Neil Mah conducts the second series of formation to the choir members under the Sandakan Diocese, March 25-26
By Neil Mah
Apr 1 2022
SANDAKAN – Sandakan Diocese has commenced the use of the revised edition of Sing Your Praise To God (SYPG) 2020 Hymnal at the beginning of Lent this year.
This revised Hymnal was endorsed on the 1st Sunday of Advent on 29 November 2020 by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (CBCMSB) as the official Catholic Hymnal for this region.
The Liturgy Commission of Sandakan Diocese organized a series of choir formation to introduce and promote the use of this Hymnal among choir members and the faithful.
Neil Mah, a member of the Liturgical Music Committee (LMC) of the Episcopal Regional Liturgy Commission (ERLC) for CBCMSB, was invited to conduct the first formation held on the evening of 27 February 2022 at St Mary’s Cathedral.
This hybrid session, which was physically attended by about 30 participants comprising choir members and interested parishioners of the Cathedral, was also livestreamed via YouTube platform to over 60 participants from across the Diocese in Tawau, Lahad Datu, including some from the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu.
For the first session, Mah shared the history of the Hymnal which was first published by CBCMSB in 1970 to meet the needs of the faithful to worship God in spirit and in truth at every Mass.
Mah added, the second edition, printed in 1985, besides having more hymns, has devotions and prayers added to it. Since then the Hymnal has not been updated. Thus, in 2014, CBCMSB mandated ERLC to undertake the task of revising and improving it.
“ERLC then formed LMC, in which Mah was the sole representative from Sabah, to work on this endeavor. The committee of 10 comprised clergy and lay from various arch/dioceses in the region proficient in the areas of liturgy and liturgical music,” explained Mah.
“The Committee re-visited the liturgical and co-related documents of the Second Vatican Council, and with constant consultations with the CBCMSB, formulated the guiding principles for determining the hymns to be included, as well as adding the Mass Antiphons and music notation. The Committee also acknowledged all copyright owners of all hymns selected and sought permission for their use in the Hymnal,” Mah informed.
Mah then introduced the content of the Hymnal which includes the Order of Mass, Antiphons and hymns in English. Mah also showed the elaborate index listings that aid the user to search for hymns by title, first liner, and also by the various liturgical seasons.
Participants were then led to better understand the guiding principles used in the Hymnal.
After the English choir groups started to use the Hymnal for the first two Sundays of Lent, Fr David Garaman, parish priest of St Mary’s Cathedral, received very encouraging feedback from the parishioners on the improvement in singing and hymn selections used at Mass.
The Cathedral encouraged parishioners to buy the Hymnal for use at Mass, in view of the pandemic SOP which discourages the sharing of books and materials. Further, the Diocese has since stopped projection of hymns at Mass.
Mah was invited back again to the Cathedral to conduct the second series of formation to the choir members held on 25-26 March recently.
50 choir members and lay faithful attended the formation
Once again, the sessions were held in hybrid mode, with physical attendance of 50 English choir members from the Cathedral and nearby churches, and about 200 joining online from other parishes in the three arch/dioceses in Sabah.
In the evening of Mar 25, referring to various liturgical documents, Mah touched on the role of the Responsorial Psalm in the Liturgy, “an integral part of the Liturgy of the Word and which has great liturgical and pastoral importance, since it fosters meditation on the Word of God” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 61).
Participants were then led to see and experience the various genres of psalms, and how the use of chant, time and key signatures, chords, melodic structure and different organ registers, all play a cohesive role in focusing greater attention to the text being sung, ultimately fostering greater meditation and understanding of the first reading.
On the first part of 26 Mar morning, Mah led the participants to discover the beauty and treasure of the church’s liturgical music, the Gregorian Chant, which is “especially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 116).
He added, the Gregorian chant is the church’s own music, born in the church’s liturgy. Its texts are almost entirely scriptural, coming for the most part from the Psalter (Psalms).
“For centuries it was sung as pure melody, in unison, and without accompaniment, and this is still the best way to sing chant if possible. Gregorian chant is in free rhythm, without meter or time signature,” underlined Mah.
He informed, “Many psalm tones have been written since the Second Vatican Council. They are much like Gregorian chant psalm tones with their free rhythm and their repeatable melodic formulas.
“What distinguishes the chant is that the songs are actual prayers and text vital to the liturgy. When the priest sings, “The Lord be with you,” and the congregation responds in song, “and with your spirit,” they are singing Gregorian chant, because those holy texts are an essential part of the Mass.
“If you are singing a part of the liturgy that is an essential part of the Mass, you are singing Gregorian chant. Even if you are singing a simple response, that’s chant. It’s one of the reasons the chant is traditionally sung a capella in plain, monophonic tones, making the text the focal point of the music.”
Neil introducing a breathing exercise
Participants were then shown the various psalm tones (four-liner, three-liner and two-liner) provided in the Hymnal and Mah demonstrated how to apply these psalm tones to the Antiphons for Mass.
He also coached the participants how to chant the common Order of Mass chants with the proper breathing, articulation and stress techniques.
The second part of the morning was spent in learning the collection of Easter hymns in the Hymnal.
The participants benefitted much from the series of formation held. Fr Garaman encouraged the choir members to apply what they had learnt and to improve progressively, with the hope of elevating the liturgical and worship quality of the Cathedral being an example to the other parishes in the Diocese to follow.
Fr Garaman revealed that continued formation is being planned especially for the other language choir groups in the Diocese so that the faithful may be drawn deeper into full, active and conscious participation of the soul and be lifted up in singing praises to God.
