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Eastern Illinois University

The Keep

Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications

1956

A Comparison Study of Four Catholic School Music Series


Sister Marie Therese Dressel S.S.N.D., B.M.
Eastern Illinois State College

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Recommended Citation
Dressel, Sister Marie Therese S.S.N.D., B.M., "A Comparison Study of Four Catholic School Music Series"
(1956). Masters Theses. 4710.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/4710

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A COMPARATIVE
-
STUDY OF

FOUR CATHOLIC SCHOOL MUSIC SERIES

A Paper

Pre s ented t o

The Faculty o f the_Department of Music

Eas tern Illinois State C ollege

In par tial Fulfillment

o f the Requiremen t s for the Degree

Master o f Science in Education

by

Sister Marie There se Dre


_.,
s sel , S.8 . N . D. , B . M.
-
-

Augu st 1966
Approved by:

Advi sor

Date
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION
,
TO THE COMPARATIVE STUDY • • • • • l

Catholic Philosophy o f E ducation • • • • • • l

Catholic Viewpoint • • • • • • • • • • • l

Purpo se o f the Comparative Study • • • • • • 4

Catholic Course Versus Catholic Edition • • 4

Four Serie s Used for Comparison • • • • • • 5

Kind o f Series • • • • • • • • • • • • • 6

Relation ship of Music to Religion • • • • • • 7

Purpo se of a Catholic Music Course • • • • 7

Choice o f Material s • • • • • • • • • • • • 8

Unders tanding o f Chant • • • • • • • • • • 9

II. THE COMPARATIVE STUDY • • • • • • • • • • • • 11

Compari son o f Rhythm • • • • • • • • • • • • 11

Comparison o f Ear T raining • • • • • • • • • 17

Compari son of Hymn s , Chant s , and Songs • • • 22

Compari son o f Music Appreciation • • • • • • 31

Compari son of Creative Expres sion .


• .
.
.
.
36

Comparison o f Format • • • • • • • • • • • • 40

Comparison o f Layout • • • • • • • • • • • • 43

III. CONCLUSION AND REMARKS • • • • • • • • • • • • 46

Importance of Gregorian Chant • • • • • • • • 46

Various Forms o f Catholic Church Music • • • 47


iv

CHAPTER PAGE

Re sul t s o f the C omparative Study • • • • • • • 49

Conclus ion • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 53

BIBLIOGRAPHY • . � ! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 56

APPENDIX • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 59
CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPARATIVE STUDY

On De cember 25, 1955, Pope P·i us XII publi shed an

Encycli cal Letter on Sacred Music. Among the many important

points he said, "Music is among the many and great gift s o f

nature with which God, in Whom is the harmony o f the mos t

perfect concord and the mo s t perfe ct order, ha s enriched

me n , whom He has create d in His image and likene s s . To­

ge ther with the other liberal art s , music contribut e s to

spiritual j o y and the delight o f the s oui.nl Since mu sic i s

a gift of Almighty God i t i s the duty o f all music educa-

tors, whe ther they be compo sers, autho rs , t eacher s or di-

rec tors , to see that they pre sent this gift to the mind o f

the child a s some thing beautiful , enj oyable and uplifting.

I. CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Catholic Viewpoint . In order to understand the Cath­

olic viewpoint o f education it was thought advisable to ac­

quaint the reader with the ideas and principle s taught by

the Catholic educator. Education, whe ther taken as a

-whole or specific sub j e ct , should have the same purpose,

1
Pope Pius XII, "On Sacred Music , " Encyclical L e t­
ter of His Holine s s P ope Pius XII ( Washington, D.d.: Na­
tionil Catholic Welfare C onterenc e , 1955) , p . 9 .
2

namely, the growth and cultivation of the whole huma n being,

with his intellect and will, toward all that is good and

beautiful. But, education to the Catholic educator means

much more than this because he realizes that the main pur­

pose is to bring each individual to an understanding of his

final destiny which is heaven and the means he must follow

to reach that goal for which he was created.

Education is a work of progressive development. It


assists the inborn capacities of a child in their earli­
est efforts, enlarges their field of action and strength­
ens them. It stimulates the activities of the soul, in­
spiring enthusiasm for great things, and in general, it

may be said to bring about that harmonious unfold ng of
nature which is favorable to the action of grace.

The Catholic educator does not stop at mere subject

matter. He looks far beyond that, for he believes that

practice counts more than the letter. Reverend Franz de

Hovre so beautifully and fittingly explains this when he

says:

The abiding strength of traditional Catholic educa­


tion has ever been its philosophy, clearly concieved,
firmly established and universally applicable. This ed­
ucational philosophy has been the basis of every teach­
ing nun and every Catholic mother. In the matter of
education the spirit counts more than the letter, prac­
tice more than theory, tradition more than the written
word, and feeling more than reason. Education is the
great domain of the imponderables, and the hidden power
of Catholic education li.es in its instinct for these

2
Edward Leen, What is Education? (New York: Sheed
and Ward, 1944) , p. 142. -
3

very imponderables. In Catholic training, the philosophy


of education is like the foundation of a structure; it
is hidden from view, but itg strength is apparent when
the storms of passion rage.

No comment is necessary because the quotation speaks for

itself. Much present day controversy could be dispensed

with, if the educators of today's children taught with their

hearts instead of their heads. The attainment of knowledge

is not complete education. If one does not dig deeply into

the heart of each child and plant there the ·seed of faith

so that he will know, love and serve God, then teaching is

a farce. Pope Pius XI said that the primary and immediate

end of education is to cooperate with divine grace in form­

ing the true and perfect Christian, that is, to form Christ
4
Himself in those regenerated in Baptism. The aim of Chris­

tian education is to provide those experiences, which with

the help of God's grace, are calculated to develop in the

student the ideas, the attitudes, and the habits that are

demanded for Christlike living in our American democratic

society.

3Rev. Franz de Hovre, Philosophy and Education, trans.


Rt. Rev. Edward B. Jordan (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1930)
P• XXXIX.
4
Sister Mary Joan, O.P., and Sister Mary Nona, O.P.,
Guiding Growth in Christian Social Living (Washington, D.C.:
The Catholic UnTVersity of America Press, 1946) I , 87.
4

II. PURPOSE OF THE COMPARATIVE STUDY

Catholic Course Versus Catholic Edition. Of the four

books used in this comparative sbudy it should be noted

that three of them, namely, the To God Through Music Series,

the Catholic Education Series, and the Music for Life Series,

are Catholic Courses. The Catholic Music Hour is not a Cath­

olic course but a Catholic edition. A Catholic edition is

based on a secular basis. It is not the object of this

paper to denounce any secular series. From a musical stand­

point most of the secular series are very good. But, from a

religious standpoint, the underlying philosophy which is

found in the word content is not in agreement with our Cath­

olic Philosophy of Education. This is one of the prinoipal

reasons why Catholic educators insist that Catholic children

be given Catholic texts. This is especially so in music

which is so closely related to religion. Just how important

it is can be realized by the fact that Catholic parents

willingly pay taxes supporting public schools and supplying

them with textbooks while in addition they support their

parochial schools and purchase the required books. This is

not true in the 8tate of Louisiana and possibly in a few

other states, where all children, both public and parochial,

are supplied with free textbooks. But, in the Catholic

music departments, this meant a secular music book, a hymn


5

book and a chant book. Only in recent years bas a Catholic

music course been introduced where all three types of music

have been integrated in one book.

Four Series Used f2!: Co!!)_Earison. The purpose of this

study is to compare the four Catholic Music Series, namely,

the To God Through Music Series by Sister Mary Lourdes, S.P. ,

The Catholic Education Series by Justine Ward, The Music for

Life Series by Sister Mary John Bosco, S. M. , and The Catholic

Music Hour by Osbourne Mcconathy, W. Otto Meissner, Edw�d

Bailey Birge and Mabel E. Bray. The purpose of this paper is

to show the various methods and means used in these series

which lead the child to an understanding, appreciation and

love of good music, especially Gregorian Chant. Five par­

ticular phases of music are used for comparison. These are

rhythm, ear training, the various hymns, chants and songs,

music appreciation, and creative expression. Several omis­

sions will be found in the Btudy due to the fact that some

teacher's manuals are not available. The Music for Life

Series has no published teacher's manual for any of its

books. The intermediate manual for the Catholic Music Hour

cannot be obtained. Also, attention is called to the fact

that since only four books are published for some of the

series because the higher books are still in the composing

and compiling stage; therefore, only the first four books


6

of all the series are used in this comparative study. T he

Catholic Music Hour is the only series that has more than

four books. It is possible to divide the books of the

Catholic Education Series into two parts and use each book

for two grades.

Kinds .Q! Series. Of the four music series involved

in this study it is necessary for the reader to know that

only three are Catholic courses. The Catholic Music Hour

is only a Catholic edition. Its purpose is not the study

of Chant as in the other three series. It is true that it

contains chant numbers but that does not necessarily give

the child a thorough understanding of the music of the

Church. Since this paper is a comparative study it can be

stated here that the Chants found in the Catholic Music

Hour Series are entirety too difficult for the age level.

The rest of this comparison will be found in a later chap­

ter. Suffice it to say that this series has never been re­

vised as has The Catholic Education Series and it is possi­

bly out of print today.


?

III. RELATIONSHIP O F MUSIC T O RELIGION

Purpo s e o f a Catholi c Mus i c Cours e . St. Au�etine has

accurately wri t t e n : "Musi c , that is the s cience in the sense

of proper modula tion , is likewis e given by God's generosity

to mortals having rati onal souls in order t o lead t hem t o

higher thinga . 115

The general aim of a Catholic mu sic course should be

to awaken and f oster a realization one finds in the beauty o f

mu sic whi ch i s a God- given means b y whi ch man may prais e and

serve God and thus further hie a t tainment o.f the happine s s
6
for which God ha s creat e d him in this life. Parti cipation

in mu sic should develop the spirit o f t rue Chris t ian chari ty

and this is the concern not only of tho s e o f the Catholi c

fai th but o f e a ch and every human b e ing . Thie includes the

development o f a s o cial spiri t and the s o cial virtue s of co-

opera tion, courte sy , and re gard for one's fellowman . Musi c

i s a part o f a child ' s b irthright and mus i cal e ducation can­

not be slighted without s erious lose t o him and a s tunting

of hie cultural growth. A child should be taught that mus i c

5P ope P ius XII , "On Sacred Mus i c , n Encycli cal Letter,


(Washington, D.C . : National Catholic Welfare Confe rence , 1955)
P• 2 .
6
'
Sister Mary Lourde s , S . P., To God Throu h Muei c , (To­
ledo , Ohio : Gregorian Institute of Ameri ca , 1952 , I, 9 .
8

is related t o hi s everyday life . He should learn of i t s role

in the worship of God, in the life of the family , and in the

social life o f c ommunities and nation s . A child may learn in

later life how mus i c influe nce s his individual growth by cre­

ating a force having its own di s cipline for the dire ction of

emo tions, the ennobling o f ta s te s , the enri chme�t o f daily

life , and the li fting of hearts and minds to God.

