Hello, Mark, nice to "meet" you.

I was wondering whether you have a sense of when you would be able to sing at a parish Mass. Although singing for the sake of learning is great, I would think that the more important goal for a schola would be singing at Mass. Is there a Sunday Mass that currently has no music, early in the morning? That might be a place to start, or alternatively, on holy days for the daily Mass.

The reason I ask is that in my experience, a great way to narrow down the questions you've asked, such as recruitment and music selection, is to have a specific liturgical goal, such as we will sing at the morning Mass on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8). Then prepare the music from the Graduale Romanum, including one of the chanted Ordinaries (such as Mass IX).

Anyways, I would suggest that you might first determine the liturgical goal, and work backwards from there to rehearse the schola.

Thanks Kathy,

There is one mass Saturday evening and one Sunday morning. So, perhaps Holy Days would be the way to go. I would be willing to "cantor" with some chant wherever possible, or is it bad form to chant solo as a "first step"?

This leads to the second (and comparatively easier) question, what chants would be fitting the liturgy December 8? The Parish Book of Chant doesn't say what belongs where. I need to know what's what if I am to provide some leadership.

When I sang in the schola last year, the director selected (and typeset many of) the selections. To know what chants to do, do I need to get the Graduale Romanum, or can I look it up online?

Again, thank you.

Mark

Mark, do the existing choirs ever take a week off? One of them might like a substitute for the Feast of the Holy Family, for example.

Are you certain you want to sing the propers in Latin? Or would you like to chant in English?

I find that in an hour's rehearsal it's possible to teach an English introit and Communion antiphon, review Psalms and hymns, and do whatever else needs to be done in order to prepare for a Sunday Mass.

Do you have time constraints for rehearsals? If not, try singing the Latin antiphons with English Psalms. But if you are pressed for time, maybe the English antiphons from the Sacred Music Project would help. http://sacredmusicproject.com/st-meinrad-chant/index/

"Is there an online resource for Communion propers?"

http://www.musicasacra.com/communio/

Best of luck on your new adventure, Mark!

I put together a two hour open chant workshop for our parish back in August, and ended up getting five more schola members out of that. More background here.

I had advertised that in the bulletin for a couple of weeks, but also sent the word out to all the existing choirs in the parish, even some outside our parish. The intent was not to CREATE a schola, or even to sign up new members, but to give people the opportunity to "learn, sing, and have some fun." Inspiring people to join the schola was a bonus.

You quickly mentioned the music director, but I'd say that's a critical person to have on side. So I would put together a plan which he or she can totally and enthusiastically support. That will help address any concerns that parishioners or clergy might raise, and communicate it as an integral part of the parish's music program rather than some weird thing off on the side. I agree that singing Mass is the whole point, so integrating it with the music program is critical.

Finally, I'd suggest you have in-depth discussions with a few people who have created scholas around the country. I have found these CMAA members here to be extremely outgoing, generous, and helpful - but there's only so much you can do in a few paragraphs here on the forum. You want something that's much more indepth than that. Be prepared that each person will have different advice, so make sure you talk to a range of people.

I'll be the first to volunteer, if you drop me an e-mail. I believe that's linked to my name above.

Mark,

Regarding how to know what to sing, the Gregorian Missal has all of the proper chants for each Sunday and Holy Day of the liturgical year. They are in latin with English translations provided for reference. You can freely print and copy the pages you need.

The ordinary chants (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) are also in the Gregorian Missal, but a subset of the ordinary is found in your Parish Book of Chant.

Mark, I would say no. They are the prescribed melodies from the Graduale Romanum. You would certainly do well to begin with them. Other "fixes" would have been added by Fr. Ruff from his own research base.

Thank you!

This forum is a goldmine! Thanks for the joguechant.org link.

Thanks Dan, I'm not going to let the "correcting" of notes get in my way. I know it's an academic point, and I certainly won't let that distract me. I was just curious, and knew y'all would know the answer.

-Mark

Offer a sung Vespers first. That way you are not intruding on anyone's turf

Sounds like a splendid idea, and it resonates with this nice piece from NLM about reinstating a parish celebration of Sunday Vespers.

Might be a bit more complicated politically, though, depending on the parish -- if I'm not mistaken the most straightforward way to chant Vespers is to use the Extraordinary Form. Or is there a good resource for chanting OF Vespers?

Thanks for the great advice to all.

I've gotten some very useful advice in response to this initial question:
-How can I find out which chants to begin with? (I own "The Parish Book of Chant") And where do they belong in the mass?

but I'm also in need of ideas as to how to act on this item:
-How can I seek out other people who might want to sing in a chant schola?

Does the "explore chant" workshop seem like the best way to go? Are there other ideas here in the "goldmine?"

Thanks!

-Mark

Yes, I found that a chant workshop is the best way to start. If someone doesn't know whether they would like it, they only have a few hours to commit where they might not want to commit to a standing rehearsal schedule. It's already hard enough to find regular choir members willing to offer an hour a week, especially if they are men.

"it's important to persevere. Anyway, one of the nice things about chant is that it's not a numbers game."

I totally agree. More chanters are good, but I stopped worrying about the number. It doesn't matter to me. I do my best, and all the angels and saints also sing with me and my schola.

Mark, I sent you an e-mail, let me know if you didn't get it.