Things every church singer ought to know

I frequently joke with the choir singers about the “things every singer ought to know.” To me it seems that there are certain things that every church singer, even the amateur, ought to know. These may be things related to choral singing or church history or liturgical practice. After spouting off recently (on needing to know the original text to Beethoven’s “Hymn to joy” in German and English) I realized that I ought to start compiling my list before I forgot parts of it.

Along with this corpus of knowledge about church music and liturgy and ecclesiology I think belongs my list of “perfect choral works.” The singers in the choir finish the sentence for me when I begin, “There are very few perfect pieces of choral music in this world…” The statement concludes, “this is one of them!” There are very few pieces worthy of being called "perfect;" I strive to let our singers know what they are, and when possible to have them sing them often, and to let them become a vital part of the church music experience. So in order to keep that list up to date, I’ll include elements from it in this same ongoing series.

Finally, I believe quite firmly that it is not enough to know the facts. Rather, amateur and professional church musicians need to know “why” this is a "fact I ought to know," and why a particular piece I deem “perfect” has made it on my list. I'll be sure to give my spin on the reasons a given fact is worthy of being committed to memory, and why a choral work is in my opinion "perfect."

I am going to label posts on this topic “general knowledge.” It sounds a bit lame, but these things are really the general facts one working in the area of church music must know to go about that ministry with any sense of integrity. I hope the choir singers, the folks at BMPCNC and others, including my professional colleagues, will enjoy this series. It's going to be incredibly personal, opinionated and eclectic, but then, what else would you expect from me?