Choice .£! Ma te ria.l s . Grea.t ca.re should be ta.ken in the

choice of mat e rials used in a s ong manual. The s oul of a

child i s irre si s tibiy· attrac t e d to God. The study o f reli­

gion aims to sat i s fy this longing. Mu sic is clo sely a s s o­

ciated with religi on. Espe cially is thi s so in t he li turgy

o f the Catholic Church whe re music play s a vital role and

whe re i t has been aptly calle d the handmaid o f the Li turgy .

For this reason Catholic song manuals should include in

the ir scope religious as well as se cular s ongs and typ e s and

phase s of mus i c that will a s s i s t in the format ion o f the

Chri stian ideal.

The Catholic Church s t re s se s the importance of con­

gregational singing be cause i t s liturgical func tions are a

j o int parti cipation o f both laity and clergy. For this rea­

s on the singing o f solos i s not the corre ct means o f uniting

the ent ire congregation in the sacred a.ct of the Mas s . But

the problem i s how to ge t persons to sing. Ken P e ters has


9

wri tten an arti cle in the Regi s t e r in which he offers thi s

sugge stion:

In church the s turdy chorus of a good choir or o f a


congrega tion i s much b e t t e r than the arias o f a few cho­
sen one s .
Why i s i t that t e en-agers (and the old folk s , t oo)
will swoon ove r the late st love lyri c but cringe when
aske d to j oi n the pari sh choir? Must we say that the
sugary strains of a love song vibra t e the s trings that
are moving the ir heart s , whereas the truths of faith do
no t strike similar chords? • • •
What then i s the answer to the Church mus i c problem?
In my opinion the solution de finitely lie s in t e a ching
our children. While Johnny i s learning t o read, he
should be taugh t to sing . At the same t ime that he i s
learning why God made him, he should be learning t o sing
His praise s .
Singing i s a natural mode of expre s sion and s ome­
thing that i s heartfel t . When you have s omething to sing
about, you s ing . The truths of fai th, learned in child­
like innocence , are some thing to sing about .
We shall not have t o worry s o muc� about whe ther or
not Johnny can read - i f he can sing.

The Unders tanding of Chant . Some t eachers may argue

that the chant i s too di ffi cult and cannot be unders tood by
the younger children. Experience and expe riment s have proved

that this is not true . In fac t , i t has been di s covered that

children parti cularly re spond to chant . )fany me thods can be

sugge sted including the transla tion into English of some of

the more commonly used chant s such as the K�rie , Sanctus and

Bene dictus of the Mas s . Dramatiza tion of the se part s will

7-Ken P e t e r s , 11I f Johnny Won't Read, Let Him Sing , "


The Regi s te r, April 22, 1956, P• 8 .
10

al so help the child to unders tand their meaning . This will

enable the child to realize that Gregorian Chant i s the most

beaut iful form of musi cal expre s sion by which he can lift

hi s heart and mind to God . He should b e given an explana­

tion of the apt saying that 11once s i nging i s worth twi ce

praying11 for in the devout pe rformance of a hymn we not only

give God word praise but we enhance that praise with the

beauti ful j ewel s of melody.


CHAPTER II

THE COMPARATIVE STUDY

Compari son .21 Rliythm. The simple de finition of rhythm

as be ing the orderly arrangement of long and short tone s i s

merely the root o f a va st and incomprehensible sub j e ct when

it is referred to the many pha s e s of rhythm a s found in the

univers e . Rhythm a ctually permeate s the li f e and movement

of man. Even the creat ion of the world wa s forme d i n a

rhy thm of day s . Wind and tide and wave s move in ordered

rhy thm, The sun s, moons , planet s , and s tars move in rhy thm

as dire cted by the Divine C onductor.

The To God Through Mus i c Serie s , The Cathol ic Educa­

tion Serie s and the Music for Life Seri e s use rhy thm in such

a way a s to lead them to the ir final goal whi ch i s the cor­

re ct unde rstanding and rendi tion of Gregorian Chan t . I n the

Catholic Mus i c Hour Seri e s rhythm ha s an entirely different

goal because the few Cathol i c hymns and chant s that this

s erie s contains s e em to have been include d only after the

seri e s wa s wri t ten for publ i c s chool u se. The main idea

of this seri e s seems to be the use of rhythm as a means t o­

ward free expre s sion of moveme nt .

In Book One of the To God Through Mus i c Seri e s the

aim i s to e s tabl i sh fundame ntal rhythms beginning wi th the

down and the up beat . By means of vari ous motions, such a s


12

clapping and s tepping, a feel ing i s developed for 2/4 and

3/4 me ter. The children are given experie nce in f re e rhythm

which might be called unmeasure d rhythm, such as i s found i n

Gregorian Chant . Observati on o f fa st and slow tempo and of

the hold and re s t are stre s sed. ln preparation for the un­

ders tanding o f the chant the fi rst book al s o stre s s e s the

rhythmic upbeat .

The Catholic Education Series, Book One, begins with

the simple s t grouping of pulses into groups of two s and

three s . The chil dre n mark the pul s e s by mean s of s t rokes

using a longer stroke for the accen:ted pul s e . Later they

learn to place bar l ine s be fore the accented pul s e s . Thi s

gradually l e ads to the subdivi s i on o f the se pul se s into dot­

ted quarter notes, eighth note s and sixte enth note s . After

notation is le arned the rhythmi c s troke s .are '·transpo sed.'. into

note values . A'.· sense of bhythm i s forme d through ge s ture s and

movements of the whole body .

The Mus i c for Life Seri e s doe s not as ye t have a pub­

lishe d teacher ' s manual . From a thorough examination o f the

book of s ongs for fi rst grade the following poin t s pertaining

to rhythm were found: the whole no te, half note, the up and

down beat and a few Gregorian rhythms .

In the fir s t book o f The Catholi c Mus ic Hour s t re ss is

lai d on freedom o f sel f expre s sion. Thi s seems to be acquired

or developed through knowl e dge o f vari ous dance st eps . A


13

vocabulary of re sponses is buil t through rote songs, listen­

ing les sons, toy orche s tra, recognition of phras e repe tit ion

and physical expre s s ion.

� Two . The To God Through Music Serie s continue s


the development of fre e rhythm in the s e cond book. It al so

stre sses creative rhythm. D e finite dire ctions are given for

rhy thmic re spon s e to various type s of mu sic. I t revie ws 2/4,

3/4 and 4/4 me ter beginning on the downbeat and 2/4 and 3/4

meter beginning on the upbeat . This book al s o be gins the

rhythmic ge sture s of the ars i s and the s i s of chironomy .

In the s e cond book of the Catholic Education Seri e s

the whole body ge s ture s used in Book One are continued.

The se ge s ture s are to bring about a coordination and con­

trol of the motor impul se s . Melody and rhythm are combined.

Thre e quarter time and the dot t e d half note are new

acquaintance s in the s e cond children ' s manual of the Mu sic

for Life Seri e s . There are songs in which clapping and other

rhythmic ge sture s are sugge s t e d. Gregorian rhy thms are again

s t re s se d in preparation for pe rformance at liturgi cal

function s .

A s i n Book One o f the Catholic Mu sic Hour, Book Two

lays s tre s s on self expre s s ion. It deve lops rhyt hm play

into some dance steps that are fundamen tal to folk dance s

and game s and it e ncourage s free expre s sion a s a reaction

to mu sic. New material include s rhythmic s cansion, re cog-


14

ni tion of the phrase, motive and figure and the ability to

recognize the rhythm of unfamiliar s ongs.

Book Three . A review ·of�"sub j e ct mat t e r l earned in the

previous books take s place in Book Thre e of the To God

Through Music Serie s . New mate rial include s the introduction

of the eighth note as an equally divided beat. The f e e l for

this new rhythm i s aided by int roductory rote s ongs taught

with word context . Thi s i s followed by graded song mate rial

so that the f e e l and the grasp of the new rhythm may be

e stabli shed.

Ge sture s with melody and rhy thm are taught in the

third book of The Catholi c Education Seri e s. The ars i s and

the si s movement s are used. Two part melodie s wi th contrast­

ing rhythms lead to rhythmi c independence with polyphoni c

phrases.

Examinati on of the third song manual of the Mu sic

for Life S e ri e s fi nds new material in the divide d beat of

two ei ghth not e s, the tied quarter note , the psalma t i c re­

citation tone , the quarter rest and thre e quarte r me ter.

There i s a review of old material including clapping and

coun ting rhythms.

Book Three of The, Cathol i c Mu sic Hour provi de s f\lr­

the r development of rhythm play t o the point of a l arger

vocabulary of fundamental movement s common to all dance

form s . Standard dance expre ssion is begun with the recog-


15

nition of the fundamental rhythms involved. As in the second

book , a further development is made of the recognition of

the phrase , motive and figure rhythms and their notation. In

the new song mat e rial an e ffort is made in the recognition of

the rhythmic el ement of notation.

Book Four . The To God Through Music S e rle s u s e s a s

new material i n it s fourth book the manne r of conducting 4/4

me ter. I t reviews and contine s the ge s ture s for conducting

simple chants in Gregorian rhythms . Another topic of review

is the rhythm of note value s previou sly learned, e . g . , quar­

ter note with quarter re st , half not e with quarmer re s t , dot­

ted hal f note and the divided beat of two eighth not e s . In­

troduction ls made to the dot ted quarter note followed by

the eighth note .

Since Book Four of The Catholic Eduoat1oh Serle s is

the s tudy of Gre gorian Chant chironomy is practically the

only form of rhythm used. A thorough explanation of this

form of conducting is given in Book Three of this s erie s .

Round singing and two part canon singing l s intro­

duce d in Book Four of the Music for Life Serie s . The use o f

the sixte enth note ls also made • . Gregorian notation is an­

other innovation with an introduction to the ictus or

Gregorian accent .

