Posted on 02/22/2006 12:24:56 PM PST by Convert from ECUSA
I don’t know where in the world she came from, and and I don’t know why the brethren put up with her. All I know is that the one feature of the contemporary Roman Mass that I despise most is the Ubiquitous Song Leader. You know who I mean. She stands in front of the congregation and sings into the microphone, upraising her hand(s) whenever she wants the congregation to sing along with her. She dominates the liturgy. Not even the celebrant at the altar enjoys such an imposing presence. All eyes are turned upon her. Thanks to the amplification, her voice drowns out everything and everyone. She is everywhere.
I’m just about ready to start a one-man crusade to eradicate this blight upon Catholic liturgy.
The Sunday Mass needs a cantor. I agree. But it’s a minor role—or at least should be. She should not be the focus of our attention. She should not be standing in front of the congregation at the lectern. She should not be waving her hands around directing congregational singing. She should not be singing into a microphone (though I concede this may be the lesser of evils in the absence of a choir or particularly bad acoustics; but even then she should step away from the microphone during the hymns and service music). Her proper location is the choir.
In the past nine months I have had the privilege of worshipping in many different Catholic parishes. It has been a great blessing participating in the liturgy as a layman. With only a couple of exceptions, the Ubiquitous Song Leader has been a dominant, oppressive presence in the liturgy. Even in those congregations with good choirs, she who cannot be ignored assumes center stage.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholica.pontifications.net ...
The USL and why Catholics don't sing! Ping!
The author of this item seems to have hit the nail on the head.
b'shem Y'shua
SHE MUST BE DESTROYED!!!!
So do we.
In fact, we sing his Psalms on a regular basis.
Now that we have the facts out of the way, we get to the point:
You apparently have no clue what sort of malignant presence the "Ubiquitous Song Leader" is.
Until you do, you would be well advised to keep your eyes on the screen, your fingers off the keyboard, and LEARN.
Here's a first hint for you: The Catholic Liturgy is (supposed to be) all about humbly worshipping the Lord God Almighty. The USL perverts the Liturgy into a performance; she makes it all about HER.
Are you starting to understand?
I understand that he was not well-miked.
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I agree. In fact, I'd be happy to have no singing at all.
Thank you, Lord, we don't have something like that at our parish...
There have been times I've had to go to confession after the 11:30 mass music group chose some particularly ill suited pieces....my thoughts were not charitable.
But knowing how much good and singable music there is out there, I do get frustrated.
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LOL!
Given a choice between no music and OCP drivel performed by the USL, I'll take "no music" every time. OTOH, there's no legitimate reason why the priest and congregation can't chant any or all parts of the Mass, and sing hymns a capella.
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Agreed.
We sing accapella at daily mass where there's no song director...works just fine.
Lol .... and the role of cantor was never propulgated by VCII.
by Lucy Carroll
Editor's note:
Lucy E. Carroll, D.M.A., is organist and music director at the public chapel of the Carmelite monastery in Philadelphia. She is also adjunct associate professor at Westminster Choir College, Princeton. She has taught high school through graduate school, and worked in Lutheran, Episcopal and Catholic churches and a Reform Synagogue. Her Churchmouse Squeaks cartoons now appear regularly in the Adoremus Bulletin.
This is the first of a three-part series, Musicians in Catholic Worship.
Part I
On a recent business trip, I attended Mass in a neighboring diocese. A few wrong turns made me just a little late, and I had to park at the extreme end of the lot, a distance of what seemed miles. It was the middle of the first verse of the entrance hymn. I knew this because the voice of the cantor carried, via outdoor speaker, all the way to my car. Inside, it was just as bad: the microphone was turned so high that the sound of the cantor's untrained voice obliterated the organ, the congregation -- and any hope of meaningful participation.
This appears to be the rule today. While we often don't find organists, we always find a cantor (in many places now re-labeled "song leader" as if it were a campfire event), usually a loud, untrained soloist. Congregations sit quietly while they are sung at. As a priest friend lamented, "when the cantors came in, the congregation went mute". So prevalent is this that GIA (Gregorian Institute of America Publications) sells a button that pictures a microphone and the legend "Back off and let the people sing!"
Musicians fulfill an important and necessary function in the sacred liturgy. But whether fully trained professionals or ardent amateurs (amateur: translation: one who does it for love), all must remember that the purpose of the music is to implement the liturgy, not to entertain the faithful or glorify themselves. The motto of all ought to be: Non nobis Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam! (Not to us, Lord, but to your Name be all glory!)
As with so much that is out of sync in today's Church, the position of soloist was not advocated by the Second Vatican Council. The word cantor does not even appear in Chapter VI of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Vatican II document on the liturgy. The choir was re-affirmed as being an integral part of the liturgical team of priest, deacon and reader.
The Council mandated that the choir be an integral part of the liturgy team: "Choirs must be diligently promoted" (Constitution on the Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, §114). Further explaining this, the Holy See's Instruction on Music, Musicam Sacram (March 5, 1967) said:
The conciliar norms regarding reform of the liturgy have given the choir's function greater prominence and importance. The choir is responsible for the correct performance of the parts that belong to it and for helping the faithful to take an active part in the singing. (MS 19).
Like many things in the wake of the Council, the choirs, instead of proliferating, virtually disappeared. In many parishes today the choir sings only for special events: Christmas, Easter, Holy Week. The choir, however, should lead the congregation at Mass, every Sunday.
When choirs disappeared, the cantors took over. But the cantor as soloist raises many problems that militate against the cultivation of good congregational singing.
FULL TEXT
Their job is to lead the congregation in worship - not to put on a performance.
The USL is but a symptom of a wider disease; the “Catholics don’t sing” illness. This in turn may be due to the constantly changing hymns and their insipid character, which in turn is likely due to the wider liturgical problems which have beset the Church.
The USL is simply an attempt to paper over the cracks and create some sort of volume so as to give the appearance of a vibrant liturgy, when in reality, most of the congregation is bewildered and embarassed.
Also, USL’s are usually part of a double act. The other half of the act is invariably an extroverted and wisecracking Fr. Bob.
What are you waiting for??? Not only do they wave their arms about inviting the congregation to sing along but they also tell the congregants when to sit, stand, etc... Off with their heads!
Bread for the Squirrels (after Bernadette Farrell's Bread for the World)
REFRAIN:
Bread for the squirrels,
The squirrels are hungry.
Whining for dinner,
They want some nuts.
May we who feed
These furry rodents
Hold out our hands
And give them lunch.
The squirrels live in parks and fields and trees,
What they can't finish, they store inside their bulging cheeks,
So let us feed them bread and fries and hot dog buns,
Or just a tiny piece to make them fight for fun.
REFRAIN
Now squirrels come in grey, and brown, and black,
And sometimes rabid ones will jump upon your back,
But we appease them when we give them chunks of bread,
Lest they attack and skeletonize you from foot to head.
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