Set the Advent atmosphere with song and harp

CNS photo/Karen Callaway

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Deacon Leroy Gill of Holy Angels Church and Deacon John Cook of St. Felicitas Church lead participants in song during a prayer service in Chicago Aug. 21.

SALT LAKE CITY – Advent is a season of anticipation as Catholics prepare their hearts and hearths for the coming of Christ. In the churches, musicians help set the tone for the season.

"Music has a wonderful sense of setting up that anticipation," said Chris Huntzinger, director of liturgy and music at St. Ambrose Parish and J.E. Cosgriff Memorial School. "Because music is emotions, you can mirror that anticipation with the words, the tunes."

Most Catholics are familiar with one Advent hymn, ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,’ which is most appropriate for the third Sunday of Advent, Huntzinger said, but the season has generated plenty of music. Each Sunday in Advent has its own theme, and "it’s easy to match music with the Sunday liturgies," Huntzinger said. "There’s lots of music for those particular Sundays, so you can pretty much hit a home run every Sunday."

His favorite is the second week of Advent, he said, because Comfort Ye My People, A Voice Cries out in the Wilderness and On Jordan’s Bank all are appropriate.

While musicians may have a treasure trove to choose from at this liturgical season, musical directors face a quandary in picking pieces to present.

"It’s hard at Advent because I think that very few people know the songs, and it’s really hard because we already have Christmas out in the commercial world," said Adrienne Robbins, a choir director at Saint Joseph Parish in Ogden, who admits that she tends to cycle through only four Advent songs during the season. "You get people who are frustrated that we’re not singing Christmas carols – yes, they’re Catholic – and we get people who get frustrated that we sing Christmas carols until Jan. 6. So we’re fighting a huge tidal wave. I’m not even sure Advent is a season we appreciate any more."

Still, Advent hymns "pull you in," she said. "It gets into your soul. I think we listen to a lot of fast-paced music these days, and the Advent music can be upbeat but it’s often very meditative."

Advent music should build toward Christmas and reflect that "the entire time we’re preparing our hearts to meet the Lord," Huntzinger said. "Musicians should be careful that when we enter the season of Advent, it should be different. We should really be sensing that anticipatory meeting of the Lord. I think it’s important that not only the musicians but the congregation be aware of the season that we’re entering. Even the slightest change in the way that we pray as a community during Advent can really strengthen the effect of the season."

Music is an important part of Advent, he added, and the songs are played only once a year. "Enjoy these hymns," he urged. "Sing them."