IPM Year A Psalms and choir loft/ambo dilemma
  • ejklemz
    Posts: 7
    Has anyone who uses the Ignatius Pew Missal noticed that half of the Psalms for Year A are in mismatched modes? As in, the responses are in a different mode from the verses? I'm capable enough to sing the right tone on the fly, but it's driving me crazy. I'm planning on sending them an email but was wondering if anyone else noticed this.

    Also, side note:
    My Bishop is now mandating that the psalm be sung from the ambo. I know this is where they ought to be sung, however we have a choir loft and I simply cannot be in two places at once. But because of the Bishop, I now have to figure out how to bi-locate, or we sacrifice the psalm being sung at all (our readers definitely won't). My choir is shy in front of people so until I can train a few others on singing into a bad mic the only option at the moment is me.

    My solution so far is to come down during the Gloria and go up with the reader, on days I have a choir to support (so the vigil will definitely be spoken, sadly). That way I'm not out of breath and am not a distraction during the first reading. And then have a choir member sing the Alleluia after the second reading if I can't make it back up in time.

    Does anyone who has a choir loft have experience with this? It's not the biggest deal, but I am annoyed.
  • RoborgelmeisterRoborgelmeister
    Posts: 442
    I would consult with your priest and have him ask for a dispensation. I would call the mandate an over reach. The physical constraints of each parish should be taken into consideration. One size DOES NOT fit all.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen irishtenor Caleferink
  • CaleferinkCaleferink
    Posts: 473
    If the bishop isn't there (which, outside of the cathedral, that would be about 51 Sundays of the year), sing it from the loft. With all due respect to the bishop, he (and others like him) seem to not understand that the Psalm is a response to the readings, and if it is to be sung as it should be, he needs to have some flexibility as to where it is sung from (as the GIRM permits). Most bishops aren't musicians and don't understand the problems that are raised with a choir loft at the opposite end from the sanctuary.
    Thanked by 2Roborgelmeister CHGiffen
  • Elmar
    Posts: 530
    Is your diocese in the enviable situation of having a cantor (if not a choir) + an organist in most masses in (next to) all parishes? I know a lot of churches where the organist regularily sings the psalm from the organ, accompanying him/herself, in which cases such a mandate would effectively abolish the sung responsorial psalm in all these parishes.
    Thanked by 1Roborgelmeister
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 3,423
    This seems very simple to reason through. If the bishop prefers psalms be sung form the Ambo, so be it whenever proper forces are available. But if there is only a single musician pulling double duty, or the person who is competent to sing solo also needs to direct a group elsewhere, then something has to give. The solution is NOT to not sing the psalm. The missal explicitly directs that the psalm should be sung whenever possible. The missal also allows for the psalm to be sung at the ambo "or another suitable place" (cf. GIRM 61). So singing the psalm from the loft, out of necessity, follows the directives of the missal itself.

    When there are particular solemnities or masses with the bishop, you can try to make sure that a suitable cantor is available to take care of it. The key is to make some effort to comply with his directives insofar as is reasonable with the forces you have at your disposal. You can't simply throw up your hands and not even try. But you also cannot bilocate, and your current modus operandi is actually in accord with the directives of the Missal itself. Have the priest write to the worship office and clarify that you'll try to comply as much as possible, but certain masses will need to have the psalm from the loft.

    And FWIW, we sing all of our psalms from the loft, and we are a cathedral.
    Thanked by 3Elmar Roborgelmeister CHGiffen
  • ejklemz
    Posts: 7
    The mandate was given during Clergy Assembly. I believe these same objections were raised and from what our priest communicated, it sounds like the Bishop basically said deal with it, or just read it. I obviously dislike that he is prioritizing locality over the Psalm being sung, but I don't know firsthand what is in the new diocesan guidelines yet until first weekend of Advent. Regardless, our priest is very much "what Bishop says goes" so there's little chance I could even ask for a dispensation.

    I made the pilgrimage down today, it was annoying but wasn't the worst thing ever, in fact several people really enjoyed the fact I was no longer a disembodied voice—fair. So the role of the psalmist from the ambo isn't unimportant imo, but like @Caleferink said, the psalms are a response to the readings, and ought to be treated as such—and I hate that it means it won't be sung at all during the Vigil.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,878
    This is dumb micromanaging.
  • AnimaVocis
    Posts: 254
    Or, they are just simply sung Acapella from the ambo. Not necessarily a bad thing to get in the practice of doing.
  • RoborgelmeisterRoborgelmeister
    Posts: 442
    Regardless, our priest is very much "what Bishop says goes" so there's little chance I could even ask for a dispensation.

    No, you don't ask for the dispensation. You convince your priest that HE should. But, I realize that might be a dead end.
    I'd check in with my associates in other parishes and ask them in their priest is laying down the law in the same way, and how they are dealing with it.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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