Further rhy thmic development of the dance tak e s

place in Book Four of The Catholic Music Hour. -Rhythm devel-

op s from standard dance s of the people of various eras and


16

countrie s into a wide r range of free expre s sion. In music

notat ion this is carrie d into actual time keeping . ·

Appraisal . In Book One of all four serie s the rhy­

thmic content s e em s to be within the scope of the first

grade child. Book Two is directed to second grade l e vel in

all the serie s except the Catholic Music Hour. The require­

men t s for s econd grade pupil s in this serie s are too diffi­

cul t . This is e specially so in regard to having the children

recognize phra se s, motive s and figure s . This would be dif­

ficult for children in the seventh and eighth grade s . It

seems that there are more important point s in the s tudy of

mu sic than some of the specific items s tre s s e d in The Cath­

olic Music Hour Serie s .

Book Thre e and Book Four o f the T o God Through Music

Series, The Cathol ic E ducation Serie s and The Mus ic for L ife

Serie s are arrange d with the simple s t be ginnings of music,

namely, note value s, re s t s , simple 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 rhythms,

gesture s, conducting and the be ginnings of chironomy . In The

Catholic Music Hour the rhythms are not a s difficul t a s in

the first two book s .


17

Comparison E.f Ear Training. Ear t raining and vocal

work help in deve loping good tone and pitch accuracy a s aids

to beautiful s inging and reading readine s s . Definite and

specific work in ear training is e s sential in all music

s tudy. Drills in ear training are ve ry important and should

have as their aim accuracy in pitch, recognition of speci fic

tonal groups and mate rial for creative expre s sion .

Book One . In Book On e of the To God Through Music

Serie s it i s sugge s te d t�t good tone and true pitch be de­

veloped through tonal imita tion and re spon s e . This can be

a ccomplished through rote approach. Aural readine s s is de­

veloped by spe cific ear training and vocal work using the

tonic chord and later developing the maj or scale . In the

second seme st e r syllable s are use d according to scal ewise

progre s sion . The five line s ta�f is pre sented by means of

fla sh cards using short motive s used 1n previous mate rial .

The children are re quire d to re spond to the se card dril l s

with syllable s . T his i s deve loped through the rote-note ap­

proach.

The Mu sic E ducation Serie s , Book One , use s oral and

wri tten dictation . In the beginning the teacher u s e s ge s­

ture s to indicat e the rise and fall of the melody line ,

which consi s t s of phrase s ba sed on mate rial previously

le arned . At first , rhythmic dictation is taught s eparately

from melodic dictation. Only later are the two combine d.


18

No definite direct ions for the t eaching of ear train­

ing are given in the Music for Life Se rie s . The me thod to be

used should probably be l e f t to the aiscre tion of the t eacher .

Since this i s the case in all four books this i s the only men-

tion that will be made of this serie s in the section on ear-

training.
The Catholic Music Hour in Book One develops the ele-

ments of t onal and rhythmic procedure . I t al so include s no­

tation which provides the nece s sary background t o sight read-

ing .

Book Two. Ear training in Book Two of the To God Through


--

Music Serie s is carefully outlined to prepare the childrem

for the song mat e rial to be used. I n this book special stre s s

is placed on s calewise progre s sion and tonic chord skip s . In

later chap ters of Book Two a pat tern song is given to provide

a melodic approach to the tonic, dominant and subdominant

ch�rds . By means of tonal ne ighbors the melodic approach of a

skip of a fourth is developed.

The Catholic Education Serie s continue s melodic and

rhythmic ear training in Book Two. Oral and writ ten work is

continued. New mat e rial is found in maj or and minor scal e s

and a n introduction i s al so made to the mode s .

The general smoothne s s o f continuity found in the last

two s erie s s e ems t o be lacking in The C atholic Music Hour. In

this book the ob j ect is to t rain the child to recognize f 1ve


19

or six compositions on hearing the fir s t few measure s of each.

It al so require s the recognition of a re current theme in a

new song.

Book T hre e . A continuation of the ear tra ining found

in the first two books is found in the thi rd book of the To

God Through Mus i c Serle s . Here we find s imple s cale and wasy

chord pattern s . I t is sugge s t e d that simple theory songs

previously learned be revi ewe d and used a s a bridge to l e s s

familiar tonal material .

Book Thre e of The Ca thol i c Edu cat ion Seri e s continue s

its rhythmi c and melodic ear training both oral and wri tten.

Modulation is the new material added to the major and minor

scal e s and some of the mode s . Thi s mate rial may seem to be

rather difficult for a third grade book but it mus t b e re­

membered, as was indicated in the introduct ion of thi s paper ,

thi s doe s not neces sarily mean that i t i s t o b e u s e d in the

third grade . The s e books were wri tten to be used for a two

year period and consequently the Book Thre e of this s e ri e s

would b e u s e d in the fifth and sixth grade s .

The Cathol ic Music Hour s e ems t o re turn to the more

theore t i cal approach to ear training 1n the third book. He re

re cognition of s t epwi s e progre s s ions in skips of thirds ,

fourths , fifths , s ixths and octave s i s stre s sed. Since this

i s de finitely a book just for third grade i t se ems that re­

cognition of all the s e inte rval s might be difficul t .


20

Book Four.
----
The fourth and last book of the To God

Through Mu sic S e rie s that has been publishe d to dat e ha s the

material for eartraining carefully outline d. It contains

simple scal e and chord pat te rns as a preparation for singing

in the minor mode and in the Gregorian mode s which have

already been pre sented in rote singing.

The fourth book of The Catholic Education Serie s is

the climax of the other t hree book s . This book i s the Grego­

rian Chant manual . Rhythmic ear training is s tre s s e d. I t i s

sugge sted that the teacher sing a phras e o f a kno,·m Gregorian

melody whil e the cla s s decided on the appropriate gesture s to

be used. Teets are given in the fir s t mode and in the minor

scale .

The new material in the fourth book of The Catholic

Music Hour is the obs ervat ion song. Since this aeries was

published in 1932 it doe s not contain the up to dat e mater-

lal found in the other s erie s .

J\ppraiaal . Anexperience d t eacher of music knows that

ear training is an invaluable aid to sight reading. A chorus

that can e f ficiently sight read music i s a director's ideal .

A specific outline for ear training is given in the

To God Through Music Serie s . I t is so arranged that e ven an

inexperienced t eacher can follow it . Sister Mary Lourde s


gives many sugge s t ions and aids for teaching this sub j ect .

Directions are s o explicit that a thorough background of


21

music is not nece s s ary in orde.r. t o teach i t succe s sfully.

An explanation is given on how to bridge the gap s that may oc­

cur be tween subjects such a s the change from the minor mode s

to the Gregorian mode s .

Justine Ward, author of the Catholic Education Serie s ,

place s ear training next t o good tone quality . From experi­

ence it is known that any child who h a s thorough training in

this s erie s will undoubtedly be an e f ficient sight reader.

This course has ob tained amazing re sul t s .

The ear t raining in The C atholic Music Hour varie s in

det ail from the other serie s . It s e ems to deal mostly with

the recognition of previously learned s ongs by listening to

short phra s e s of the se songs . This s e rie s is not a s techni­

cal as the othe r s . From the first to the fourth book the only

re quirement is the recognition of inte rval s . This require­

ment would not be adequate for a modern mu sic cours e .


22

. C ompari son Et_ Hymns , Chants and Song s . The hymn s ,

chant s and songs contained in any school musi c seri e s re­

gardl e s s of race or creed should have as their purp o s e the

aim to furni sh a repertoire of good and beautiful mu s i c . In

any Catholi c mus i c seri e s the hymns and chant s should be

those whi ch the child will nece s sarily learn and know during

hi s years in s chool and whi ch will later form a part of a

permanent repertoire for hi s adult year s .

In t hi s chapter o n hymns , chant s and songs the com­

parative study has been made in regard to the kinds of songs

the books contai n , to det e rmine if po s sible whether they are

ro t e , note or both , and whe re the teacher's manual i s avail­

able to indicate the purpo s e of the song s . I t mu s t b e under­

stood that thi s could not be carrie d out in all the serie s

be cause of the lack of a teacher's manual in the Mus i c for

Life Serie s and the intermediate teacher's manual for the

Catholic Mu s i c Hour.

Book One . Hymns , chant s and s ongs in the To God

Through Mus i c Seri e s are taught by rote in Book One . They

are mostly ba sed on the t onic chord. The obj e cti ve of this

book i s reading readine s s . Individual singing le encouraged

as the best way t o develop l eaders and t o help uncertain and

non-s inge rs. Book,One contains many American song s , child­

hood song s , story songs , singing game s , a short religious

play with musi c , a few simple chant s including the introduc-


23

tion.of P salm Five and the simple s t be ginnings of Gre gorian

Chant theory. The following is an example of P salm Five and

Mode Five .

P salm Five

full of grace , the Lord is with the e .

Chant in Mode Five

Harken to us , 0 Lord, and have mercy,

a - gain s t

Book One o f the Catholic Educat ion Serie s begins with

rot e songs but the s e rapidly lead to tonal and rhythmic fre e­

dom. The book contains many melodie s without words . They are

sung with syllable s . In fact , there are only about e ight

song s in the fir s t book with word cont ent . There are many

short phrase s with words put to melodie s . Sugge s t ions are

given for many liturgical chants which can be found in any

Catholic hymnbook.

In the s t udy of the childre n ' s manual of the fir s t

book o f the Music for Life Serie s ,.,e find many religious

songs , songs p e rtaining to various topics such as s ocial

s tudie s , science , singing game s and rhythmic play. There


24

are a few nursery rhyme s . Included in thi s manual are s ongs

to help singers with low voice s . I n the entire book only

one s hort Latin phra s e was found.

According to the teacher's manual of The Catholic

Music Hour the main purpose of Book One is the memorization

of thirty to forty song s . This include s one stanza of Amer­

ica. There are twelve Gregorian Chant s and five hymn s in­

cluded in this book. All the songs are lis ted under four

headings , e . g. , rote songs , observation s ongs, for recog­

nition of phras e and repe tition , reading songs for the read­

ing of note s, and the s tudy song.

Book Two. The rot e-note approach is used in the second

book of the To God Through Mu sic Serie s. Simple songs are

ba sed on the tonic chord and s imple scalewise progre s sion s .

