# Precentor

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{{Short description|Person who helps facilitate worship}}
{{distinguish|Presenter (disambiguation){{!}}Presenter}}
A '''precentor''' is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The [Latin](/source/Latin) derivation is ''præcentor'', from [cantor](/source/cantor_(church)), meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first singer").

==Ancient precentors==

The chief precentor was the highest position in many [ancient Mesopotamia](/source/ancient_Mesopotamia)n cities (see [Music of Mesopotamia](/source/Music_of_Mesopotamia)).

==Jewish precentors==

Jewish precentors are song or prayer leaders, leading [synagogue music](/source/synagogue_music).  A Jewish precentor is typically called a [hazzan](/source/hazzan) or [cantor](/source/Cantor_in_Reform_Judaism). In the Middle Ages, women precentors leading prayers in the ''[vaybershul](/source/Ezrat_Nashim)'' (women's gallery) were known as [firzogerin](/source/firzogerin), farzangerin, foreleiner, zogerin, or zogerke.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wolfson |first1=Dalia |title=The Zogerke's Vort |url=https://thelehrhaus.com/commentary/the-zogerkes-vort/ |website=The Lehrhaus |date=6 July 2021}}</ref>

==Christian precentors==

[[File:View from Precentor's Court.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|A view of [York Minster](/source/York_Minster) from a street named [Precentor's Court](/source/Precentor's_Court) (2003)]]

A precentor is a member of a church who helps facilitate worship. The role of precentor was carried over from the [synagogue](/source/synagogue)s into the early Christian church.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moseley |first=Ron |title=Yeshua: A Guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church |url=http://www.haydid.org/yeshron1.htm |access-date=2023-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981201194151/http://www.haydid.org/yeshron1.htm |archive-date=1998-12-01 }}</ref>

===Catholic precentors===
{{Catholic Church Hierarchy|Additional titles}}
thumb|Painting of a Catholic precentor,  by Štefan Straka, 1927
====Ancient era====
The term ''precentor'' usually described an [ecclesiastical](/source/ecclesiastical) dignitary, an administrative or ceremonial officer. Anciently, the precentor had duties such as being the first or leading chanter, who on Sundays and greater feasts intoned certain [antiphons](/source/antiphons), [psalms](/source/psalms), [hymns](/source/hymns), [responsories](/source/responsories), etc.; gave the pitch or tone to the [bishop](/source/bishop) and [dean](/source/Dean_(religion)) at [Mass](/source/Mass_(liturgy)) (the [succentor](/source/succentor) performing a similar office to the [canons](/source/Canon_(priest)) and [clerks](/source/clerk_(choral))); recruited and taught the [choir](/source/choir), directed its [rehearsal](/source/rehearsal)s and supervised its official functions; interpreted the [rubric](/source/rubric)s and explained the [ceremonies](/source/ceremonies), ordered in a general way the [Divine Office](/source/Liturgy_of_the_Hours) and sometimes composed desired hymns, [sequences](/source/Sequence_(religion)), and [lessons](/source/Lection) of [saints](/source/saints). He was variously styled ''capiscol'' (from the Latin ''caput scholæ'', head of the choir-school), ''[prior](/source/Prior_(ecclesiastical)) scholæ'', ''magister scholæ'', and ''primicerius'' (a word of widely different implications). [Hugh of Saint Victor](/source/Hugh_of_Saint_Victor) tells us{{cn|date=October 2024}} that in the care of the primicerius were placed the [acolytes](/source/acolytes), [exorcists](/source/exorcism), [lector](/source/Reader_(liturgy))s, and psalmists (chanters).

====Middle Ages====
In the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages) the principal dignitaries of [cathedral](/source/cathedral), [collegiate chapter](/source/chapter_(religion))s, and [monastic](/source/monastic) orders, imitated the example of [St. Gregory the Great](/source/St._Gregory_the_Great) in acting as directors of chant-schools. The [schola](/source/schola) was always in attendance when the bishop officiated in his cathedral, and to the precentor was assigned a place near the bishop and high in dignity. His office demanded much learning and executive ability, and his dignity corresponded with his duties.

In the cathedrals of England, France, Spain, and Germany, a precentor sometimes ranked next to the dean, sometimes next to the [archdeacon](/source/archdeacon). In some instances a precentor's sphere of activity was more broad, including the duty of installing deans, canons, and other dignitaries; and in some [monasteries](/source/monasteries), the duties of librarian and registrar. 

