Dear Catholic Hymnal: Music Not Written in the '60s Is Still Good

[clem456]

I agree, teaching pitch and other musical skills is a snap.

But how do you get people to come to choir? Children, teenagers, adults–they don’t come.

Now if they were PAID…

There was an article in the AGO magazine about the un-paid choirs recently. Apparently “volunteer” choirs are a fairly modern innovation. So maybe we should budget in our parishes to PAY choir members of all ages. Children could receive credit towards their Catholic school tuition.

Hmmm…

Frankly, I’ll bet they still wouldn’t come.

Our adult choir is aging and younger members are not joining.
The so-called youth band is run by age 50+ adults who bring their own teenagers along to help. An attempt has been made for a teenage choir. It failed. The music is almost un-singable, but hey, it is different, so it’s gotta be good, right? The youth Mass attendance is anemic. A laudable attempt, but again, it’s older people imagining what younger people want and need in their Christian walk. We truly would be better off with an electrified rock Mass that conveyed some of the power of the faith, cause well, the pipe organ surely couldn’t do that, could it?? (the parish pays an uber-talented organist-pianist-vocalist-liturgy director 50K a year, so he can cow-tow to campfire guitarists who know more about culture than he does ). We are told that we have to continue in the coming year to change, to get the youth back. The 55+ crowd doesn’t yet realize that they are part of that call to change. The idea of change being presented is a continued rejection of the cultural base that gave us existence,. Duh. In the name of change, for it’s own sake.

The truth is, the energy in the parish comes from the Spanish community, which has their own Mass with it’s own culture. The culture they bring to Mass is authentic. It reflects who they are, not what some elites -think- they are,. They bring gobs of children who do not behave very well at Mass, and it is a vibrant and devoted culture.

And there is also a vibrant energy coming from the traditional culture, which is the only group of Anglos that is bringing screaming babies to Mass, praise the Lord.
The RCIA process here is also energizing the parish. The converts bring fresh appreciation for the solid Catholic elements of the faith that we grey-haired cradle Catholics lost interest in decades ago. The RCIA process is run by a traditionally minded woman who is a powerhouse of Christian service.

 

[twf]

In general, I agree with you about the deplorable state of music education among our population. However, necessity is the mother of invention and practice improves the situation. In the Ruthenian Church, we have a strong tradition of congregational singing/chant, without instrumental accompaniment. For the most part, we all sing, even those who “can’t” (myself included). We are a very small parish, we maybe 40 adults/teens and 30 younger children in attendance most Sundays. Most adults are under 50. Many parish choirs are bigger than that! We recently lost our cantor. so for nearly a month we’ve had to go it alone, without the crutch that the leadership of a cantor provides. During the changeable parts of the liturgy, our priest sometimes has to carry us, but for the more familiar parts, we sing. Sometimes it is weak, if we don’t know the prescribed tone well. We struggled this past week with all of the changes due to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, but we still sang. I suspect we’ll get stronger and better as a congregation now that we don’t have the cantor to lean on. We don’t have a choice. Our liturgy requires it, therefore it happens. Sometimes, I’m the only person in the congregation during a weekday liturgy. I sing, even though I “can’t”. (By can’t, I mean I don’t have the skills and confidence to stay on key if I sing in a strong voice. If I keep it soft, I can usually hit the notes, but I’ve been known to change keys several times in the same song, mostly because I try to match those around me.) It is possible. I don’t know if it practical, as it requires a cultural shift. Let’s face it, America Catholics in general are not known for congregational singing. There’s even been a whole book written about it.

An example of Ruthenian chant:

metropolitancantorinstitute.org/recordings/StNicholas/12PrayerOfSimeon.mp3

Yes, even the smallest, poorest, Eastern Catholic / Orthodox mission chants the entire liturgy… yet we Latins, with our vast parishes and, by comparison, infinite resources, whine and complain and get stuck with 70s era banality. There’s no excuse. We have much to learn from the East. To recover what we have lost.

 

[clem456]

Sound easy does it? Well, well, well.

If the movement for chant wants more of it, then let’s transpose it into easily readable notation. It can be done. The extra layer of learning is a barrier. People are busy, and that’s not an excuse, it’s just a fact.
Our choir members who can’t really read music, can in fact read some of it, by osmosis. They absorb the difference between half notes-quarter notes etc. We tried a chant number last year and it did not work because of the notation.
We already do this with Pange Lingua on Holy Thursday. It’s simply written in modern notation, no problem.

 

[auctoris]

Since most parishes have a lot of parishioners who are in the 50-75 age range the music usually played is the music that was their new Mass music when they were young.

Actually, I live in a small college town (pop ~30k) in the southern US and there is only one Catholic Church (well, there’s only one Catholic Church universally–but there’s only one physical Catholic parish ). It seats about 1,000 and has two masses on Sunday.

