The Ministry of Cantors (Collegeville Ministry Series)

Harmon SNDdeN, Kathleen

ISBN 10: 081464869X ISBN 13: 9780814648698

Publisher: Liturgical Press, 2016

Synopsis

The Ministry of Cantors has long been a valuable resource for music ministry formation. This new edition includes valuable insights from Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship. The revised edition addresses more fully the distinction between the roles of psalmist and cantor, suggests further concrete ways a paschal mystery spirituality must undergird both roles, and offers practical insights for helping one discern the call to be a cantor. New content also explores the power of the psalms to transform those singing into the kind of persons God is calling them to be.
As with the first edition, this new book does not present the “how-tos” of vocal technique, warm-up exercises, diction principles, etc. Instead, The Ministry of Cantors focuses on what the cantor is doing beneath vocal technique: surrendering self to the dying and rising of the paschal mystery. The aim of the book is to help cantors delve more deeply into who they are and who they are becoming through their ministry: the Body of Christ pouring self out in voice, breath, and prayer for the life of the world. 

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

More than just a song leader, the cantor plays an invaluable role within liturgical music. In The Ministry of Cantors, Kathleen Harmon, S.N.D. de N., addresses and defines the changing role of the cantor within an understanding of liturgical music. Harmon focuses on the cantor as psalmist and helps the cantor bridge, and meditate on, the encounter with Christ in the Gospel. Also includes preparation hints and daily spirituality for the cantor, as well as an exploration of cantor gestures. Chapters are: ?The Cantor?s Changing Role,? ?Being the Psalmist: Understanding the role of the Responsorial Psalm,? ?Being the Psalmist: Preparing to Sing the Responsorial Psalm,? ?Pastoral Issues Related to Singing the Responsorial Psalm,? ?Being the Psalmist: Singing the Psalms for Morning and Evening Prayer,? ?Pastoral Issues Related to Singing the Psalms for Morning and Evening Prayer,? ?A Spirituality of the Psalmist,? ?Being the Song Leader,? ?The Cantor Gesture,? ?Who Ought to Be Cantor?? and ?The Cantor and the Paschal Mystery.? Also includes an Introduction.?This wonderful booklet . . . is a significant contribution to the role of cantor and explains the spirituality, theology, and pastoral meaning of this ministry and explains how this spirituality and meaning are to be seen and sung through the person of the psalmist.? Emmanuel?Kathleen Harmon makes a significant contribution to the role of the cantor in her marvelous reflections on spirituality. The cantor?s ministry is rooted in the paschal mystery of Christ?s death and resurrection, finds its richest expression in the singing of the psalms, and has the profoundly pastoral purpose of enabling the prayer of the gathered assembly. Harmon gently challenges cantors to prepare themselves by prayer and study, and then to take on their role with a clear understanding of these important dimensions.? J. Michael McMahon President, National Association of Pastoral Musicians

About the Author:

Kathleen Harmon, SNDdeN, is a noted liturgical theologian and musician, author and composer, presenter and teacher. She holds a graduate degree in music and a doctorate in theology.

 

About this edition

• Publisher: Liturgical Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 081464869X
• ISBN 13: 9780814648698
• Binding: Staple Bound
• Number of pages: 96