Yesterday I had the joy of assisting at Mass at two different churches, for the sake of meeting up with friends at those two places. At the first, a mix of Gregorian chant and simple Latin hymns were sung. At the second, pop music vernacular hymns.

One thing I've always noticed here (Brazil) is that the music is largely an oral tradition. A smattering of people learn to read music, but most church choirs and congregations have learned the music by ear. Hymnals are very rare, and in the few cases I've seen them they only have words, not notes.

One effect of this is that the idea that one has to sing a song according to the specifics of the written notes does not exist. One sings it the way one has learned it in ones community: words, rhythm, melody. If a written text is not available, most people only know the refrain and first verse. Sometimes a given community will have their own minor variations in rhythm and text, because the music was introduced by someone who learned it that way.

There is a body of older hymns, with simple melodies and rhythms, that most older people know well (at least the refrain and first verse). In cases where I have found sheet music for these hymns that I've learned by ear, the way I learned it is rarely the way it is written. But the idea that the written version (from the composer!!) has any authority doesn't exist.

Then what happens is that if/when a choir is introduced to new music (say, Panis Angelicus or O Sacrum Convivium), the same approach applies. The notes on the printed page serve as a help to learning the basic melody, and a reminder of the melody when singing until it is memorized. But they are not considered a fixed and restrictive guide to exactly how to sing (nor how to accompany, if musicians are playing). Whoever is in charge of the rehearsals (be it a music director, organist, enthusiastic volunteer(s)), they determine the interpretation of new music, choosing tempo, lengthenings, pauses, etc as they feel so moved. I've run into this in person a few times where I had to relearn the rhythm of a hymn or chant to accommodate a different congregations way of singing. This was usually discovered mid-song, when everyone else inserted a pause or held a note more/less than I would expect... doh.

The conversations about the rhythm and interpretation of Gregorian chant remind me of this.