Great care ·has b e en taken for the e s tablishment o f a "feel"

for melodic basic t onal group s . The obj ective o f Book Two

is the introduction of reading. Six different keys are intro­

duced in note song s . The songs are bas e d on the sol to sol

range . P salm tone five is reviewed and psalm tone six is

t aught by rot e . There are a few new chant s in moae six and
a review of chan t s in mode five .

P salm Six

J) J I J) ..P £@ J1
of grace, the Lord is with The e .
1
.. II
Chant in Mode Six

At the cro s s her station keeping , S tood the mourn -

{�J'JJJJI)
flll Mother weeping,
. .

Close to Je sus
. .,
to the la s t .
II

A repertoire of favorite old songs and a short religious

play is included in this book.

The songs in Book Two of �he Catholic Education Ser­

ie s are mostly ancient folk songs from different countrie s .

The mos t notable song s are taken from the Gre gorian raper-
t oire . The author has grade d the melodie s so that they con­

tain only what has been pre viou sly s tudie d.

Religiou s s ongs predominate in the second book o f the

Music for Life Serie s . The secular song s are again grouped

into social s tudy songs, science songs and literature songs .

With some short Latin phra s e s a few Gre gorian melodie s with

English words and thre e Latin hymns have been included .

The aim o f the second book o f The Catholic Mu sic

Hour is the attainment of f orty to s ixty rot e songs with at

l ea s t twenty to be l earned from memory. Since the child is

farthe r advanced he is required to know the second stanza of

Ame rica . The rel igious repertoire contains e ighteen Gregorian

numbers including p salm s , chant s and mas s e s .


26

Book Thre e . The purpo s e of Book Thre e of the T o God

Through Music Serie s is the extension and continuation of

reading . The rote and note approache s are used in thi s book.

An introduction is made t o 11Do11 finding through the ltey

sign. In the fir s t s eme ster reading songs are made in the

sharp keys and in the second s eme ster the flat keys are in­

troduced. Songs are based on the doh to doh range and the

sol to sol range in the maj or mode . There are a few s ongs

in the minor mode woth l eading que stion s . A review is made

of psalms five and six and of mode s five and six. P salm

e ight is int roduce d and two new chants in mode eight are

taught by rot e .

P salm Eight

Hail Ma- ry full of grace , the Lord is with Thee�

Chant in Mode Eight

-O'-J' J & P bf•§{ I


• ' • !' !
Thanks be to God. Al-le- lu - la ,
.

fob�iJJJnJ ��II
Al- l e - - - - - lu - - - la.

Some attention is drawn to the four line Gregorian s taff,

the doh cle f and some simple neum formation s .

A s in Book Two mos t o f tlle songs in Book Three o f The


27

Catholic Educat ion Series are ancient folk songs . There is

an Ave Maria with the compl e t e t ext . Several of the songs

are in two parts and there is an introduct ion t o polyphony.

The Music for Lif e Series in its Book Three contains

many religious hymns and chants. There are twenty-six Latin

hymns and chant s . Songs are ggain groupe d as they were in

Book Two according to social s tudies , literature and science .

Certain songs are suggesten for Music Appreciation in the

f ollowing cat egories: psalm tone s , Gregorian chant , hymns ,

folk songs , and songs b y famous compose rs . This book also

contains a number of action songs and singing games .

Forty t o sixty new songs is the s tandard set i n Book

Thre e of The Catholic Music Hour with the requirement o f

t en memorized songs . The children are required t o memorize

four s tanzas of America. The book contains twenty-six Grego­

rian melodies .

� Four. A continuous review of previously l earned


material is found through Book Four of the To God Through

Music Series . I t again use s the rote and not e approach. Songs

are base d on the doh to doh range with a sol to sol range in

the maj or • A few minor songs are include d. A review is made

of psalms five , six and e ight and of modes five, six and

e ight . The new psalm int roduce d is psalm thre e which is

taught by rot e . New mat erial is found in one new chanjf in

mode e ight and another chant in mode three .


28

P salm Three

ip Ji 8 e ou
Hail Ma - ry full of
r 1e
grace , the with The e.

Chant in Mode Thre e

fall - ing,

�tft?P
L o,
� 1'
the sa- cred hos t we hail .

In Book Four of this serie s a repertoire of old songs previ­


ously l earned is buil t up .

Many liturgical melodies from the Mass and other ser­

vice s are found in the fourth book of The C atholic Education

Se rie s . This book i s devot ed entirely t o a thorough study

of Gregorian Chant .

The fourth book of the Music for Life Serie s contains

sevent e en chant s , fifteen hymn s and two religiou s song s . The

s ocial s tudy songs are listed as songs p ertaining to e arly

days of our land, the world family and songs of patriotism.

Science songs come under the category of eart h , sea and sky ,

l iving creature s and the season s . Other headings are listed

a s melodies of famous composers , part songs , rounds , canons

and s ong s for special occasion s .


29

Apprai sal . The main purpose of a Catholic music

course, a s was not ed previou sly, is to l ead the child t o

a knowl edge of Gregorian Chant and to it s correct perform­

ance, and to give him a l ove and appreciat ion of good music

in all it s forms . In examining the four serie s used in this

paper it is intere s ting to note how this purpose was a t tained

with a variety of me thods . Some of the s erie s cover a wider

field in their selection of hymns, chant s and song s . Mos t

o f them consider the mentality of the child for whom the

books are written. The exception is The Catholic Mu sic Hour

which contains too many difficult Gregorian Chants for the

young child. Conclusions have been drawn that since the

s e rie s called The Music Hour and The Ca tholic Music Hour

have been written by the same group of p eople it is pos sible

that the s econd s erie s wa s given Catholic approval af t e r the

Catholic hymns were inserted. It is very doubt ful if those

who: approved the s e rie s knew very much about music t eaching

in the grade s . Many of the chant s are in Latin in the primary

book. Anyone with experience knows that it ls a probl em to

teach correct Latin pronunciation in the uppe r grade s . The

Ca tholic Chant s in this s erie s are practically usel e s s be­

cau s e of their difficulty.

The Catholic Education Series reache s it s goal but

i t s sel ection of songs is rather dry and unintere sting .

Many t eachers of this serie s will disagre e with :ti.bi s


30

s tatement becau s e of the very excellent re sul t s obtained.

This is e specially so in S t . Louis and in Washington , D. C .

An int e re sting expe riment would b e to teach a cla s s The

Catholic Education C ourse and the To God Through Music Course

and then compare the progre s s and intere s t re sulting f rom

both course s . Probably there would be more progre s s shown in

The Catholic Education Serie s providing the teacher ha s

given the right incentivebut i t i s almost positive that there

would be a large r amount of int ere st shown in the To God

Through Music S e rie s . This is a surmis e and not a s ta t ement .

In The Catholic Education Serie s too much use is made of

ancie nt folk song s and melodie s . It s eems that the course

would have mo»e vitality and interest if more songs about

things with which the child is familiar would be in s e rted.

A certain amount of folk music is excellent but an exce s s i s

monotonous.

The To God Through Music Se rie s and the Mus ic for Life

. S erie s are by far the se at intheir selection of hymns, chan t s

and song s . They have variety and intere s t and they gradually

l ead the child into the more intricate melodie s of Gregorian

Chant .
31

Comparison of Music Appr eciation. Music appreciation

is not a separate part of music training but it is a vital

and e s s ential part of all music study. Every pha s e of music

s tudy , ear training, rhythmic mat e rial , hymns, chant s , s ongs

and all the creative work will contribut e to the growth and

development of the child in the appreciat ion of music . There

are various ways and ti.me s in which the listening pe riod may

take place . Some e ducators advocat e several listening pe riods

per wee k , while again , others sugge s t that records be played

while the children are being dismi s s e d or when they a s s emble

for the afternoon p e riod.

Book One . The listening l e s son s in Book One of the

To God Through Mu sic Serie s have as their aim the love of

music and growth of knowl e dge . The book contains a sugge sted

outline of records. Participation in rhy thmic activitie s is

s ugge s ted. -As mos t me thods now advocate , this book al so

give s helps for directed lis t e ning. By the time the children

reach the end of Book One they should be able to recognize

simple theme s, a lullaby , a march, and the sound of the drum

and violin.

The author sugge s t s the use-of records in the first

book of The Catholic Education Serie s . It s e ems that more

importance is placed on rhythmic participation than,on any

o ther phase of mu sic . Another interesting means is drama­

t ization.
32

In scanning the four books of the Mus ic for Lif e

Serie s one find s many act ion songs that de finitely can be

listed under the title of mu sic appreciation. Again, since

this s e rie s lacks a teache r ' s manual mu sic appreciat ion is

l e f t largely to the discretion of the teacher.

The Catholic Music Hour has not developed adequat e

intere s t in ear training but it goe s all out on the sub j ect

of mu sic appreciation. I t suggest s means of interpre tation,

dramatization and rhythm play . In lis tening the child is

exhorted to pay special attention to re sponse to ·:the moods

of music and the reco�ni.tion of the structure of the mu sic

heard. Children participa te in the toy orche stra which is

pos sibly our modern rhythm band. They are given exper�mce

in orche s tral e f f ect s . Picture s tudy is another me thod

u s e d . Finally the children become acquainted with s tandard

compositions.

Book Two. In the second grade book of the To God -_,.'

Through Music Serie s the children are introduced to ideas

of beauty through list ening to recordings and re sponding to

and interpreting mu sical selection s . Cbntinued development

is made in their ability to recognize a simple theme , lullaby,

march, wal tz, violin , drum, cello and trumpe t .

In The Catholic Education Serie s s econd book the re-

lation between words and mu sic is brought out . The s tudents

are given an unde rstanding of ancient folk songs from vari­

ou s countrie s . A Gregorian Chant repertoire is built up .


33

This book encourage s original compositions by the children.

Beautiful model s are set up be fore the children . Improvisa­

tion is encourage d.

The Catholic Music Hour continue s a development of

the same point s that it sugge st s in the first book.

Book Thre e . The ident ical point s that were stre s s e d

in Book Two are again develop e d in Book Thre e.of the T o God

Through Music Serie s . The additions to the previously cited

items for recognizability are the minuet, gavotte , clarinet

and trombone . The children are al so introduced to six com­

posers, namely, Bach, Haydn , Mozart , Handel , Schubert and

Schumann.

The Catholic E ducation Serie s give s an introduction

to more ancient folk song s . Two part singing is empha sized

in the thrid book. Acquain tance is made with canon and

other forms of polyphonic music.

