THE WEDNESDAY REPORT: July 20, 2022

Dear Partners in Ministry,

As we enter our sixth month together, I wanted to share an observation with you. I've been talking quite a bit lately about the shape of music— the phrasing, dynamics, and rhythmic nuances we layer onto the "ink" (the notes, rhythms, and words) of any piece we sing, from a Lamb of God to a choral anthem. It occurred to me a week ago or so that, while our primary musical sources— our JourneySongs books and the OCP accompaniment books— are quality resources, they aren't helping very much.

What I mean by that is this: these materials are created to provide the most selection to the most parishes in the most economical way, giving you the "ink" and leaving it there. But what we're missing is that next layer of complexity and craft that truly lets these songs live up to their potential. With a few exceptions, you're not seeing dynamic markings; you're not given any indication of tempo changes beyond a metronome mark at the top; you certainly aren't experiencing most of the harmonic beauty that some of these songs provide. While we can certainly write in these markings, we lose valuable rehearsal time doing so, and anyone who missed these notes when given has to catch up later.

I also find the inconsistency of these materials frustrating; the pianist doesn't see the choral parts in the keyboard accompaniment, and sometimes the guitarist is left with chords that are flat-out incompatible with the piano or choir, a side effect of a long-held misbelief in the publishing world that guitarists are somehow not helpful in the singing of hymnody.

What I'm not saying is that we're ditching JourneySongs any time soon. However, this has set me on a new path for us in the long run. Over the next five years, I intend to add the octavos for the majority of the songs our parish sings to the Choral Library, and transition to these octavos as our primary resource for all of you. As you've experienced before, octavos often give you a much more comprehensive picture of the music as the composer intended it; you have dynamics, you have phrasing, and you have harmony layered in or evolving throughout the piece. For singers and instrumentalists alike, this is crucial information that leads all of us to really make music out of these pieces. You'll often have the composer's remarks included, giving story and context to the work. They're also easily contained in a binder or choir folder, and much lighter than a hymnal will ever be.

As you might imagine, this is an expensive goal, with some octavos priced over $3.00 per copy these days. This will be a thoroughly considered and cautious process, truly mindful of our liturgical needs and with certainty that a given octavo is a clear advantage over its hymnal counterpart. That said:

Adopt-a-Song!

I've identified 15 pieces I'd like to focus on adding this year first, either because of the advantages stated above or because the song isn't in JourneySongs and we should have a legal and reliable way to sing it. Also, there are a few that are already selected for use this Fall, and some new pieces that I'd love to introduce to the parish in the next year.

Would you be interested in "adopting" one of these pieces by donating to the parish for its purchase? Our ministry has a long history of music purchased as a memorial or tribute to a loved one, or on a special occasion, etc; and, just like before, your name and dedication will be added to each copy of the piece.

Prices for these octavos are all over the place, so I've decided to set the "adoption rate" at $200 per piece, which would mostly or entirely cover the 60 copies of each piece we'd need. If the amount for your song is less than $200, the remainder would go to help purchase additional music down the road. If you are interested in adopting a song from the list below, or if there's another of our often-sung pieces you'd like to adopt instead, please contact me.