Care should be taken to maintain the distinctiveness of Advent music so that it doesn’t blur into Christmas. Appropriate hymns, songs and chants – of which there are many – express joyful hope and holy fear

more than any other season, Advent is characterised by just one song: “O come, o come Emmanuel”. It has outgrown its origins as a plainchant setting of the “O” Antiphons recited day by day from 17 to 24 December, and found a home as a hymn in most parishes’ Advent Mass repertoire. Composers have relied on its distinctive melody to give new pieces an Advent flavour, notably Marty Haugen’s “For you, O Lord, my soul in stillness waits” and Richard Proulx’s “Missa Emmanuel”. Other Advent Mass settings reflect the restraint implicit in this penitential season, so in addition to omitting the Gloria, they are shorter and less ornate, for example, Stephen Dean’s Short Mass for Advent and Lent.

Advent might be an appropriate time for your parish to revisit the Missal Tones, since these are suitably simple and understated. It can be a busy time for church musicians, since it heads towards Christmas, so is likely to be full of carol singing and nativity plays around the parish, and rehearsals for demanding Christmas services. It makes practical and liturgical sense to keep Advent music simple.