The ability to listen intelligently and discriminatelY,

is empha sized in Book Thre e of �he Catholic Music Hour. The

children listen for characteristic tonal e ffects of the in­

s trumen t s of the orche s tra. They are shown how music and art

can be synchronized.

Book Four. Book Four of the To God Through Mu sic

S e rie s has it s fourth graders listening to recordings . The

new ins truments to be recognize d are the double bas e , viola,

oboe , bas soon, french horn and tuba . The s e instrument s are
34

to be identified by sound in recordings taken from a sug­

gested list in the t ext . Some important facts are to be

learned about Hande l , Schubert , Schumann , Greig, Mendels­

sohn and Tschaikowsky.

The Gregorian Chant manual or Book Four of The Cath­

olic Education S erie s uses picture s featuring de scriptive

theme s . The use o f records is suggested but be t t e r still

is the participation at liturgical functions where Gre gorian

Chant is well sung.

At the pre s ent writing the Book Four of The Catholic

Music Hour is not available . The reason for thlh.s ha s b e en

given.

Appraisalo In reg�d to music appreciation the To

God Through Music Serie s s e em s far superior to the other

three serie s . This is probably so becau s e every pha s e i s


so well outlined that lit tle experience in music is neede d

t o t each i t e ffectively . This is a course suitably fitt e d

for the classroom t eacher who must teach her own music be­

cau s e of the lack of a regular music teacher. Sister Mary

Lourdes, the author of this serie s , knows the mind of a

child and how to keep his int ere s t through the use of media

with which he is familiar.

The Catholic Education Serie s has a definite European

flavor. The sugge stions in the book are very good but they

s e em rather stil t e d . I t would probably re quire all t h e t each­

e r1 s resourcefulne s s to make the s e le sson s interesting. The


35

ide a s , the content and all el se in this s e rie s are excellent

but the book doe s not have the appeal to the modern child

that the other s erie s have . The monotony of too many folk

songs and ancient melodi e s may be the cau se of this lack of

intere s t . The u s e o f the se melodie s is not t o b e discouraged

for they are fine when used discre e tly . There should be

variety in the s ellotion of songs.

The sec�ion on mu sic apprecia tion in T�e Catholic

Music Hour has some excellent idea s . I t ha s a variety of

sugge stions. A point not found in the other thre e s e rie s is

the combination of mu sic and art.


36

Comparison of Creative Expre s sion. Creative expre s sion

has found it s place in the mu sic world a s well as in the world

o f all o ther curriculum subject s . A school music cours e is

de finitely lacking when it doe s not stimulate a de sire for

self expre s sion. It should e ncourage a l ove for part icipa­

t ion in music activitie s and pos sibly a de sire to learn to

play s ome instrument . Self e xpre s sion through creating music

can be done by re- creating songs and piece s in the chil d ' s

repertoire, actually creating new mel o die s , holding musical

conve rsations or dramatizing music.

Book One . A foundation for creative expre s sion in

Book One of the To God Through Music Serie s is laid by means

of que stion and an swer songs . Another idea sugge s t e d is the

creat ion of original endings to melodie s and song s . The

making of simpl e instruments ls encourage d. Beautiful sing­

ing should be s t re s s e d at all time s .

In The Catholic Education Serie s the children are

e ncouraged to write original melodie s . The se melodie s are

to be very short and the children mu s t be re strained to

use only what has been taught in previous l e s sons .

Among the varie ty of s ongs in Book One of the Music

for Life Serles an echo game ls found. Another technique

l s a serie s of cal l s to be answered by the children. S ev­

e ral iml tative _· songs are included in this book. If a teach­

e r1 s manual is published for this serie s it is probable that


3?

de taile d ins truct ion-will be given for creative expre s sion.

In The Catholic Mu sic Hour Serie s , Book One, the au­

thor goe s a bit de eper than in the other three serie s . I t


has the children give phra s e analu sis of songs. A s tudy i s al�

s o made of mo tive s and figure s with listed vocabulari e s of

rhythmic and melodic figure s .

Book Two . Book Two i s similar to Book One of the To


--

God Through Mu sic Serie s . Mat erial for creat ive expre s sion

i s drawn primarily from ear training exercis e s , singing

game s and action s ong s. Que s t i on and answer son s , making up

vers e s for songs , creating original endi ngs , making instru­

ments and similar activi t i e s are sugge s t e d in this book.

Original melodie s with and wi thout words are one of

the means of devel oping crea tive expre s sion in Book Two of

The Catholic Education Serie s . Improvi sat ion through musical

conve rsat ion, rhythmic ges ture s , and melody and rhythmic

g e s ture s combined are some o f the ideas li sted.

The Mu sic for Life Serie s in it s s e cond book sugge s t s

writing original words for given melo die s .

The Cathol i c Music Hour in it s Book Two doe s not have

any significant sugge stions outside of the one s made in Book

O ne .

Book Thre e . Out side o f the sugge s t i o n s l i s t e d in Book

Two of all the serie s no new ma terial was f ound for creative

expre s s i on in Book Three of the s e serie s .


38

Book Four. Piano keyboard and instrumental experi­

ence forms an important phase in creative expression_in Book

Four of the To God Through Music S eri es. Some dramat ization

o f songs is sugge st ed. The children make up words for some

short phrases in two parts and also for one of the melodies

in cluded in the Inst rumental Experience se ction. A large

Gregorian staff with cut out square notes is used-for intro­

ducing basic facts in Gregorian Chant the ory .

The Cathol i c E ducation S e ries gives suggesti ons in

i ts Gregorian manual for original me lodie s and songs.

Bpok Four o f the Music for Life Series encourages

musical development through original melo dies and choral

speaking. Suggesti ons are given for children inte rest ed in

learning to play an instrumen t.

The fourth book o f The Catholic Musi c Hour S eries is


n o t available but the teacher's manual for the third book

states that a definite procedure is sugge sted for developing

e xperi ence into musical expression.


-
.· : . ·Appraisal. Modern educators place great importance on

creative expression . The general cry is that children should

b e encouraged t o express themselves. Every sub j e ct in t he

field o f musi c lends i tself t o creative expressi on. There are

many outlets in the field of music and the au thors o f these

four series seem to understand the importance of this phase

o f e ducation. We espe cially find this so in the T o God Through


39

Music Serie s . The author of thi s serie s s e ems to have an un­

u. sual insight into the minds of children. Her id. e as lit erally

draw out of the child any cre ative spark that might be in. him.

The book give s vocal experience and encourage s the child to

enter the ins trumental field.

The Catholfc Education Serie s e specially advoca t e s

the creation of original melodie s . The suggestions in this

book for creative expre s sion are very limit ed.

The field again expands in the Mu sic for Life Serie s .

Sister Mary John Bosco , the author, has some very fine sug­

ge stions for creative expre s sion and the y are varied and

within the comprehe nsion of the child.

The mental capacity of the child seems to be greatly

exaggerat ed in The Catholic Mu sic Hour. I t s e em s almo s t im­

p o s sible for a six year old to give the phrase analysis for

songs . It may be possibl e if every phrase is exactly one line

long. I f that is the case , the child doe s not have the right

conception of a phra s e . Another requirement is the analysis

of songs for figures and motive s . Thi s might be pos sible

but not probable for the younger child .


40

Comparison .2.f Format . In de scribing the format of

the various books each s erie s is taken a s a whole and not

individually as wa s done be fore , becau s e the same format is

generally used for all the books of the same s erie s .

To God Through Music Serie s . The four publi she d

children' s manual s o f this s erie s contain approximat ely one

hundred and s eve nty page s . They are abou t s even by e ight

and one hal f inche s in size . All of the picture s are black

ink drawings but they are so cl everly done tha t the ab s ence

o f color is not noticed. The cover of each book is in a

different eye-catching color with a moderni stic de sign re­

p r e s enting the modern five line staff and the Gregorian four

l ine staff. The print is lasge and ea sily re ad1bl e .

The Catholic E ducation Serie s . The format of the two

revis ed books of this s erie s lea big improvement over the

older publication . In the new books each cover is a diffel'­

ent color. The s e s ong manual s have repre s entative drawings

in four color s � A unique feature of this book is that many

o f the drawings are made up of the long fl owing lin e s t o

repre s ent the arsis and the sis o f chironomy. Another dis­

t 1notive feature is that mo s t of the melodie s have the chir­

onomy marks writ ten through them whther they are in numbers

ob notation . The children ' s manual is about seven and one

hal f inche s by nine inche s and is horizon tal in length. Each

book covers s eventy- eight page s . The two revised books are
41

1955 publication s . The s e tup in thi s seri e s shows a definite

European influence . The print is smaller than in mo s t books .

Music !2.£ � Se rie s . This s e rie s is a 1952 publi­

cation. Like the o ther newer publicat ions it al so ha s each

b o ok in a different attractive col or. The same color that

is used for the cover is al so used with black and whi t e in

the accompanying song picture s . The cover de s ign , alike on

all the books , i s diamond shaped f eaturing the Holy Spiri t

again st a modernis tic cro s s . The book i s nine and one half

inche s long and se ven inche s wide . The print and notation

are large . The song manual s con tain abou t one hundred and

twenty- five page s .

The Catholic Music Hour. Though there i s a great

diffe rence betwe en thi s series and the other three u s ed in

this s tudy it wa s purpos ely u s e d to show the great advance­

ment that has been made in the many pha s e s of music text­

b o ok prin ting. This book wa s publishe d in 1932. The s tyle

of the books is not much dif fe rent than our modern books ,

but , the picture s are very old fashioned. One very fine

f e a ture of this book i s the collection o f pho tographs and

art picture s . Many o f the art picture s are in color . The

n o tation is large but the words seem too small for com­

f ortable reading .

Appraisal . I n the examination o f the se serie s one

wonders how children o f even a quarter o f a century ago


42

c ould have found int e re s t in bboks that t o day seem so

lacking in juvenile appeal . Though the use o f color doe s

promo te intere s t i t s use i s not neces sary if the picture s

are weel drawn . Only the olde s t e di t ion o f the s e f our s e r­

i e s has highly colored pi cture s . Two of the seri e s have

p i c ture s in two or three colors . The mo s t at tractive book

ha s only black ink drawing s .

