Piano player had her back turned to the priest

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georgewithfaith

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The pianist sits with her back to the priest and altar during Mass. I noticed during the consecration she remained seated and had her back to the priest. In her defense she probably remained seated in position to play the piano for the mystery of faith.

Also, during this Mass the parish priest came up to make announcements and he wore a wind breaker over his black shirt and roman color. He did not bow or genuflect to the tabernacle behind the altar. This is funny because the temps outside have been at 100 for most of the summer and was on that day.

Are there any problems with the above according to the Church’s rules?
 
Was the AC working? do you have AC. At our Church, when the AC is running there are warm spots in church and refridgerated parts.
 
I see nothing wrong with the pianist facing away from the priest after all many churches which have choirr lofts have the organist face away from the priest also.
 
hilde_the_dog said:
Was the AC working? do you have AC. At our Church, when the AC is running there are warm spots in church and refridgerated parts.
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One of the announcements was that one of the AC units on the roof had gone out and the other AC unit was taking all the load. We had fans in the church and the air was cool were I was seated but not so cold that I would need a jacket.
 
The Church does not “micro-manage”.
I am confused,:confused:
if these are the only “problems” you have in your parish,
you should consider yourself lucky!!
 
This was actually not an uncommon setup for organists historically. Often, the console would have a mirror above the music holder so the organist could see what was going on at the altar.
 
This reminds me of when I was a child singing in the choir loft. In the small church in my hometown, the organ was situated so that when Sister played her back was to the altar. She had a rear view miror installed on the organ so she could watch the priest up front. 🙂
 
There’s nothing wrong with this. Our piano faces the choir, away from the priest and altar. When I’m on the bench, I usually turn around for the consecration so I can see what’s going on and then afterward, quickly turn around to begin playing and queue the choir’s entrance for the memorial acclamation.

An older accompanist at our church has a lot of back and balance problems, though, and she simply bows her head in prayer through the consecration and remains with her back to the priest and altar; it would be difficult for her to turn around quickly and regain her orientation at the keyboard before beginning to play.
 
As others have mentioned, there is nothing wrong with the pianist having her back to the priest. Most of the churches I work in have their organs in the loft at the back of the church and for almost every one of them the organist has his/her back to the priest during most of the mass. They use mirrors situated on the organ or on the wall to see what is happening. A lot of times, they will stand up during the Gospel after the acclamation is done and then sit in a chair during the homily. The rest of the time they are on the bench ready to play at the appropriate times during the mass.
 
zab said:
This reminds me of when I was a child singing in the choir loft. In the small church in my hometown, the organ was situated so that when Sister played her back was to the altar. She had a rear view miror installed on the organ so she could watch the priest up front. 🙂
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Because of course sitting facing front while playing the organ could mean that all you see is organ, not the priest, not the altar.
 
georgewithfaith said:
The pianist sits with her back to the priest and altar during Mass. I noticed during the consecration she remained seated and had her back to the priest. In her defense she probably remained seated in position to play the piano for the mystery of faith.
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Not a problem. In fact, in medieval churches this was more commonly the norm.
Also, during this Mass the parish priest came up to make announcements and he wore a wind breaker over his black shirt and roman color. He did not bow or genuflect to the tabernacle behind the altar. This is funny because the temps outside have been at 100 for most of the summer and was on that day.
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Maybe he was feeling ill and chilled.

If a layperson is allowed to get up and give announcements, then a priest is allowed to do so as well. No problem here.
Are there any problems with the above according to the Church’s rules?
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No. The thing I would be more concerned about is the fact that during mass you were paying attention to the pianist. That is a distraction from the blessed Sacrament. I would suggest you surrender the job of liturgy police and start focusing more on the Eucharistic celebration during this time.
 
As for the pianist remaining seated during the consecration–many of us “mature” ladies do not have the knees that allow us to kneel, then bounce up and onto the bench to play for the Mystery of Faith, and then kneel and then bounce up again and onto the bench to play for the Amen, and then kneel, and then bounce up again for the Sign of Peace and then sit at the bench to play for the Lamb of God and then go up to receive Holy Communion and then kneel and then bounce back up onto the bench to play for the Communion hymn or meditation!

