Chant accompaniment for total neophytes
  • mjballoumjballou
    Posts: 993
    While we've had discussions about accompanied chant, I have a different angle to pursue. When promoting the gradual incorporation of chant into current liturgy, many directors (not to mention singers) balk at a cappella singing. The reasons are many - they don't know how to teach it, they lack confidence in their singers, they're afraid of a "crash and burn" during a Sunday Mass, and most importantly, it's not what they're used to doing. Obviously, we need to do work there.

    However, in the meantime, I would like to be able to suggest a manageable way for them to support singers with some instrumentation. And what I want to keep them away from are the accompaniments in OCP's Breaking Bread series, which use some of the strangest chords on the block under familiar chants in a way that makes the accompanying instrument very intrusive (leaving aside any issues of modal harmony).

    What would my good colleagues "suggest that I suggest"? To make it more difficult, what if there's no organ?
  • tdunbar
    Posts: 120
    woodwinds?
  • Steve CollinsSteve Collins
    Posts: 1,021
    Woodwinds or strings will give a nice sound. The problem will be keeping them together - especially as musicians who probably have even less rhythmic sense of the necessary flow of chant. You would actually be better off conducting while singing along. As to specific organ accompaniments, you're welcome to contact me privately and I'll share what I can with you.
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    It seems like practicality is more of a concern than authenticity. May I suggest performing certain chants to a one or two note drone? This can be done on the organ or a portable harmonium. Simpler chant hymns like Adoro te and Veni Creator work well, as does the entrance alleluia for Easter from the Graduale Simplex. This at least gives singers some feeling of support, helps keep people in tune, and can bring out the beauty of the chant for those who have difficulty with modality. You may want to graduate to modal accompaniments for antiphons or melismatic chants.
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