The Catholi c Mus i c Hour, publi she d i n 1932, i s the

ugly duckling o f the four serie s . I t probably was a fine bo ok

i n i t s day but i t s pi cture s are too old fashioned and the

print i s too smal l . The one big feature o f The Catholi c Mus i c

Hour i s that it contains s ome very fine art pi cture s . Since

t hi s course combine s mus i c and art the se picture s were nece s­

sary but they would be out o f place in the o ther seri e s .


43

Compari son E!. Layout . Be cause o f the similarity o f

the layout in mo s t books i t will not take too much space

t o de s c.ribe the content of the s e s erie s . Since i t has been

the purpo se t o s t re s s the children' s manual s rather than

the t eache r ' s manual s the same idea will be carried out in

thi s s e ct ion unl e s s some thing of unusual importance and

i nt e re s t appears in the t eache r ' s manual s .

To God Through Mus i c Seri e s . The layout o� �hi s ser­

i e s i s excell ent . The contents is divided ac cording to the

t eaching months s o that there need be no skipping about the

book t o l ook for s ongs for spe cial event s . Be cause all the

fi rst year songs are taught by rote thi s s'erie s doe s not

have a song manual for first grade . B ooks 'I'wo to Four,

which are all tha t has been publi she d t o dat e , have s ong

manual s for the childre n. According to the cla s si fied index

e a ch book contains Ameri can tr�diti onal s ongs , chant s ,

childhood song s , s tudy about the doh family, hymns and re­

l igious song s , a playl e t , rhythm picture s , rhy thm verse ,

s i nging game s , s ongs about mu s ical the ory , s t ori e s o f great

mu sician s , stori e s of the instrument s , s t ory songs and what

you can hear in mu s i c . I t i s to be unders t o od that the se

vari ous songs are sui tably int erspe rsed through the mon thly

s e tup . A s an example , the songs for the month of D e c ember

are give n in the fo i lowing o rder: My Birthday Gi f t , a two

line mel ody wri t t en in Gregorian nonation to a pre viously


- 44

l e arne d p salm tone , The Snowman , Who ' s That Tapping at the

Window, a rhythm pic ture compo sed o f no t e s in 3/4 me t e r

followed b y the song, The Moon Boa t , wri tten i n the same

m e t e r , 0 Come Little Childre n , Up On the House top, ano ther

rhythm picture in 4/4 me ter followed by the s ong, Chri s tmas

Light , Jolly Old S t . Nichola s , Jingle Bel l s , Winds Through

the Olive Tre e s and Silent Ni ght . One o f the outs tanding

feature s of thi s seri e s is the reproduc tion o f the child­

ren ' s manual in the teacher ' s manual . Each page i s printed in

miniature in i t s re spective l e s s on . Thi s pre s entation e l imi­

nat e s the cons tan t referen ce to two manual s on the part _ of

the t eacher. Thi s manual also contains the ac companiment s

t o the more important songs .

The Ca tho lic Education Seri e s . Thi s seri e s ha s no

specifi c layout . I t seems t o b e a col l e c t i on o f s e cular

s ongs , re ligious song s , hymn s and chants with no de finite

a rrangement. Some melodi e s are wri t t e n in no t e s and o thers

in number s . Thi s seri e s may not s e em a s at tractive to our

Ameri can children a s some o f the o ther serie s b e cau s e i t

ha s a European influence i n i t s makeup . The pi cture s ,

drawn by European nun s , are unique . Mo st o f the songs have

the chironomy mo?ement s wri t t e n through them. The songs

s e em crowded on the page s .

Mu sic for Life Seri e s . A monthly outl i ne i n the back

of each book of thi s serie s divides the cont ents into s e c-


45

t i E3ns o f suitable s ongs . In compari son Nith the To God

T�ough Mu si c S e ri e s , who s e De cember s ong s for Grade Two

are - l i s te d on the preceding page , the s e are the s ongs from

t he s e cond book of this serie s : A Prayer for Advent , Veni

Domine Jesu with the English tran slation in a Gregorian mel­

ody, 0 Chri s tmas Tre e , a ro te song, Puer Natus in Be thl ehem ,

ano ther Gregorian mel ody with English translat ion , 0 C ome

Li ttle Children , A Happy Birthday Li ttle Lord, and My Gift .

The Catho li c Music Hour. Consi dering that thi s i s

an older publi cation the layout i s qu ite good. N o month­

ly outline i s given but the s ongs are so plac ed that they

are easily found in the book . There are many colored p i c­

ture s in the book.

Apprai sal . In thi s s tudy the books were de s cribe d

i n the order o f the ir meri t s and value . I n the wri t e r ' s

e s timation the To God Through Mu sic S eri e s i s by far the

b e s t . The Mu sic Edu cation Series i s excellent . The lack

o f a teache r ' s manual hinders the judging o f the Mu s i c for

L o f e Serie s . Twenty years ago The Cathol i c Mu sic Hour wa s

probably one of the best books on the market. It may be

u sabl e today but it is no longer the b e s t serie s .


CHAPTER I I I

CON CLUSION AND REMARKS

The. saying that many roads lead to Rome can ap tly be

changed to many me thods lead t o the same obj e ct ive . Even

though the me thod of each serie s i s quite .::.dif ferent the

same crit eria i s se t up to reach its goal. The goal i s the

promo ti on o f go od s inging through good mu s i c and trained

and guide d mu si cal experi e nce , with the final ob j e ct ive

the understanding and correct p erformance of Gregorian

Chant .

Importance .2.f. Gregorian Chant . The que s t ion may be

a sked why so much importance is placed on Gregorian Chant


i n the Ca thol ic Scho ol s . Thi s may al so give ri se to tho s e

who are unac quainted with the Catholic Church that o ther

f orms of mus i c are not used in Cathol i c s e rvi ce s . The best

an swe r to thi s que s t ion can be found in the Encycli cal

L e tt e r of Pope Pius XII on Sa cred Mus i c . He write s :

The Choral Chant began to be called 11 Gregorian 11 after


St . Gregory , the man who revived i t . It at tained new
beauty in almo st all part s o f Europe after the 8 th or 9th
century because o f it s a ccompanime nt by a new mus i cal
instrument call ed the 11 organ. 11 Little by littl e , begin­
ning i n the 9 th century, polyphonic s i nging was added t o
thi s choral chant . The study and use o f polyphoni c sing­
ing were developed more and more during the ce nturi e s
that followed and were rai s ed to a marvelous perf e c t ion
under the guidance o f magni fi cent compo sers during the
15th and 16�h centurie s .
47

Since the Church always held this polyphonic Chant


in the highe st e steem i t willingly admit ted thi s type o f
music even in the Roman basilicas and i n pontifical ce­
remonie s in order to increase the glory o f the sacred
ri t e a . I t s power and splendor were increa sed when t he
s ounds of the organ and o ther musi cal ins truments were
J oined wi th the voioes ot the singers .

Thus with the favor and under the auspices of the


Church the study of sacred music has gone a long way
over the course of the centurie s . g

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • be sides those things that intimately associated


wi th the Church' s sacred liturgy , there are al so popular
religious hymns which derive their origin from li turgi­
cal chant i t sel f . Mo st of the se are written in the lan­
guage of the pe ople . Since the se are closely related
t o the mentali ty and the t emperament of individual
groups , they differ considerably among themselve s ac­
cording to the character of different race s and l o oal-
ities. 9

.
., .. - . . .. .
... ' : :
Various Forms of Catholi c Church Mus·i o. According to

the above quotation, we find in the Holy Father' s own words

that Gregorian Chant is the mo s t important form of vocal

music in the Catholic Church and take s pre cedence over all

o ther forms of music, but this does not cause the Church to

negl e ct the se o ther forms. Polyphonic mu sic has been used

in the Catholic Church since the ninth ce ntury and it is

undoubtedly one of the mo st magnificent forms of music. One

Bpope Pius XI I , " On Sacred Music, 11 Encycli cal Letter


0p
o f His Holine ss P e Pius XII ( Washington, D. C. : Nati onal
TiitliOii c Welfare onferenc-e,--1 955) , p. 3 .
9 Ibid. , p. 14 .
48

mus t readily admi t that the Cathol ic Church has not cho s en
,-

the easiest kind of music and Pope Pius XII gives the warn­

ing that " when the means and talent available are unequal

t o the task, it i s better t o forego _ such attempt s than to

do some thing that would be unworthy of divine worship and

sacred gathering s . n lO The s imple hymns used by all denom­

inati ons are no exception in the Catholic Church but cer­

tain rule s and regulations are laid down for their per­

f o rman ce. They are only permi tted at spe cial servi ce s and

o nly hymns that are in conformi ty wi th the laws of the

Church should be sung. The Encyclical stat e s :

If hymns of this sort are t o bring mat erial fruit


and advantage to the Christ ian people, they mus t be in
full conformity with the doc trine of the Catholic faith.
They must al so e xpre s s and explain the doctrine accur-
a t ely. Likewi se they must use plain language and simple
me lody and must be free from violent and vain exce s s of
words. De spite the fact that they are short and easy,
they should manifest a religious dignity and seriousne s s .
When they are fashioned in this way the se sacred canti­
c l e s , born as they are from the mo st profound depths of
the people ' s soul , deeply move the emotions and spirit
_ and stir up pious sent iment s. When they are sung at re­
l i gious rite s by a great crowd of people singing as with
one voice, they are powerf�i in rai sing the minds o f the
faithful to higher things.
·

From the above explanati on, anyone not familiar with

the Catholi c Church can understand why certain forms of

10Ibid.

ll ibid.
49

s i�ging _ are s tres sed 1n Catholic School Mu sic Series . Thi s

c o mparative study o f the four series was most interesting,

e specially s o , because of the different methods used in

each series t o reach the same goal .

Resul t s .2,! � Comparative Study. Without doub t ,

t he T o God Through Music Series far s�rpa sses the other

three series used in this s tudy. It i s superior t o the

o thers in practically all point s . Among it s many good

point s is one out s tanding innovation. Sis ter Mary Lourdes

had the farsightednes s to compose twi sets of words for

her s ongs so that they could be used as supplementary work

with either of t he two Catholic reading c ours e s , The Cath­

edral Basic Readers or The Faith and Freedom Readers . Thi s

i s po s s ibly the only musi c series 1n whi ch this innovation

can be found. It would seem almo s t impos sible for anyone

no t to be able to teach this course if they correctly fol­

l owed the teacher ' s manual with it s excellent detailed lea-

s on plans and many valuable sugges tion s . The book begins with

a general outline explaining the aims of the course. This same

explanation is repeated in every book o f the series. I t i s

foll owed b y a summary o f the music program for the particular

b o ok, a general outline, helps for the teacher, the Catholic

Music Education program , a suggested daily les son plan and

suggestions for the teacher. As was mentioned before, all o f


.

these points are repeated in every teacher' s manual . Next


60

f ollows a very detailed outline for the month of September.

