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Haven’t you seen televised papal Masses with songs from the St. Louis Jesuits?

Our choir sang at a funeral Mass today for a former member of the choir. She knew she was going to die soon, so she selected the songs to be sung at her Mass. She chose “Take, Lord, Receive” by John Foley for the Preparation hymn. It is one of the most spiritually moving songs I know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrX_T5QLBXQ

I mean absolutely no disrespect to your choir member, may she rest in peace. Lots of people feel that this is good music for the Mass, because that's what they've been brought up with and what they're used to. And especially at funerals people's feelings ought to be respected.

But it's classic SLJ, with the exception of the words, which are much better than they usually come up with (since they didn't come up with them).

The problem is, the setting is typical meandering soft-pop - no melody, just disjointed exclamatory short phrases which go nowhere melodically, interspersed with a chorus that repeats the same phrases incessantly, with simple harmony that also goes nowhere. And the instrumental setting is pure bubble-gum pop - sobbing strings, plaintive oboe or clarinet, insistent guitar strumming.

This is not appropriate music to offer at Holy Mass, as it is absolutely undifferentiated from the stuff you hear as you run down the radio dial.

Here is Purcell's funeral music for Queen Mary. Solemn, dignified, and most importantly it goes somewhere melodically:

Funeral Sentences

(true, he was Anglican, but not far away from the great English Catholic composers. And the English still do ceremonial better than almost anyone in the world.)

Here also is one of William Byrd's greatest motets, appropriate for Offertory or Preparation:

Ave verum corpus

Again, listen to the interweaving of the independent melodies in the four parts - and watch the shape of it in the score. THAT is an appropriate offering to the Lord of the Universe.