{"id":1291,"date":"2018-01-11T12:41:48","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T17:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/?p=1291"},"modified":"2018-01-11T10:44:25","modified_gmt":"2018-01-11T15:44:25","slug":"get-to-know-norah-duncan-iv-74-a-force-in-liturgical-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/2018\/01\/11\/get-to-know-norah-duncan-iv-74-a-force-in-liturgical-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to know: Norah Duncan IV ’74, a force in liturgical music"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Norah
Norah Duncan IV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Norah Duncan IV \u201974 majored in English when he attended University of Detroit with a goal of becoming a college professor and publishing some writing. Today, he is a college professor and has published many works, though the type of works isn\u2019t what he thought \u2014 liturgical music that takes full advantage of his favorite instrument: the pipe organ.<\/p>\n

Even as a kid, Duncan loved the sound of the pipe organ and was drawn to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s a kid listening to R&B,\u201d said Duncan. \u201cBut I just loved the sound of that instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organ isn\u2019t an easily accessible instrument, but Duncan got a chance to play one and taught himself enough to get a job playing the organ in church. From there, his career flourished.<\/p>\n

Getting his start<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was about 13 or 14 years old, there was a program that served inner city children and my mom enrolled me in it because it had a music program,\u201d he said. \u201cI was supposed to study trombone. I had the mouthpiece for a week, but I didn\u2019t want to do it. Instead, I was given an accordion.\u201d<\/p>\n

He never took formal accordion lessons, but taught himself to play the instrument\u2019s keyboard by accompanying his mother while she sang.<\/p>\n

Eventually he got a gig as a keyboard player in a band \u2014 playing the accordion keyboard. The pastor of a local church asked Duncan to play the keyboard, and he eventually began to learn the instrument he was drawn to \u2014 the pipe organ.<\/p>\n

As Professor and Chair of the Department of Music at Wayne State University and an organist in the area, Duncan never envisioned his life taking this turn.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I graduated from University of Detroit, my father, who worked for the government, gave me a government job application,\u201d Duncan remembered. \u201cAfter a few weeks, I got a response back and the one thing I qualified for was to be a border patrol officer in Texas.\u201d He got a break, though: St. Martin de Porres Catholic School in Detroit hired Duncan to serve as a music teacher. It was the start of something new for Duncan.<\/p>\n

In 1975, he began studying the organ more formally and took classes toward his Master in Fine Arts in organ performance. He eventually earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in church music and organ performance.<\/p>\n

The next chapter \u2014 composing<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1976, Duncan published his first hymn, written for a local church.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was working at St. Clement in Center Line. The Saturday mass was led by a contemporary group and I couldn\u2019t stand the \u2018Alleluia\u2019 they were singing. So, I just quickly thought up a little melody and it eventually became the \u2018Duncan Alleluia,\u2019\u201d Duncan said.<\/p>\n

The \u201cDuncan Alleluia\u201d received accolades from composers and musicians from around the world. It\u2019s been used by congregations internationally and was sung during the televised mass when Pope John Paul II visited Detroit.<\/p>\n

The tune launched a new chapter in his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be where I am now, if it wasn\u2019t for church music,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cChurch music took me to the Vatican, Europe and Africa. It\u2019s been crazy what I could do and what I\u2019ve done with church music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duncan became the music director for the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, where he served for more than 25 years. In his position at the cathedral \u2014 the seat of the Archdiocese of Detroit \u2014 he was in charge of planning and directing music for Archdiocesan liturgies and important events specific to the cathedral.<\/p>\n

Duncan is regularly invited to participate in national workshops and conferences, and works closely with local and international Catholic leaders. His work has appeared in the commonly used \u201cLead Me, Guide Me\u201d hymnal, and he serves on the review committee for the upcoming revisions of it as well. He wrote several responsorial psalms, canticles and eventually started writing some masses, including the Unity Mass, which was written for the \u201cLead Me, Guide Me\u201d hymnal and is used regularly by many congregations. <\/p>\n

Carrying on the craft<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to Duncan\u2019s work with church music and composing, he also works to inspire the next generation of organists.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany contemporary musicians say there aren\u2019t as many organists because there aren\u2019t as many people studying the keyboard,\u201d Duncan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are at a time when we\u2019re not as community-based as we have been in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not uncommon for somebody to go to church across town as opposed to the church in their own neighborhood,\u201d which makes exposure to organs and organ music more difficult than in the past. \u201cThere was a time when it was easier to access the organ. There was a time when we had more Catholic schools. It\u2019s just not happening the way it was before. How often do young people these days get to hear the organ?\u201d<\/p>\n

Duncan also said that, like many other skills, learning the organ takes time, something it seems many people don\u2019t have anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who want to excel in this career and this vocation, they have to have the mentorship of people who are doing it,\u201d Duncan said. Through his connections, he has brought many respected organists to his students and he encourages those students to attend organ recitals and give themselves as many opportunities as they can to play and be critiqued.<\/p>\n

More than a job<\/strong><\/p>\n

After retiring from the Cathedral in 2007, Duncan realized that while he was living his dream of being a college professor, he missed playing the organ in the church setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems like I need to keep that other part of me fed,\u201d said Duncan. He also continues to compose and is currently working on a mass for St. Ambrose Catholic Church, a parish that straddles the border between Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are times when I will pick up the phone and call myself at the office with some ideas for it \u2014 melodies, sometimes just a baseline, sometimes it\u2019s a counter melody. When my brain is free, I can sit down and begin to craft,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cIt is what I do for the people of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duncan said in return for what he does, he feels he gets just as much back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe generosity of God has propelled my life,\u201d he said. \u201cGiving my time has afforded me the opportunities that I have.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Norah Duncan IV \u201974 majored in English when he attended University of Detroit with a goal of becoming a college professor and publishing some writing. Today, he is a college professor and has published many works, though the type of works isn\u2019t what he thought \u2014 liturgical music that takes …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":1292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2018\/01\/duncan080415.jpg?fit=200%2C223&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Kcng-kP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1291"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1293,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions\/1293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}