After the outline we find a development of Septemb e r ' s work

and this outline and development is repeated for each month.

From Book Two to Book Four, and thi s will most probably be

c ont inued in all of the books as they are pubiished, we find

a miniature replica of every song in the children ' s book.

Thi s greatly facili tates the teache r ' s work. Accompaniments

t o many of the songs are found in the back of the teacher' s

manual , again preventing the inconveni ence of having t o look

through several books . The To God Through Mus i c Seri e s i s

b y far the ideal series and s hould be highly re commended to

all Catholic school s.

From personal experience i t is known that The Catho­

l i c Education Serie s, al so familiarly cal led The Ward Series

after Justine Ward, the author, has produ ced wonderful re­

sul t s in the Cathol ic schools where i t has been taught . There

i s really no comparison be twe en this me thod and the foregoing

me thodbecause the Ward method is very much older and was writ-

t e n under entirely different circums tanc e s . Mr s . Ward rece ived

much of her trai ning under the Benedictine monks of Sole sme s

on the Isle of Wight . The famous Benedi ctine authori ty on the

Chant , Dom And.re Mocquereau , wa s one of her instructors and

he al so wrote the preface to her book on Gregorian Chan t . The

l i turgi cal pi cture s in her book were drawn by the nuns o f the
.

Abbey of Saint e Cecile. The entire course , in fact , ha s a


51

fore ign flavor and would, no doubt , appeal to small Euro­

p eans more than to small Americans. Though i t bas b een

taught with a great deal o f succe ss in this country i t i s

really not adequate for the boys and girl s , si sters and

t eachers in the Unit ed Stat e s . It is surpris ing that i t

has flourished as l ong a s i t did in this country because i t

l s di fficul t to teach in comparison t o other seri e s . A dem­

ons tration was given several years ago for a class of teach­

ers at Eastern Illinois State College and the general idea

formed by the se teachers was that The Catholi c Education

Serl e s was far t o o difficult to be taught 1n publ ic s chools

e ven though the Cathol ic s chools had suc c e s s fully taught i t

for many years.

As was o ften menti oned in this study the Mu sic for

Life S erie s was diffi cult to compare with the other series

b e cau se of the lack of a teacher ' s manual which bas not

been published. Though the material is nicely arranged in

a logical order and ls appealing to the modern child i t

canno t compare with the To Go s Through Mus ic Serl e s for

concisene s s and detail. Though the publ i shers announ ced

that a teacher' s manual bad not as yet been published , ex­

aminati on of the four children ' s manual s make one wonder if

the author ever intends to publish one . The reason for thi s

i dea ls that there are certain sugge stions in the children ' s

manual that could well have been left for the teacher ' s
52

book. On the la s t page of the children ' s manual we find a

monthly outline and sugge stions for teaching the material in

the book . It s eems that if the author intended to publi sh a

t eacherh manual for the Music for Life Serie s she would not

have placed thi s information in the children' s book. It i s

p o s sible that .the.se books ,are merely t o b e used as supple­

mentary material . As such, they would be a fine acquisi tion

for the classroom.

The Catholic Music Hour Serie s is the olde s t s erie s

u sed in thi s comparative study. According to modern day

s tandards it is probably ob sole te as far as teaching mat erial

l s c oncerned. I t was impo s s ible to obtain copi e s o f this

s e rie s from the publi sher. A set of the s e books were found

a t xavier Unive rsity in New Orleans. The reason for u sing

thi s s erie s in the comparative study was to show the ad­

vancement made by our modern music pedago g s . From the ex­

amina t 1on of the book it s e em s po s s ible that s ince b o th i t

and the old Mus i c Hour Seri e s have the same four authors i t

was made suitabl e for Catholi c s chool s b y inserting a few

chan t s and hymns and obtaining the imprimatur of the Bi shop.

The writer may be incorrect in her conclu sions. The d1ffi­

cul ty i s that the chant s and hymns cho sen for each year are

t o o diffi cult for the teache rs to teach and the children to

l earn . It seems impo s s1bl e , , even with our modern simplified

me thods , t o teach a long Latin hymn to first grade rs . There


53

are twelve Gregorian chant s l i s te d in the first grade book

o f The · Catholic Mus i c Hour. If one had ever had the oppor­

tunity to teach Latin to seventh and e i ghth grade s tudent s ,

s o that they use correct pronunciation, that one can sympa­

thi ze with the poor teacher who has to teach Latin chant s

t o the primary clas s . Perhap s they might be taught parrot

fashion but certainly, this doe s not lead t o the under­

s tanding and enj oyment of mus i c . In compari son, the T o God

Through Musio Serie s li sts in its content s for Book One

o nly one short L atin chant , the Adoro T e , the Kyrie and

Agnus Dei of the Ma s s whi ch are short and repetitiou s , and

a few Latin re spon s e s made at the Ma s s . The se are the melo­

die s and words that the children hear daily at Ma s s and with

which they quickly be come familiar. Thi s enable s the little

o n e s to parti cipate in congregat ional singing within a short

time .

Conclusion. The resul t s of this study show that the

authors of the three Catho lic e di tions a t tained their aim

which was to give the child an understanding, love and ap­

pre ciation of good music, both s e cular and religious , and

e spe cially of Gregorian Chant . Each author succ e s s fully

u s ed a different method to reach this goal . Some me thods

were better than others becau s e o f their detailed explana­

t i on, their variety of sugge s tions and in the whole ar­

rangement of their manual s . But, though one me thod may far


54

e xcel another, i t mat ters little - if we do not conside r

mu sic a n e s sent ial part of the regular s chool curri culum -

what kind of a me thod we use in our s cho o l s . Why mus i c

should be relegated to the background i n s o many cla s s e s ,

instead o f be ing a very nece s sary preparation for the fu­

ture of the child, i s a que stion that many mus i c educators

would l ike to have answered. We , in the music profe s sion,

can find encouragement in the words o f P ope Piµs XII in his

Encycli cal Letter on Sacred Mus i c. The s e words are an en­

c ouragement for all musi c educators, paro chial or publi c ,

who have dedicated the ir live s to bring the j oy of God' s

mu sic to Hie children.

Therefore when We prai sed the manifold power and the


apo s tolic effectivene s s o f sacred mus i c , We spoke o f some­
thing that can be a source of great j oy and solace to all
who have in any way dedicated thems elve s to i t s study and
practice . All who use the art they po s se s s to compose such
mu sical compo si tions , to teach them or to perform them by
s i nging or using musi cal instrument s , undoubtedly exerci se
i n many and vari ous way s a true and genuine apo s t olat e .
They will receive . from Chri s t the Lord the generous re­
wards and honors of apo stle s for the work they have done so
faithfully. Consequently they should hold their work in
high e s te em, not only as arti s t s and teachers of art , but

2
al so as mini sters of Chri s t the Lord and His helpe rs in the
work o f the apo s tolate . They should l ikewi se show n their
conduct and their live s dignity of their calling. l

12
Pope Pius XI I , " On Sacred Musi c , 11 Encyclical L e tter
0p
of His Holine s s P e Pius XII ( Washingt on , D . C . : Nati onal
'Oa tholic Welfare onferen ce;-1955 ) , P • 9 .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. BOOKS

Bo s co , Si s ter Mary John. M u s1o For Life . Boston:


McLaughlin and Reilley CompanY,-1'§'52.


Oathol·io Di e s t Reader. New York: Doubleday and Company ,
Ino. , i 52.

De Hovre , Rev. Fr411 z. Philo s op� and Education. Trans .


Rt. Rev. Edward B. Jordan. e'W"York: Benziger Brothers ,
1930.

Goodchild, O . P . , Si s ter Mary Antonine , Gregorian Chant .


Bo ston: Ginn and Company, 1944.

Joan, O . P . , Sister Mary and Si s ter Mary Nona, O.P. Guiding


Growth ·in Chri s tian Social Living. Washington, b. c. :
The Catnol1 c University of America Pre s s , 1946.
Kelly, William A. Educational P sychology. Milwaukee :
Bruce Publi shing Company, 1949 . _

Klarmann , Rev. Andrew F. G �orian Chant . Toledo , Ohio :


Gregorian Institute of erloa, 1945 .

L e en, Edward. What I s Education ? . New York: Sheed and


Ward, 1944.- -

Lourde s , Sister Mary. To God Throu � Music. Toledo , Ohi o :


Gregorian Insti tute-Of"""'Aiiierica , 9 53. .
Mcconathy, Osbourne and others . The Musi c Hour. Catholi c
Edition. New York: Silver Burdett and--coiiipany, 1932.

Mursell, James L. and Maybell Glen. The Ps cholo { ga !l!_


S chool
Music Teaching. New York : Silver"lftird.e t and ompany,
1931. .
. . . . .

Mursell , Jame s L . Musi c in American S chools . New York :


Silver Burde tt Compan'.Y; l943 .

Mursell , Jame s L . Music an d the Classroom Teacher. New York :


Silver Burdett and Company, 19 51.
57

Ward, Justine . The Catholio Eduoation Seri e s � Washington,


D . C . : The ditlioiic Eduoation Pre s s , l9 23 .

B. ENCYCLICAL LETTER

P iu s XII , Pope . On Saored Musio. Washington, D. C. :


National Oathol1o Welfare Conference , 19 55.

c. NEWSPAPER

The Register, April 22, 19560


APPENDIX
RHYTHM

TO GOD THROUGH MUSIO OATHOLIO EDUOATION MUSIC FOR LIFE


- -
CATHOLIC MUSIC HOUR
-

BOOK Establi sh fundamental Primary groupinf of Who le , half . and Begins with rote t o
� rhythm, beginning on pul ses in 2 1 s-3 s . quarter not es. · develop vocabulary
downbeat and upbeat . Subdivi sion o f Up and downbeat . of fundamental s tepE
Develop feel for 2/4- pul ses. Gregorian Rhy­ and figure s.
3/4 meter, through Movement of phrase thms . Freedom of self­
clapping - stepping. as whole . Sense of Action songs. expres sion.
Experience in free rhythm formed Rote songs , toy o�
rhythm. Observation through ge s ture s anc che s tra , phys ical
of fast, slow, hold, movement s of whole expre s sion, lis ten­
re s t . Rhythmi c up­ body. i�g lessons and
beat preparation .for re cognition of
Gregorian Ohant . phrase repe ti tion. ·

Free rhythm, creative Same ge sture s a s Clapping rhytnm . As above . Develop­


rhy.tbm• . Dir.e ctions
· First Year. Gregorian rhy­ ment of rhythm play.
for. rhythmic re sponse Ge sture s bring co­ thms. Rhythmi c scansion.
of various type s . ordibati on and 3/4 me ter. Re cogni tion of
2/4 - 3/4 me ter be­ control of motor Half note . phrase, motive ,
ginning on downbeat impulses. figure and rhythms
and upbeat. Ge sture s . of unfamiliar songs .

