Syncopated Mass

In the last post, I loosely referred to concerts as music therapy. Well, I actually knew a guy once who was a music therapist by training and certification. He worked with geriatrics at a nursing facility. Or.. maybe it was kids who were learning disabled. I don't know anymore... it was 25 years ago!

But what I can remember is him playing and singing at church. The music (and the mental picture of the guy himself) stuck with me, though the details of where he worked, and even his name, have not. Such is the staying power of effective music.

On Saturday at Mass, it was my turn to lector again. This time I read a section from the prophet Baruch. "The prophet who?", you ask. Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Baruch is one of the apocryphal books along with Wisdom, Enoch, Maccabees, Judith, etc. They don't often pop up in the lectionary readings, and when they do, I am always at a bit of a loss as to what to do with them. :)

I mean, I have read the Bible (the protestant version) cover-to-cover, and most passages multiple times, some even memorized. But I can't yet say the same about the additional books in the Catholic Bible. When I get a familiar passage to read at Mass, I already have a cadence in my head as to how it should be read, you know? But not with Baruch. How do I best communicate this? Where do the gentle and the powerful inflections go, where do I put the pregnant pauses that cry for resolution?

So, I get there early and stand in the sacristy rehearsing while the acolytes and servers scurry around me, mumbling under my breath and gesturing with my right hand. I'm sure it looked funny. But really, everything that's important to communicate needs at least some rehearsal, even if it's to an imaginary version of your audience in the car en route. ;) It's just tough to read from Baruch while trying to turn left on Hamline off of Snelling across two lanes of traffic...

Well, back to music. There are a couple of composers who compose hymns and responses used in the Mass whom I've come to really like: Marty Haugen & Michael Joncas. They do such interesting things with rhythms and syncopation, and their time signatures are often in 2/2 or 3/4, or.. switching back and forth as needed. :) It's challenging sometimes for a guy who doesn't really read music very well. But once I hear the cantor sing it a couple of times, I'm good.

And yeah, this kind of music is therapy, too. So is reading the Word to the assembly of the faithful. Even if it is from "the prophet who?"