The Organist
The
Organist's Ministerial Function
The
role of the organist is double. One role is to accompany
the singing of the congregation; the other role is to play
as a soloist.
Accompaniment
to the singing of the Congregation
The
organist's function as accompanist to the singing of the
congregation is the prime importance. A good instrument,
under the fingers of a master, can unify the singing of
the community and often save it from mediocrity. In the
majority of case, it is the organ which, in fact, conducts
the singing of the assembly.
Let
us point out the superior technicality required for this
function. A good accompanist knows how to transpose at sight
the music for the congregation and to adapt to all the needs
of the moment. Normally, several years of experience are
required to master this art.
It
often becomes the task of the organist to unify songs which,
without his or her help, would not blend musically. For
example, if the holy, holy, the Memorial Acclamation, and
the Great Amen are place in the same keys, or at least in
the keys as closely related as possible, the organist will
have rendered a great service to the Eucharist Prayer; he
or she will have given it the chance to be perceived by
the congregation as a unique prayer which extends from the
Preface to the Our Father.
Playing
As Soloist
The
organist intervenes as soloist for two purposes: "to
encircle" a song and "to encircle" the celebration.
To
Encircle a song is to announce it with a prelude, to prolong
it with a postlude The incomparable model of the art is
Johann Sebastian Bach in the Orgelbuchlein.
To
all my organist colleagues who proudly serve the Christian
community, I would like to make the following suggestions:
all though the liturgical year, we sing songs which reappear
a certain number of times. Why could not each of us sit
down at our desks to compose five or ten measures of beautiful,
musical workmanship which would form a pretty prelude or
postlude? A great opportunity to be creative and embellish
the liturgy is offered to each of us. Let us keep in our
hearts a certain creative joy! This work will enrich our
community infinitely more than that which we sometimes call
or "improvisations" at the organ, and which sometimes
risk being only babbling on the keyboard.
To
encircle the celebration, let us not be sparing of our playing.
At the beginning of each celebration, let us welcome the
community as we welcome someone whom we love. And if the
piece that we have prepared last five or ten minutes, let
us start it five or ten minutes before the entrance of the
celebrant. Let us know equally how to prolong the playing
of the organ at the end of the celebration, prolonging it
as if we were accompanying a friend whom we leave reluctantly.
Importance
and Dignity of the Organist
We
should be careful not to overstate the importance of the
organ and the organist. A liturgy can take place perfectly
without any organ playing. This was the case for the first
fourteen centuries in the West. It is still the case in
oriental liturgies. But if a community has a good instrument
and a good organist, it must consider that as a favor from
the Lord. In the musical realm, the organ is one of the
most effective instruments for promoting the beauty of music.
The
Instruction on Sacred Music and the Sacred Liturgy gives
organists this magnificent testimony:
When
they are at their keyboard, during the ceremonies, they
must be conscious of the active part that they play for
the glory of God and the edification of the faithful.
Other
Instruments
What
we are saying about the organ deserves to be said of all
other instruments. In principle, a drum is as "pious"
as an organ, a guitar as much as a trumpet. There is no
instruments which is more or less religious that another
instrument. The liturgy does not choose its instruments
any more than it chooses its music or the language for the
celebrations; the liturgy receives them from the people
that it calls together. Vatican II remembered in this respect
the prodigious freedom of the Christian:
.
. . the Church, sent to all peoples of every time and
place, is not bound exclusively and indissolubly to any
race or nation, nor to any particular way of life or any
customary pattern of living, ancient or recent.
In
rediscovering the intoxicating flavor of Christian liberty,
the instruments also must rediscover the joy of true service.
For a greater freedom is always a road toward a greater
duty: the one of better serving Christ Jesus by better serving
the community.
