Can we have a frank discussion about music in Mass?

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No need to preach to me. I am a classically trained soprano and my husband makes his living as a musician, with a masters degree in music. I have directed a church choir for 10 years and have led music for preistly/deaconate ordinations. It is never about us performers, it is about facilitating the congregation to pray through song. It is about making intentional decisions to connect music to the readings of the day.
 
DaveBj said:
I’m an old Southern Gospel singer,
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@DaveBj this is probably the only thing I miss from my Baptist years. Back in the day, we did know how to sing. Have you ever heard the Statler Brothers and their Gospel songs? I find myself singing all four parts (not at the same time, of course!)
 
I love music and singing in Mass. I once read that our songs during Mass are an offering to God, and that makes me like singing them even more.
 
Just beware that most threads on this topic get pretty heated. There are some fierce defenders of Oregon Catholic Press music, as well as some fierce critics.

I’m in the anti-OCP camp but have accepted that I’ve lost that battle . . . and that getting angry about it won’t change anything. Those eco-unfriendly, (i.e. discarded annually), Missals are here to stay.

You can still fill the void, though. Treat yourself to a CD with your favorite High Church, Gregorian, symphonic, etc. music and play it in the evening while you do dishes.
 
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Have you considered donating the funds to build a practice room right off of the choir loft with a sound-proof door and walls? (That’s what many Protestant churches have.)

Or if you personally cannot make that donation, perhaps chairing a committee in your parish that would raise the funds for this worthwhile endeavor?

In our parish, the choir room is a very long walk down into the basement (have to pass through the nave to get there). That’s where our choirs warm up, but for a single cantor and accompanist, it’s just not practical.
 
This is what I’ve observed in our city. The churches (Protestant and Catholic) with well-done contemporary music are packing in worshipers (over a thousand in several of the Protestant worship services), but the Lain Mass parish has several dozen very committed families. The Lain Mass parish is definitely not drawing in the Catholic teens in our city, and their schola is not attracting new teens, but is composed of the men and boys from those very committed families who have chosen a traditionalist Catholic lifestyle not only in their Mass, but in their everyday lives. .
 
Most organists do not have an organ at their house, and even if they do (I do), it is NOT the same organ as the one at the parish.

Skilled organists can wing it on any organ. My teacher is amazing.

But organists like me simply have to practice in advance. I will not play the organ if I can’t practice it in advance. I’ll stick with the “safe” piano which is very comfortable for me, and then parishioners won’t hear the organ that week.

I always make an appointment to come to my parish to practice my pieces, but if the only time available is on a Monday or Tuesday, and I’m not playing until Saturday night, I am very nervous about playing the organ without at least trying out each hymn on a quieter registration than I planned just to make sure that I’m still limber enough to play the pedals! (My parish organ has very tight pedals compared to what my home organ has.)

And also, I want to make DARN ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that no one has “adjusted” (fooled around with) my settings, so I will usually try them out just to make sure! Even the most mellow parishioners are not pleased when I pull out General Setting #1 which I originally set as a “quiet” setting," and it turns out that someone during the week added Trompette 8, Bassoon 8, Trombone 16 and the Pontifical Trumpets, and coupled them all together!! (Yes, I’ve had that happen to me and it’s awful and definitely disruptive to the Mass!)
 
Dlee said:
@DaveBj this is probably the only thing I miss from my Baptist years. Back in the day, we did know how to sing. Have you ever heard the Statler Brothers and their Gospel songs? I find myself singing all four parts (not at the same time, of course!)
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Not just the Statlers, but the Blackwoods, the Cathedrals, the Florida Boys; all the old groups, both mixed and male, and the new ones as well. They could pick up a song and sing it in four parts on the first reading. I wish that there could be a place for that in the Catholic Church.

D
 
Peeps said:
The churches (Protestant and Catholic) with well-done contemporary music are packing in worshipers (over a thousand in several of the Protestant worship services)
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I don’t know about Catholic Churches, but it is definitely the case in my community that the rock band Protestant churches are thriving while the traditional ones are dying. But the rock band churches are just about the ‘worship experience’ which is the music. People go for the same reason they go to a concert, for the music. If the music stopped they’d quit going. So there is really absolutely nothing there.
 
Not sure… If the music can bring people who are far from God to be raised to life in Christ, what’s the real downside? The wonderful rock band worship definitely appeals to some. If that’s what gets them in the door of our Church, I’m all for it
 
Bringing people into Church should be done by things outside of Church. We should go to Church because we have a duty to worship God. Hopefully we love our duty and God. If we go to Church because we like the music then we are just going to satisfy ourselves. In that case we are essentially inward looking and worshiping ourselves.
 
DaveBj said:
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Dlee:
@DaveBj this is probably the only thing I miss from my Baptist years. Back in the day, we did know how to sing. Have you ever heard the Statler Brothers and their Gospel songs? I find myself singing all four parts (not at the same time, of course!)
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Not just the Statlers, but the Blackwoods, the Cathedrals, the Florida Boys; all the old groups, both mixed and male, and the new ones as well. They could pick up a song and sing it in four parts on the first reading. I wish that there could be a place for that in the Catholic Church.

D
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Is there an African American Catholic parish in your area? Ours has an outstanding gospel choir.
 
Not totally sure I agree. If we get people come to church for the wrong reasons, well…at least, people are there and hearing the Word. Then they have the chance to accept Jesus into their lives.

How many fallen away Catholics do you know?
 
Liturgy is public worship. Post Vatican II, this became clearer; as pre-conciliar worship seemed mostly devotional for many worshippers.

Public worship of God, from its very beginning, has always used music. Recall the Levites who sang around the Ark.

The Eucharist normally features both times of singing (Hosannah and Gospel Acclamation should ALWAYS be sung, Gloria should usually be sung) AND times of silence like during the post-Communion thanksgiving/meditation.

Properly trained choirs can produce truly magnificent worship, particularly a cappella: the Divine Liturgy does not use instruments, nor are they needed for Gregorian chant.

In typical American parish life the music varies greatly, some places have professionally trained musicians, most have volunteer musicians, some of which are outstanding.

Music can vastly improve worship, or perhaps diminish it when done poorly.

But, for sure, music has been a part of liturgical prayer from its very existence, which was commanded by the LORD.

At the Last Supper Jesus and his apostles sang the traditional psalms of the Passover.

He who sings well prays twice,
Deacon Christopher
 
The Mass isn’t a tent revival like a Protestant service. That is precisely why Protestantism has leaned heavy on music for the emotional experience.
 
It’s not the choir practicing, it’s the cantor or music director wanting the congregation to sing/practice songs before the Mass. The choir has its own practice room that is uses.
 
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I can respect greatly your opinion on this, but I just love music at Mass, whether it be an opera type singer and organ or more conventional music. It is all just another form of prayer and praise, is it not? At the church I attend now we have guitars, organ, and even drums and everything is done tastefully and beautifully with great respect towards the liturgy.
 
I would not stop attending church if the music stopped, as my main reason for going in the first place is to worship God.
 
mrsdizzyd said:
Is there an African American Catholic parish in your area? Ours has an outstanding gospel choir.
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No, there isn’t, and in any case, that’s not the same style of music. It’s just as worthy of being used in praise of God; just not the same.

D
 
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