I wish I did have knees like that!

But I don’t, and many pianists who play for Masses are older than me.

Even a young pianist has to be careful. It is distracting if they are not able to get to their bench on time to play for a Mass part, and so it’s best to be ready to go.

When a person does a work of service at the Mass, they are in a different situation than the rest of the congregation. We are not only worshipping the Lord and praying the Mass, but we are also working–listening for “cues” from the priest to tell us that it is now time to play or sing the next part of Mass. We want to do our "service"well, and we can’t just pay attention to our personal worship and decorum, but we also have to be mindful and considerate of the priest and the rest of the congregation and their needs during Mass. And of course, we are there to serve the Lord Jesus! For me, that means being ready to play when I am supposed to play, and that means no kneeling.

Maybe someone should invent a piano bench with a built-in prie diu!
 
promethius said:
The thing I would be more concerned about is the fact that during mass you were paying attention to the pianist. That is a distraction from the blessed Sacrament.
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Well, is it absolutely necessay to place the piano or any other musical instrument up front in the first place? How do you ignore something in front of you? Just saying.
 
ProVobis said:
Well, is it absolutely necessay to place the piano or any other musical instrument up front in the first place? How do you ignore something in front of you? Just saying.
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It depends on where the choir loft is, and more often than that, where the cantor sings from. A piano has to be close to both the choir loft and the cantor.

I like the way our parish does it–the piano is in the front, but way off to the side, which is where the choir loft is. I don’t feel conspicious at all. OTOH, the acoustics of such an arrangement are dreadful. (It’s a clamshell nave.) Of course it would be helpful if the microphones and speakers were set up in such a way as to pick up the choir, but they aren’t. So the only people who can hear and understand the choir are those who are sitting on the opposite side of the choir loft in the clamshell. The rest of the congregation hears a very low purring noise with an occasional squeak (when the sopranos or tenors hit a high note).
 
Cat said:
It depends on where the choir loft is, and more often than that, where the cantor sings from. A piano has to be close to both the choir loft and the cantor. /QUOTE]

Cat,
I must disagree with you point here. I have played in many churches and more often than not I am seated at an organ console or a piano bench which is on the opposite end of the church from the cantor. Yes sometimes the delay can cause havoc when you deal with microphones and speakers but for the majority of time there are no problems with the piano being on the opposite end of the building. While I agree that it is nice to have the piano close to the choir or cantor it is not the norm in my Archdiocese.
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OrganistRob said:
Cat;8238831:
It depends on where the choir loft is, and more often than that, where the cantor sings from. A piano has to be close to both the choir loft and the cantor. /QUOTE]

Cat,
I must disagree with you point here. I have played in many churches and more often than not I am seated at an organ console or a piano bench which is on the opposite end of the church from the cantor. Yes sometimes the delay can cause havoc when you deal with microphones and speakers but for the majority of time there are no problems with the piano being on the opposite end of the building. While I agree that it is nice to have the piano close to the choir or cantor it is not the norm in my Archdiocese.
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I feel for you. I suppose one gets used to whatever the arrangement is.

For me, this would depend on the conductor, or if it’s just a cantor, the skill of the cantor. If the conductor leads well, then I would follow his/her baton/hand. But if not, I would be afraid that the music would sound likea muddled mess. But I suppose it would work out as I got used to it.

I sometimes suspect that one reason so many Catholics are upset with their Mass music is that the acoustics and/or the sound system are bad. The people simply can’t hear or understand the music, or it hurts their ears because it’s way too loud, or sounds cacaphonic and eerie due to bad placement of the instruments, singers, and sound system.

Organ and other keyboards are a little different than acoustic piano, because the organ console or the keyboard may be far away from its pipes or its speakers. This means that the cantor/choir may hear the organ or keyboard clearly, even if the musician is way up in the balcony or way off to the side.
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