7/2/2017 TenCommandmentsfortheChoirmaster

ABOUTTHISBLOGGER:

Atheorist,organist,and
conductor,JeffOstrowskiholds
hisB.M.inMusicTheoryfromthe
UniversityofKansas(2004),and

ABOUTUS | HEADER | ARCHIVE didgraduateworkin
Musicology.Heservesas
choirmasterforthenewFSSP
parishinLosAngeles,wherehe
TenCommandmentsfortheChoirmaster Share 35
resideswithhiswifeandchildren.
published9January2017byJeffOstrowski

HERES AN OLD SAYING: The truth is CONNECTONFACEBOOK:

485MonsignorHughO'Flaherty
stranger than fiction. For instance, did you
Corpus...
knowJeffersonDaviseventuallywentintothe 12.946Megusta
insurancebusiness?HowdoesonetransitionfromleadingtheConfederacytoselling
insurance?
Megustaestapgina
Takeanotherexample:AbrutalNaziofficernamedColonelHerbertKapplerterrorizedRome,but
after WWII spent many years in prisonuntil his wife helped him escape (August 1977) by Selprimerodetus
amigosenindicarquete
carryinghiminsideasuitcase!1 MonsignorHughOFlaherty,aWWIIherowhosavedabout6,000
gustaesto.
lives,regularlyvisitedKapplerinprison.ThiswasdoneinspiteofthehorrificcrueltyKapplerhad
shown to OFlahertys dear friends. Month after month OFlaherty came to see him, discussing
literatureandreligionandeventuallyreceivedKapplerintotheCatholicChurch.Truthisstranger
thanfiction.

Attheverybottom,IexplainhowthisadagerelatestoaCHURCHMUSICIANSDECALOGUE:
CONNECTONTWITTER:

Follow@ccwatershed

"Totheextentthatthenew
(1)Dontgetangry,nomatterwhat. sacredmusicistoservethe
liturgicalcelebrationsofthe
The life of a church musician is filled with frustration. Many times, surprises will tempt you to variouschurches,itcanandmust
become filled with rage. No matter what, always remain calm. I cannot tell you the amount of drawfromearlierforms
timesIvehadtolearnthislesson. especiallyfromGregorianchant
ahigherinspiration,auniquely
(2)Sing,sing,sing. sacredquality,agenuinesenseof
whatisreligious."
Were choirmasters, so we love musicand we love talking about music. Thats normal, but PopeJohnPaulII(June1980)
rehearsal time is precious. Remind yourself over and over: sing, sing, sing. Dont describe the
sound you want demonstrate it. Make them repeat. Dont talk about your plans for the choir,
becausethatsnotwhatthevolunteerscametohear.Occasionally,ifyouwanttomentionafact
aboutmusictheory,thatsfinebutkeepitextremelyshort,soyoucangetbacktosinging.

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(3)Yougetnocreditforprep.

As choirmasters, planning is one of the most important things we do. We plan the music, the
chair locations, the binder page turns, and so forth. You will never get any credit for thisbut
dontletthatdiscourageyou.Moreover,youmustformulatePLANB,incaseFrankdoesntshow
up.AndyouneedPLANC,incaseSusiedoesntshowup.AndyouneedPLAND,incaseSusie
andFrankdontshowup.DoyouunderstandwhatImgettingat?Peoplewillbesick.Peoplewill
beabsent.Planforthis!

(4)Timeisyourfriendvisvisproblems.

Sometimes there are problems. Perhaps a choir member is behaving badly, or someone
consistentlymessessomethingup.Yourimpulsewillbetoaddresstheproblemimmediatelybut
dont, because choir is a longterm thing. (We must remember that.) Problems tend to work
themselves out. For instance, people who act inappropriately frequently never returnso that
problem has already solved itself without you doing anything! Moreover, sometimes the
circumstances that caused the issues disappearwhich eliminates the problem. The choir
landscapeissomethingalive,teemingwithchange.EverySundayisdifferent,evenwhenitsthe
samepeopleatthesamechurch!

(5)FatherValentinesmaxim.

