Appreciation of Protestant Hymns

  • Thread starter Thread starter OnAJourney
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I am a music minister at our church and when planning for the music at mass, it’s about the music and the message it portrays regardless of who the composer is or what denomination he or she is. In fact, if I would look up the denominations of the composers of most of the music we sing at our mass, they probably are not Catholic because we sing mostly, and I know it is not agreed to by some, contemporary Christian music. In my opinion, there is no need to label hymns as Catholic or Protestant.
 
Snooley – you’re mainly focusing on the words / text/ lyrics, is that correct?
 
Last edited:
stpurl said:
And my now-departed Episcopalian brother-in-law’s favorite, “I sing a song of the saints of God”.
Click to expand...
That was my favorite for All Saints’ Day.

Another would be “Take My Life and Let It Be”

 
This one is used in Night Prayer in the Divine Office app so I sing it at least once a week.
 
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross is definitely one of my favourites. I was sad we didn’t sing it even once this Lent.
I also like O Come to the Altar (Elevation worship).

 
We use the Marty Haugen Mass of Singpraise here. I’ll say no more for now.
 
In my last dream before I woke up this morning, I was playing this hymn on the piano to accompany the opening of a worship service at a church that I used to attend when we were living in Maryland. Now it is running thru my head, so being the generous person that I am, I’m going to share the earworm.

 
Love this hymn-Revive Us Again!

I usually play it a lot faster! Of course, no one harmonizes anymore, even in the Protestant churches where I play.

Do Catholics in the pews have any knowledge of singing harmony? It would really quell those complaints of “The hymns are too high for me to sing!” if people could simply sing the alto or bass part that is appropriate for their range. Or women with changed voices (older) could even sing the tenor part.

I think it’s awful that most Catholic hymnals that I’ve seen do not include the four parts. Somehow, Protestant hymnals manage to print around 600 hymns and include the four parts for all of them. I realize that Catholic hymnals generally include all the Mass parts and the readings for the three year cycle, and lots of other stuff important in the Mass. But couldn’t all that stuff be in a different pew book (a missal?) while the hymnal is reserved for HYMNS, and all four parts printed so that the congregation at least has the option (if they can’t harmonize on the fly, like I do)?

I know that the Catholic schools in our diocese have amazing music programs that are highly popular electives, and the students definitely learn to read music and sing in 4 and often 8 parts!

So when the kids graduate from high school, is there some kind of “Catholic rule” that I don’t know (since I’m a convert from Protestantism) that they can never, ever sing in parts in the Mass and their music education was only meant for high school use? I doubt it, but there has to be some explanation as to why Catholics don’t sing their congregational hymns in parts! I don’t get it. Shouldn’t our congregational hymns be glorious?!

I often think that we shouldn’t bother doing those Psalms in the Mass that admonish us to “SING PRAISES”! It seems hypocritical to just stand there with a closed mouth. Couldn’t people at least hum the Psalms? That would sound kind of mysterious–congregational humming. Oooh!

Like I’ve said in other posts here on CAF–what I miss about Protestantism is the glorious music and the congregational hymns that the people actually sing.
 
Last edited:
I’m with you all the way, @Peeps! Let’s have some harmony! Actually, people do still sing harmony here in the South; it is a remnant of the shaped-note hymnals, one of which (originally compiled by a cousin in my mother’s generation) is still in use down here. As for me, I use my experience as a Southern-Gospel composer / arranger / wanna-be bass singer to improvise a bass line to most of what we sing at Mass.

And, yeah, I was playing it faster than that in my dream 😃

Edit to add: That “choir” is actually singers from a number of professional Southern-Gospel groups, so – harmony? Yeah, they know harmony.

D
 
Last edited:
Sounds great! I attended a few Masses (Midnight Christmas Eve Masses) in Raleigh, North Carolina, at St. Raphael’s, when we lived there in the 1980s. I was Protestant, but I went to have an hour of time to myself while my in-laws were visiting and could provide free babysitting for my two little girls!

I remember them being joyful occasions, but even in our churches here in Northern Illinois, Catholics generally sing out on Christmas Eve because it’s all Christmas carols. The rest of year–the crickets sing louder and with more enthusiasm than the Catholics!

So I hope to go back down South sometime in the future and look forward to visiting the Catholic churches. Should I try for one in a city, or would I be happier with a small town parish?
 
Peeps said:
So I hope to go back down South sometime in the future and look forward to visiting the Catholic churches. Should I try for one in a city, or would I be happier with a small town parish?
Click to expand...
My experience here in Alabama is mainly with our own parish (Sacred Heart, Cullman) and the OLAM Shrine. At SH the Masses are reverent OF celebrations, but the congregational singing leaves much to be desired. At the Shrine they do a very traditional OF – lots of Latin, altar rail, etc. Not gonna here “A Mighty Fortress” there 😮

D
 
Peeps said:
I know that the Catholic schools in our diocese have amazing music programs that are highly popular electives, and the students definitely learn to read music and sing in 4 and often 8 parts!

So when the kids graduate from high school, is there some kind of “Catholic rule” that I don’t know (since I’m a convert from Protestantism) that they can never, ever sing in parts in the Mass and their music education was only meant for high school use? I doubt it, but there has to be some explanation as to why Catholics don’t sing their congregational hymns in parts! I don’t get it. Shouldn’t our congregational hymns be glorious?!
Click to expand...
I don’t know about your hymnals but the official one in Canada only has the melody line and sometimes no notation at all for the verses, only for the refrain.

I’m not sure how much musical education people have. In our school systems the first things to be cut when money gets tight are the arts: music, drama, visual arts. I never had music lessons and the little I know I learned by following along as my kids did their homework. I could no more sing in harmony than I could do brain surgery.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top