, he was horrid. He screamed at the kids, threw hymnals at the adult choir members who sang a wrong note, was foul mouthed, and a terrible example. He would go off his medication and lock himself in his house for days at a time, not shower, and refuse to let anyone in. His brother would have to come and get him out and back on medication. I never thought children should have been around him, but this was in the days when anyone attached to the church could get away with more. He made the kids miserable and they got back at him. I worked for Protestants and had no desire to work in the parish church because it would have meant dealing with him. He is now dead, and there is great speculation as to where he now resides.
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    As for the organist's current abode, it sounds as if he was truly ill, so maybe his behavior was beyond his control. Although he obviously had poor people skills, God is merciful and kind.
    Thanked by 2M. Jackson Osborn Casavant Organist
  • francis
    Posts: 10,822
    and there is great speculation as to where he now resides.
    In the ground, perhaps? Or maybe the 'boys' had his bones made into a set of small mixtures and had them installed in you know where?
    Thanked by 1Richard Mix
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    Some who were in his choir hope it is hot where he is. I refused to deal with him because I think I saw him realistically. He was a brilliant musician who could make magic happen at the console, but he was also mentally ill. There was nothing I could gain from contending with him, so I didn't. There was also nothing I could have done that would have benefitted him.

    Only Schantz and Casavant made mixtures from hell in the sixties. However, I still laugh over those boys filled with mischief and electricity and with a sparkle in their eyes.
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    I found it much easier to treat them as scatterbrained potential friends than enemies.


    Excellent advice on boy-rearing, by the way. We have four sons (and two daughters) and my husband is a middle-school band director, but I grew up in a family of five girls so my boys have been a never-ending source of mystification, (exhaustion) and delight.

    I've always observed with amazement and amusement the way little boys know exactly how to irritate and befuddle adults. They instinctively know just what buttons to push and how far to go----and yet despite all their faults, what I admire most about them is their relentless pursuit of freedom and unerring sense of justice so you can usually get around them if you try.
    Thanked by 5CharlesW expeditus1 M. Jackson Osborn CHGiffen tomjaw
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    One of the most difficult things to maintain as an adult is the wonderful optimism and recklessness of little boys. Unfortunately, in my case the mischievousness has remained. I still get the giggles at the most inopportune times. Usually when one of my sopranos misses a high note. It's hard for me to keep a straight face.

    MACW, my mom would agree with you wholeheartedly. As you might imagine, I got quite a few decent spankings as a lad, and I deserved EVERY one of them. For me, it was still the fact that both of my parents were musicians that led me to study music at all. Their example showed me how wonderful it is to use your gifts for Christ.

    Francis, is there truly no EF community within reasonable distance of where you are? I think that some of the sadness in your first comment might be lifted if you were playing the organ on a regular basis. Less time to brood is always better, and sometimes it inspires more composition. If there isn't a parish celebrating mass in the EF, then perhaps you could use your talent to enrich an OF parish in the mean time.
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Yes, and isn't it one of the most baffling paradoxes of all creation that mischievous little boys have the most angelic voices? There is a lesson in there somewhere.
    Thanked by 3M. Jackson Osborn kenstb CharlesW
  • bwag217bwag217
    Posts: 10
    When I was in high school my hair caught on fire at the Easter Vigil when I was trying to sing the psalm by candlelight. I only noticed when a tenor behind me starting whacking me on the head with his binder to try and put it out.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen expeditus1
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Ouch !
    Did you keep singing?

  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Francis and MJO,
    Speaking for the choir I sang in as a girl, the repertoire was.... fluff and Christmas carols. That's about it. No one cared about music literacy- we were usually given hymn sheets with words and not music notation at all. Harmony? What!? Not everyone could do it so it wasn't taught much.
    Thankfully I was in piano lessons, and our family had a tradition of singing in harmony.

    That's a good portion of why most of us didn't take choir seriously- the repertoire wasn't serious or challenging in the least. I'm certainly not proud of my bad behavior. Though I am glad I know that a lot of mischief and attitude comes from being bored.

    Speaking of casual music, so many of the songs floating around in the 70's and 80's (we had G&P) were beyond lame. Imagine you are a 12 year old girl, asked to sing "peace is flowing like a river, flowing out of you and me..." alongside your friends.

    Could you sing it without laughing and/or being resentful?

  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,414
    .

    Thanked by 1francis
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    Ah-bah.ah.ah.ah.ah.ah.ah.ah.ah.ah.ah.ah.ah
    Ah, ah Bah, Fah, ah, thur..............
    You are the pah, ah, tur.............
    We are the clay-ay.ay.ay.ay.ay.ay.ay.ay......
    (Sorry, you know I can't resist a straight line setup.)
    Thanked by 3francis Jenny Casavant Organist
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    I had honestly forgotten about that one

    UNTIL NOW!
    :)
  • francis
    Posts: 10,822
    I have totally forgotten everything... and that is how God prefers it to be. (well, at least because he has let US decide our fate). This world means nothing to me any more. I have been removed in total. I have lost all.

    Thank you for your compassion for my situation, ken... the world is about to experience an unforgettable event, and I am just a reminder as to the reason why.

    "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi... miserere nobis."

    There will NOT be any peace. It has been forfeited.

    Ave Maria.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Charles' rendition of an old song reminds me of its Latin counterpart, drafted by a seminarian in the 80s.

    Abba,
    Abba Pater,
    tu es nos figulus
    argilla sumus
    et opus tuum

    Forma, forma et finge nos
    in tu_imaginem
    filii Iesu,
    filii Iesu

    Gloria
    Gloria lausque
    tibi in saecula
    saeculorum, amen
    saeculorum, amen

    Abba!
  • melofluentmelofluent
    Posts: 4,160
    "Abba" unlike the tetragrammaton, is a pristine assignation that our Lord provided us. It is both a credit and debit that Landry was the disseminator of it.
  • expeditus1
    Posts: 483
    francis, your earnest words above are heard. My concern for the children who will have to continue to carry the Gonfalon of our Faith onto a battlefield which will be like none other ever seen before, is what urged me to form a children's choir in 2010. Our starting date of September 11 was nothing I had planned, and its significance didn't hit me until a couple years later. Wherever the "nefarious one" treads, he leaves distortion, disfigurement, and defilement in his wake. For decades, I waited for the "experts" to come, expecting that someone who knew more than me would bring restoration. I finally understood that the experts were not going to be appearing, and that my own paltry hands and voice were being requested. It is my hope for the children who were destined for this age, that their hearts and spirits continue to sing the praises of their God and their Catholic Faith throughout periods of joy, privation, or persecution. The immediacy of that preparation is NOW, so that those memories are iron-firm.

    Those of us who are still attached to the caravan which has been making laps in the desert for the past fifty years, and who have witnessed the parade of idols and the madness that has overtaken so many on this wilderness journey, can appreciate the Grace which has sustained each fellow tribesman who continues to muscle on to the Promise which waits ahead.
    Thanked by 4francis kenstb Jenny bonniebede
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Try to keep your chin up, dear Francis. Praying for you.
    Thanked by 1francis
  • francis
    Posts: 10,822
    Thanks Expeditus and Julie for words of encouragement and prayers.
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,414

    Gonfalon - what a refreshing touch of literacy!!!
    I propose a new, more poetic, translation of Vexilla regis -
    'The gonfalons royal forward go...'
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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