Asayoungboy,IdcomplaintoFr.Valentineaboutthechoirmemberswhodidntshowup,who
failedtoprepare,andwhoconstantlymademistakes.Fr. Valentine would always repeat: Jeff,
whenyoureworkingwithvolunteers,youmustbecareful.Youwillbetemptedtogetangryat
members who show up late or need special help. You must not become angry. Remember
Fathers rule, because its excellent. Moreover, do everything you possibly can for your
volunteerssorehearsaltimecanbespentrehearsing.Ifthatmeansspendinghourssortingout
theirbinders,sobeit.Rehearsaltimeisprecious.

(6)Nottoofast,buddy.

Dontbeoverlyanxioustoaddnewrepertoire.Wechoirmastershavebeenobsessedwithmusic
forever, but not everyone is like us. It often takes amateurs months to really digest a piece of
music.

(7)Expectattack.

AfterVaticanII,itbecamepopularamongelitestodisparagetraditionalchurchmusic(inquite
a supercilious way). Those who favored a socalled Eurocentric repertory were looked down
upon,andweweretoldtoembraceeclecticism.However,somethingremarkablehashappened.
For fifty years, those pushing this agenda have been too embarrassed to put forth examples
theyreproudof.You,ontheotherhand,wanttodosomethingpositiveandbeautiful.Expectto
beattackedbutwhenpeopleattack,askthemwhatspecificpiecetheythinkisbetterthan(for
example)TomsLuisdeVictoria.

(8)Whosincharge?

Choir members love to make suggestions. Theyre just trying to be helpful, not realizing that
thirtysix choir members making two suggestions per week equals 3,744 suggestions! On very
rare occasions, Ive had to dismiss choir members because they refused to stop making
suggestionsbutIdontlikedoingthat.Undernormalcircumstances,Igiveagentlereminder:
Myexpectationisthatchoirmemberscomeandsingmakingexcessivesuggestionsisnotwhat
Imlookingforinachoirmember.Attheendoftheday,ifsomebodyisnthappywithhowyoure
directing,thatpersonshouldleave.Fullstop.

(9)Recruitingmustbeconstant.

Peoplegetsick.Peoplemoveaway.Peoplegivebirth.Becauseofthis,youmustbeconstantly
recruitingand this constitutes the hardest work youll do. Moreover, you must treat your
membersashumans.Thatis,youmustdevelopapersonalrelationshipwiththem.

(10)Bewaretheinternet.

Im sure there are wonderful people who type on the internet, but I come across much that is
problematic. To put it bluntly, harmful statements are madeforcefully and dogmaticallyby

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7/2/2017 TenCommandmentsfortheChoirmaster
peoplewhohaveneverstoodinfrontofachoir.Examinethecredentialsofthosegivingadvice
andlistentotheirrecordings.Rememberthatanyfoolcanpublishlengthyinternetarticles,but
buildinganexcellentchoirrequireshardworkandperseverance.

Ilimitedmyselftotenrules,buthundredsmorecouldbeadded!

EARLIER,WESPOKEABOUT that proverb: Truth is stranger than fiction. Some of my rules

might sound strange. After all, I didnt tell you to go read Mocquereaus Le Nombre Musical
Grgorien.NordidItellyoutowatchonlineconductingvideos.NordidItellyoutostudyancient
manuscripts.NordidItellyoutopurchaseeveryJosefHofmannrecordingevermade(although
thatisafantasticidea).Even if my suggestions sound strange, I promise you theyre 100% a
posteriori.Andtheyrealltrue.

Sincewevebeenspeakingofchoirs,ImusttellyouhowthrilledIamwiththeprogressmadeby
theFSSP.lachoir.LastSunday,forexample,wehadaboutthirtysingersandtheirchoralsound
wasmarvelous.

NOTESFROMTHISARTICLE:

1SpeakingofbrutalNaziofficers,acruelmannamedKarlWolffafterservingjustfouryears
inprisonafterWWIIendedeventuallybecameanadvertisingfirmexecutive(pardonthepun).
HowdoesonetransitionfrombeingahighrankingNazileadertothefieldofadvertising?

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