The Tyranny of the Ubiquitous Song Leader

Catholica Pontifications ^ | 2/19/06 | Alvin Kimel

[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.

[marshmallow]

Here I Am, Lord

Here I am, Lord,
I've got your pizza,
And it's only fourteen-ninety-five.
Extra cheese, Lord,
With pepperoni,
And a little bag of peppers on the side.

[Martina]

I don't like how loud these song leaders sing.

It is very distracting. I would like to think about God at Mass but it is difficult when everyone in the sanctuary thinks they are a performer.

[bornacatholic]

SHE MUST BE DESTROYED!!!!

*Talk about rash.

You leap right to destruction without even suggesting torture as a preliminary step.

[AnAmericanMother]

Mass of Creation (after Marty Haugen)

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY

Marty, Marty, give it a rest.
Who said your Mass was the best?
It's all I hear, from the farm to the city,
Your eucharistic ditty.
Liturgists love you, organists cannot compete.
The lay sway to your beat,
The lay sway to your beeeeeeeeeeeat.

MEMORIAL ACCLAMATION

Though you tried, Chant has risen, and we'll chant again.
Though you tried, Chant has risen, and we'll chant again.

JESUS LAMB OF GOD

What's that awful sound? It's Marty Haugen's Mass again.
Have mercy on us.
What's that dreadful sound? It's Marty Haugen's Mass again.
Have mercy on us.
Can't we stop that sound? And not hear Marty's Mass again?
Grant us some peace.

More here, including the infamous "IHOP" version of "Gather Us In."(Scroll to the bottom.)

[AnAmericanMother]

Well . . . I'm not a song leader, but I am an occasional cantor.

I hate the mike, but there it is. Somebody turned the gain up last Sunday and it was much too loud. I would rather stand up to the edge of the balcony and just sing in my natural voice.

At least I was trained in ECUSA, so I have a plain, clear, straight (i.e. no vibrato) chant tone (with a veddy British accent!)

[ArrogantBustard]

You're right. Rash judgement is a sin.

Mea culpa
Mea culpa
Mea maxima culpa

[k omalley]

Fortunately, our choir and cantor sing from the choir loft, and quite good music I might add. However, every time the bishop and his troupe come to our parish we have a struggle over music and their contention that the cantor should sing in the front of the church.

I remember discussing this same issue a couple of years ago on FR, and one of our FR religion posters(I can't remember who) posted in obvious agony, something to the effect of "the hand, the hand, make it stop!"

[Loyalist]

Use of the USL may be a liturgical abuse in the context of Catholic worship.

But in the context of AmChurch liturgy, the USL is not an abuse, because AmChurch theology holds that the Mass is principally a celebration of community, to which the Holy Sacrifice is incidental.

Requiring the USL and choir to sing from the choir loft would be contrary to both the letter and spirit of AmChurch teaching, as it would diminish from the horizontal focus of AmChurch worship of the community as the Real Presence of the Body of Christ.

[magisterium]

LOLOLOL!! What a riot! I signed up immediately. One question though: where's the Third Member of the Unholy Trinity of Bad Liturgical Music: Dan Schutte?

[AlaninSA]

It ("X-street) is not Catholic - and is an anti-Catholic troll. Pay it no mind.

[PandaRosaMishima]

For waht it's worth, the Terrible She has plenty of sisters in the protestant church; I went to school with several of them. If any one starts a round of "Christians Away" I can still keep up. As for the rest....well, let's just say that God is kind, in lettimg me forget.
Seriously, I've heard no end of dreck in my own Presby Church; Catholics have no lock on the loud and the raucous. In fact, my Unitarian mother can quote things far worse...

[Convert from ECUSA]

ROFL! Bring the silver bullets and wear garlic bulbs around the neck!

[Convert from ECUSA]

"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."

In my Evangelical years, I sadly experienced a similar phenomena, where the singers of the praise and worship team or whatever term was used at the particular congregation ended up being the same way, a performance that got focused on the group or a particular singer. That is not true of all Evangelical churches, any more than it is true of all Catholic churches. But it is an all-too-common phenomenon that distracts all of us from worshipping and focusing on the Lord.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Fortunately, at my home parish, we don't have it either. While the voice of one soprano in particular was grating, she apparently was told to step further away from the mike and has done so. The cantor at the Mass I usually attend is a beautiful baritone who may lead, but never drowns out or overwhelms, and conducts himself in a very reverent and humble manner.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Shoot, if I heard the voice of the "cantor" all the way in the parking lot, I'd go out and buy some cotton balls, and come back for a later Mass with them in my pocket, ready for application in case that same "cantor" was "singing" at the later Mass.

[Convert from ECUSA]

You nailed it, Jude24!

[Convert from ECUSA]

:) Thanks! Thankfully, at may parish, we don't sing any compositions by those particular "gentleman", for which I am very thankful! But when I've travelled........oy vey! After such music, the words "the Mass has ended, go in peace" are the sweetest words in the English language.

[Convert from ECUSA]

Dear lady,

You can come sing at my parish anytime you like. The cantor at my 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass is one of the most beautiful, strong, but unobtrusive baritones I've ever heard and his conduct and singing inspires one to worship. He always checks the mike before Mass, so he clearly cares not to dominate and to ensure the focus is on worship, not himself!

[AnAmericanMother]

Being a baritone or an alto (like me < g > ) makes it easier to sing in a suitable key for the congregation. But our organist makes sure that things are singable and not in upper-soprano thin-air levels.

He's one of those amazing guys who can transpose in either direction on the fly, and play Bach preludes while holding a conversation with the usher at the same time. And he has splendid taste in music (he's trying to get rid of the Massive Cremation . . . substituting the "Danish Amen" setting . . . but it's tough to fight that sort of inertia. THEN we'll have to do something about the Celtic Alleluia . . . < groan > )

[Dajjal]

Bumpus ad summum