From the fourteenth century the title and dignity were largely handed over to incumbents whose musical knowledge did not fit them for the duties to which the name of precentor owed its origin; the dignities remained, but the duties became obscured. "In France, some chapters retain traces of the dignity of Precentor, and sometimes an archdeacon, sometimes a titular or honorary canon, carrying the baton cantoral, the insignia of his office".<ref>[Migne](/source/Migne), "Dict. de Droit Canon", s.v. Chantre.</ref> This "baton cantoral" is a silver or white staff. "In the dioceses of Aix, Carcassonne, Coutances, Dijon, Metz, Orléans, the dignity of Precentor is still the highest in the chapter.... Some chapters have sub-chanters, those of Arras being among the honorary resident canons",<ref>Migne, "Dict. de Jurisprudence", s.v. Grand Chantre.</ref> where also the quoted statutes of the [Bishop of Dijon](/source/Bishop_of_Dijon) may serve to illustrate the modern idea of the office of precentor: "The Précenteur or Grand Chantre is the head of the choir and ... brings the antiphon to the bishop when officiating pontifically. [Sacristan](/source/Sacristan)s, chanters, choir-boys, and employés of the Cathedral are placed under his surveillance. He will also preserve order and silence in the sacristy."<ref>{{Cite web |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Precentor |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12372a.htm |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Julie Kerr |first=Sarah Foot |title=Home page of the Cistercians in Yorkshire Project |url=https://www.dhi.ac.uk/cistercians/glossary/precentor.php |access-date=2023-04-27 |website=www.dhi.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>

===Anglican precentors===

A precentor is a person, usually ordained, who is in charge of preparing worship services. This position is usually held in a large church. Most [cathedral](/source/cathedral)s have a precentor in charge of the organisation of liturgy and worship. The precentor of a cathedral is usually a residentiary [canon](/source/canon_(priest)) or [prebendary](/source/prebendary) and may be assisted by a [succentor](/source/succentor) (particularly in the daily task of leading choral singing). In some cathedrals (including [Canterbury](/source/Canterbury_Cathedral)), the precentor is a [minor canon](/source/minor_canon) and therefore part of the foundation but not part of the chapter.

Traditionally the precentor's [stall](/source/choir_stall) (seat) in the cathedral is on the opposite side of the [quire](/source/Choir_(architecture)) from that of the dean, leading to the traditional division of the [singers](/source/choir) into [decani](/source/decani) (the dean's side) and [cantoris](/source/cantoris) (the precentor's side).

===Presbyterian precentors===

[[File:Pulpit and Communion Table in Duirinish Church - geograph.org.uk - 1548755.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|The [pulpit](/source/pulpit) and [communion table](/source/communion_table) from the [Church of Scotland](/source/Church_of_Scotland) church in [Duirinish, Skye](/source/Duirinish%2C_Skye). Between the two is the box for the precentor.]]

In Presbyterian churches that worship in the historical fashion (i.e., sing [a cappella](/source/a_cappella); see [Presbyterian worship](/source/Presbyterian_worship)), a precentor is a person (man or woman, not necessarily clergy) who leads the singing, often by means of [conducting](/source/conducting) techniques, but sometimes just by singing from amongst the congregation.

Churches that use a [call and response](/source/Call_and_response_(music)) method of singing called [lining out](/source/lining_out) (used primarily when sufficient numbers of [psalm books](/source/psalter) are unavailable, or the congregation insufficiently literate, as was the case in the black church in [Harper Lee](/source/Harper_Lee)'s ''[To Kill a Mockingbird](/source/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird)'') are usually led by the precentor, much as with other non-instrumental churches.

===Public schools and Cambridge===

The title "precentor" is also used at two [English public schools](/source/Public_school_(United_Kingdom)), [Radley College](/source/Radley_College) and [Eton College](/source/Eton_College), and a private school in [Sri Lanka](/source/Sri_Lanka), [S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia](/source/S._Thomas'_College%2C_Mount_Lavinia), to refer to the head of music. These school precentors have no specific religious duties although, as part of their musical function, they may conduct the college chapel choir. At [Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge](/source/Gonville_and_Caius_College%2C_Cambridge) and [Magdalene College, Cambridge](/source/Magdalene_College%2C_Cambridge), the precentor's main responsibility is as director of the college choir, which provides music for chapel services.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Precentor |short=x}}

Category:Ecclesiastical titles
Category:Anglican ecclesiastical offices
Category:Presbyterianism
Category:Religious music

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