The Problem? Resources. Possibly. Palestrina can be difficult without some training. Parishes with large coffers, use some of that money for a nice, paid choir a la a Cathedral. Parishes with less resources, it’s pretty easy to learn some of the older hymns that are beautiful. And a little bit of harmony goes a long way. Just do a little digging. We have 2,000 years folks. There should be no excuse for some of these parishes.
I joined my first parish in 1992 (if that helps give a reference point). There was a young choir director who had no formal training, but he had been trained by his mother who was also a professional choir director. He played the organ himself and sang beautifully. The choir had 60 people in the choir loft - quite a few of whom could sing. About a dozen were men (mostly singing melody).
They sounded terrific. Usually hymns, well-known chants in purple seasons, fancy harmony and extra instruments in white seasons. The cantors were unpaid. They were not always the best singers (some of the best were sanctuary shy). Sometimes the choir director cantored from the organ in the loft.
The people in the pews sang - except during parts of the white seasons which often sprang brand new music on them.
It did not take much money to provide respectable music for the parish which the faithful could sing.
The choir deteriorated for two reasons. First, as youth choir members aged, they were not encouraged to move to the adult choir, resulting in an aging youth choir which teens did not seem to want to join.
Second, the adult choir was encouraged to learn youth songs and perform concerts in the sanctuary. The youth songs were fast and full of trills and bridges. They were too difficult for the aging adult choir (and the faithful), plus stuffing 60 people into the sanctuary was a logistical problem.
The organist got fed up over being pushed to fix what wasn’t broken and found a better gig. The new choir director had lots of musical alphabet soup. The youth push continued and now the big choir’s gone and the people barely sing and the Mass is more like a performance.
That’s what I experienced. I do not know if it’s typical. I just know that in the parishes I’ve been in, more people are making money and less people are singing.
When I saw the changes at my first parish, everyone pushing the trend told me that the new GIRM was going to make all those changes official.
It did not. But the trend continues in my area and the new GIRM is now routinely dismissed or even mocked by the paid liturgical experts at my current parish.
The scorn would not bother me so much if it did not involve the holiest hour of our week.
