[ThomasMore]

I wonder if in the advent of the invention of the organ, they were questioning the validity of that instrument? I've heard "Bread of Life" by Roc played on the organ by a very talented musician, and no matter how you cut it, it was still the heretical junk I heard played on the guitar.

On the other hand, I heard a classical guitar rendition of "Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All" that was so reverent and splendid it brought tears to my eyes.

[stuartcr]

How does music become heretical?

[Desdemona]

I wonder if in the advent of the invention of the organ, they were questioning the validity of that instrument?

Real musicianship wasn't questioned then either.

I've heard "Bread of Life" by Roc played on the organ by a very talented musician, and no matter how you cut it, it was still the heretical junk I heard played on the guitar.

That's part of the problem with all the stuff written by amatuers. It's still bad, no matter what you do to it.

[ArrogantBustard]

Speaking for myself only, I'm not proposing as a hard and fast rule that "Organ == Good" and "(Piano|guitar|???) == Bad". And I've no idea how the invention of the Organ was received. However, I've found that as a first-order approximation "Organ == Good" is fairly reliable. The modernists who run Oregon Catholic Press and its subsidiaries, and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians seem to prefer a) insipid, heretical music b) the use of any instrument(s) other than the dreaded organ, and c) any action or physical arrangement which draws personal attention to the various musicians. IOW, they think the Mass is a musical performance; a piece of theatre. I've even heard "Ministers of Music" use theatrical languange (Stage, House, etc.) to describe the interior of the Church building.

Desdemona, I'd really value your comments on this; you're a bit closer to the problem than I am.