Preparing Music For Celebration

Praising and worshiping God with voice and instruments: This is what the liturgical musician's craft is all about. New music is published monthly and new collections and hymnals appear regularly. How can musicians keep up with this flood of new material? Will people sing it? The starting points for dealing with these challenges are knowing music's specific role in liturgical ritual, and recognizing the assembly as the singer of the community's song.

In Preparing Music for Celebration, Heather Reid shows how music ministers can help the gathered assembly to participate fully in the celebration. By using the principles found in Preparing Music for Celebration, musicians and preparation teams will find clarity and unity of purpose: great starting points for your assembly's song.

Discussion questions and a summary conclude each chapter. Chapters include "Introduction: 'When in Our Music God Is Glorified . . .'" "The Paschal Mystery and Music in Liturgy," "Full, Conscious and Active Participation," "The Sunday Celebration as the Norm for Musical Choices," "When and What to Sing," "Criteria for Choosing Music," and "Practical Considerations."