Posted on 11/21/2013 6:06:31 AM PST by marshmallow
I have decided to stop writing congregational music for the Catholic Church. Those who follow these things will be aware that liturgical music can be a war zone in Catholicism. We need not detain ourselves over the reasons and fault-lines in the ongoing debates and struggles, but it is clear to me that there is too much music being created, at the same time as the vast repository of tradition is ignored and wilfully forgotten.
In the last year I have established a new organisation dedicated to reviving the practice of chant in the Church, Musica Sacra Scotland. Gregorian plainsong is the very sound of Catholicism and there have been recent attempts to adapt this music to English translations. Anglicans have had four hundred years of doing this kind of thing, so when the Ordinariate was established a truly great practical application of Catholic principles returned to the Church.
Also, the Americans seem to be ahead of the game and are producing new publications which enable the singing, in the vernacular, of those neglected Proper texts for Introits, Offertories and Communion. The creators of this music are curators of tradition more than "composers", with all the issues of individuality, style and aesthetics attendant on the word. But what these curators are doing is remarkable.
In taking the shape and sound of Catholic chant, they are creating an authentic traditional repertoire for the new liturgical directions in the Church. They are making simple, singable, functional music to suit the nature of ecclesial ritual for a Church which went through various convulsions after the Second Vatican Council.
The British version of this is even more intriguing. The Blessed John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music was set up in the wake of Pope Benedict’s visit to the UK in 2010 by.......
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.telegraph.co.uk ...
Too much of our entire culture caters to old hippies.
Cutting edge, crest of the wave ping.
Twenty years ago, whoda thunk it?
We need to be battle ready ... God knows our hearts and love for him, but we need armor now, not vestments.
**In the last year I have established a new organisation dedicated to reviving the practice of chant in the Church, Musica Sacra Scotland. Gregorian plainsong is the very sound of Catholicism and there have been recent attempts to adapt this music to English translations. **
Thank you God!
True but take heart, most of them will be dead in 20 years. Earlier if Obamacare really kicks in.
and young millennials...
Ping for later
I’ve only gone to Mass a couple of times in the past few decades, but the de-ritualized version looks and sounds hollow, and the Peter, Paul and Mary wannabe “music” Sucks.
Onward Christian Soldiers, exactly! I loved this guys title - named it exactly right!! aahhhh.
Find a church where you like the music and get back to regular attendance.
Of course, after confession, receive the Eucharist, which will strengthen you in this endeavor.
I have found some churches in the Chicago area that do the Gregorian chants. They are Latin Mass churches. The priest faces the alter and we kneel to get communion on the tongue. No guitars or drums, just the organ.
The charismatics (we call them Frannies because they move here to work/go to school at Franciscan U) are responsible for our move toward Guitar Hero from the chior balcony. It’s not happening as frequently, so I hope our new bishop has halted their phase-in of drums, guitars, flutes, and tambourines.
We have a friend who dubbed the collection of bangers and twangers as "The Falling Furniture Band."
Other hymns with a similar theme, which are largely forgotten today, include "Hold the Fort" by P. P. Bliss, inspired by the Battle of Allatoona in 1864, and "The Fight is On, O Christian Soldier" and "The Conflict of the Ages," both written by the great Methodist hymn writer Lelia Morris.
Our whole problem as a Church is that we’re way too concerned with the format, and not nearly enough with the message therein contained IMO.
If you are delivering the Good News in faithfulness to the Gospel, does it really matter if we are doing it with an organ, a guitar, Gregorian Chant, a Homily, a Twitter post, etc.?
I have nothing against Gregorian Chant, but it’s not going to appeal to those masses of young people who are rushing to join Evangelical churches in traditionally Catholic countries.
Nor do we want a dead Church like Europe, where all the beautiful cathedrals and the form survives, but there is no living worship inside.
“I have nothing against Gregorian Chant, but it’s not going to appeal to those masses of young people who are rushing to join Evangelical churches in traditionally Catholic countries.”
I beg to differ.
Find a Traditionl Latin Mass group in your area. Go to Mass there. You will find many, many young families. And, if you attend a High Mass, you will likely see a dozen altar boys serving the Mass.
In our Schola Cantorum, we have 4-6 teenagers (both male and female) who sing regularly, while their brothers are before the altar serving Mass.
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