BOOK As above. Quarte r G e s ture s - melody Clapping-count­ common dance . . form


1T!ti1.]!;E not e s . E qually divid­ and rhythm. Arsisf ing. Divided movement s . Standard
ed beat . Introductory the sis. Two part beat. dance expre s si on
rote songs with word melody with con­ 2/4:, 3/4, 4/4. with fundamental
content. Grade d song trasting rhythm s . Re cto tono • rhythms . Re cogni­
material for feel and Rhythmic independ­ . Psalm tone s. tion of rhythmic
grasp of new rhythm. ence wi th polyphon­ Quarter re st . el ement in new
ic phrase s. song mat erial.
' �' " I K Conducti ng 4/4. Ge s­ Ch1ronomy - Round singing. Rhythmi c develop­
FOUR ture s for conducting arsis and the s i s. Two part canon . ment of above into
simple chant s . Review Sixte enth note . standard dances of
rhythms. Gregorian nota­ age s and countri es.
Dot ted quarter fol­ tion. I ctu s . Music notation ca�
lowed by eighth note. ri ed into actual
time keeping.
Wider range of
free exnre s sion. 1
EAR TRAINING

TO £!QE THROUGH MUSI C CATHOLIC EDUCATION MUSIC FOR LIFE


- -
CATHOLIC MUSIC HOUR
-

Work for good tone and O ral and written Ear - training and­
true pi tch through dicta.t ion. T eacher . eye training in the
tonal imitation and re­ first use s gesture s , elements of tonal
spons e. Second seme s ter for rise and fall and rhythmic pro­
- introduce , syllable s of melody. Phrases cedu�e and its nota­
according t o scalewi se used based on mater- tion providi ng neces
progre s sion. Five l ine ial studied. . sary background
staff pre sented by Rhythmi c dictat i on leading to sight
flash cards - use u sed alone a t firs t , reading and o ther
short mo t ive s used in melody added later. skill s.
previous months . Rote­
note approach.
e rial care fully elodic , rhyt i o e cogn on o 5 or
outlined. Scalewise and -both combined. 6 composit ions on
and toni c chord skips . Oral and wri tten. hearing first few
Later, pattern song Maj or and minor measure s . Ability
used to provide melod­ melodi e s . t o follow and re cog­
ic approach to chords Mode s . ni ze a re current
I , V and IV. Melodic theme in a new song.
approach to skip of 4th
throu h tonal nei hbor.
imple s cale and easy fodulati on . e cognition of s tep­
chord pat tern s . Theory wi s e progre s sion ,
songs previ ously skips of thir.ds ,
learned - used as fourths , fi fths ,
bridge to l e s s famil­ sixths and oc�av.e s .
iar tonal material .
cale and chordal pat­ Rhythmi c ear tes t s . o servat ion song s.
terns used to prepare First mode and
for minor and Gregorian minor scal e s .
mode s already pre sented
by rote .
HYMNS, CHANTS � SONGS

TO QQ]2 THROUGH MUSIC CATHOLIC EDUCATION MUSIC FOR LIFE


- -
CATHOLIC MUSIC HOUR-

Taught by rote . Mo st­ Rote . singing rapid­ Many . religi.ous bje ctive- t o sing 30
ly ba sed on tonic ly leads to tonal s ongs • . Songs per­ r 40 rote songs.
chord . Ob j e ctive - and rhythmi c free­ taining to social ne stanza of Amer­
reading readine ss •. · dom . s tudi e s , science , oa . Twelve Gregori­
Individual s inging Many .melodi e s with­ singing game s , n Chant s .and f ive
encouraged. Many out words . Eight and rhythmi c pla hymns .
Ameri can songs, child songs from Gregorian Nursery rhyme s . ote. s ongs , ob ser­
hood and story songs, and other source s . Songs to help ation s ongs , read­
singing .games and a Words and phra s e s singers with low ng and s tudying
short playle t . put t o mus i c • .Sev­ voice s . One shor songs .
eral . sugge.s t.ed Latin phrase .
l i tur i oal chant s.

Rote and note ap­ Mo �tly an cient folk Religious songs O to 60 rote songs.
proach. Songs based s ongs . Mos t no table predominate . O to be memorized.
on tonic chord and s ongs from Gregori­ Songs in same 8 Gregorian _ num­
s calewi s e progres­ an rep�rt oire . category as ers including
si ons . Six key s Melodie s graded so above . Greg9r�­ salms , chants and
used in note song� . they contain only an melodi e s sees.
Songs based on 5- 5 previously prepared with English wo s tanzas o f Amer-
range . P salm tone mate rial . words .
V and VI . New chant s Short Latin
i n Mode V and VI . phrase s .
Repert o ire of fav­ Three Latin
orite old s ongs. hymns .
P 1ayl e t .

Ro te and note ap­ Mo s tly ancient Religious hymn s · O to 60 new s ongs.


proach. Introduc­ folk song s . and chants . O memori zed.
tion of Doh find­ Ave Maria. 26 Latin hymns 4 s tanzas o f: '. Amer­
ing from key sign. Songs in two 4 cban t s . Songs i oa.
Different progre.s­ parts . for mu si c ap­ 26 Gregorian melo­
sion of keys . Polyphoni c number s . pre ciation. die s .
First seme ster - Songs by famou s
reading songs in compo sers .
sharp key s . Other songs as
above .
HYMNS, CHANTS AND SONGS

TO GOD THROUGH MUSIC CATHOLIC EDUCATION MUSIC -


FOR -
LIFE CATHOLIC MUSIC -
HOUR
- -

BOOK Se cond seme s ter -


1'HREE reading song s in
con t . flat . key.a .
Range .doh to doh.
Few minor . song s .
Introduction o f
Psalm VIII and two
new s ongs in Mode
VII I by rot e .
Four .line s taff in-
troduced.
Doh clef and simple
neum formati ons.

BOOK Rote-note approach. Thorough study o f 1 7 Chant e .


FOUR Con tinuous review of Gregorian Chant . 15 Hymns .


mater�al previously Many liturgical 2 religious
e sented. melodi e s from· the song � . Songs
view of s ong s . Ma s s and other relating to
R�view o f P salms V , s e rvice s . s c ience and
VI and VI I-I and of social s tudie s .
Chant s in Mode s V, Melodie s o f
VI and VII I . famous c ompo-
Psalm I I I and two new sere.
chant s in Mode s VIII Part song s ,
and III. rounds and can-
on s . Songs for
spe cial days.
MUSIC APPRECIATION

TO GOD THROUGH MUSIC CATHOLI C EDUCATION MUSIC !QS � CATHOLIC MUSIC HOUR

BOOK Listening l e s s ons - Re cords. Ac tion Songs . Interpre tation , dra


� love of music and Rhythmi c .parti cipa- matization and rhy­
growth in knowledge tion. thm play.
their aim. Sugge sted Dramati zation. Listening.
outline s of re cord s . Toy orche s tra.
Rhythm activi ties . Picture s tudy.
Directed listening. Acquaintance with
Recognition of sim­ standard compos i tions.
ple theme , lullaby,
march. drum, violin.
BOOK L i stening to re cords . Helationshl.p o f words As above .
� Interpretation of and mu si c . Under�tand­
mu sical selections . i ng of ancient folk
Recognition of wal t z , s ongs . Gregorian rep­
flute, cello and ertoire . Original
t rumpe t . composition.
Imnrovi sation.
-· II I K
Ability to re cogni ze Introduction t o more Development of abil­
minuet , gavo t t e , cla­ ancient folk s ongs . i ty to li sten intel-
rinet and trombone . P olyphonic mus i c . 1 1gently-di s cr1min­
Recognition o f Bach , Canon. atingly. Listening
Haydn, Mo zart , Handel , for characteri s t i c
Schubert and Schumann . t onal e ffe c t s o f
orche stral instru­
ment s . Combination
o f mus i c and art .
JjUOK Listening to record­ .Pi cture s .
.l:"UU..K ings. Recognition as Re cords •
above with addi tion Parti cipat ion in
of double bas s , viola, li turgical func­
oboe , bas soon, French ti ons.
horn, tuba, Gri eg,
and Mendel s sohn .
CREATIVE -
----
WORK

TO QQl2 THROUGH MUSIC CATHOLIC EDUCATION MUSIC -


---
FOR -
LIFE CATHOLI C MUSIC HOUR

BOOK Lay foundation by Write original mel- Echo game and Phrase analysi s o f
omr-
-
que stion and answer odi e s . other - im1 ta- song s. Study of
songs . Musi cal conversat ion . tive songs. motive s and figure s ,
Oreate original with l i s te d vocabu­
endings. larie s of rhythmi c
Make instruments. and melodic figure s .

BOOK Creative readine s s Original mel odies As above . As above .


WO-
-
and creative e x­ with and without Act i on s ongs .
pre ssion drawn pri­ word s . Improvi­ Write original
marily from ear sation through words for given
training, si nging mu sical conversa­ mel odi e s .
game s and action ti on . Rhythmi c
song s . ge s ture s . Melody
and rhythm1 c ge s­
ture s combined.

BOOK Same a s above. Wri t ten and sung A s above . Definite procedure
·1·)'UU!.E original melodi e s for developing ex­
and rhythms . perience into musi­
cal self expre s sion.

BOOK Piano and ins tru­ Original melodie s Original mel­ As above .
1''0Ul1. mental experienc e . and songs . odi e s .
Dramati zation o f Choral speak­
songs . ing.
Making o f Chant
Booklet in whi ch
words and mu sic
for two chants on
Gregorian s taff
are wri tten.

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