Because there are so many college students, I believe the average age skews younger than the national average. Based on the number of older adults, families, college students, and children, I’d guess the average age is early to mid-thirties. So the choice of music exclusively from the Woodstock era is even more perplexing.

Like I said before, I prefer classical (like chant). I’d prefer Psalms as hymns. If not Psalms, then “classic” hymns with at least a century of history.

I guess it doesn’t help that popular music of the late 60s/early70s is probably my least favorite period of all musical history.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of the typical Protestant praise and worship. I just wish, now that I’m heading towards Catholicism, that the music represented the rich history of the Church.

 

[auctoris]

In my experiences “guitar” masses seem to be fading into the past. . . . . So, I would say that things are only going to get better as Catholics rediscover the wonderful treasury of sacred music the sons and daughters of the Church have composed over the centuries.

I hope you are right. Unfortunately, in the past year, the only instrument used other than an acoustic guitar was a tambourine. It was groovy in a really far-out way man. Check out my lava lamp.

 

[auctoris]

I am thinking there is probably a diamond in the rough near you, within a 30 mile radius.

I live in a small town in the southern US. I believe the next closest Catholic church is about an hour away. I’m pretty sure I read that the Catholic population within a 100 mile radius is less than 1%.

Ironically, I lived in NY for two years in the late 90s but was not looking into Catholicism at the time. There were at least ten Catholic Churches within 10 minutes of my home. And I never found a church of my Protestant denomination within 2 hours of my home. Now the opposite is true.

 

[Cat]

Our adult choir is aging and younger members are not joining.
The so-called youth band is run by age 50+ adults who bring their own teenagers along to help. An attempt has been made for a teenage choir. It failed. The music is almost un-singable, but hey, it is different, so it’s gotta be good, right? The youth Mass attendance is anemic. A laudable attempt, but again, it’s older people imagining what younger people want and need in their Christian walk. We truly would be better off with an electrified rock Mass that conveyed some of the power of the faith, cause well, the pipe organ surely couldn’t do that, could it?? (the parish pays an uber-talented organist-pianist-vocalist-liturgy director 50K a year, so he can cow-tow to campfire guitarists who know more about culture than he does ). We are told that we have to continue in the coming year to change, to get the youth back. The 55+ crowd doesn’t yet realize that they are part of that call to change. The idea of change being presented is a continued rejection of the cultural base that gave us existence,. Duh. In the name of change, for it’s own sake.

The truth is, the energy in the parish comes from the Spanish community, which has their own Mass with it’s own culture. The culture they bring to Mass is authentic. It reflects who they are, not what some elites -think- they are,. They bring gobs of children who do not behave very well at Mass, and it is a vibrant and devoted culture.

And there is also a vibrant energy coming from the traditional culture, which is the only group of Anglos that is bringing screaming babies to Mass, praise the Lord.
The RCIA process here is also energizing the parish. The converts bring fresh appreciation for the solid Catholic elements of the faith that we grey-haired cradle Catholics lost interest in decades ago. The RCIA process is run by a traditionally minded woman who is a powerhouse of Christian service.

I’m not sure I agree that the 55+ crowd’s “folk music” is responsible for driving the young people and young adults away.

In my parish, the music teacher in the parish school is around 30 (married, 4 children, one deceased). She loves the “55+ hymns.” She says that these are the liturgical music that she grew up with and she loves them.

But then, she loves almost every kind of liturgical music, including the more ancient forms, as well as the most modern forms (rock).

I think that many teenagers and young adults see it the same way as she does–the “55+ hymns” are what they grew up with, and they see these hymns as “traditional church music.” I don’t think they despise these hymns. Perhaps they despise the lackluster way that these hymns are often done in parishes. How many adults just stand there with their mouths shut, looking utterly bored? If that’s what the teens have grown up seeing in Mass from all the adults that they respect, then that’s what they’re going to do when they are old enough to make the choice.

Teenagers especially cherish “traditions,” even if they appear to scoff at them. 30 years ago, Shirley Dobson and Gloria Gaither wrote a wonderful book called Let’s Make A Memory in which they discuss how important “family traditions” are to children and teenagers.

I would be willing to bet that if you jettisoned all those “55+ hymns” and replaced them with edgy new compositions by the very best of Catholic composers, that the teens would be the first to cry out, “What happened to all the good music?!”

Teens are funny that way.

I thin k that teens enjoy innovation, and when they go to Steubenville or other big youth conferences, they see a lot of different types of music, and they naturally wish they could see this back in their parish. So they squawk over the “old-fashioned music”. However, a wise teenager will eventually see that the innovative music doesn’t sound the same at the parish with the 55+ choir singing it instead of the cute rock band. And there isn’t a cute rock band in most parishes.

It’s kind of like going on a vacation and eating fantastic meals out every night. When we get home, we wish we could keep eating that kind of food. But then Mom or Dad makes the good 'ol pot roast and taters, and we realize that the fancy food doesn’t fit at home.

I personally think we could bring Lady Gaga into our churches, and after the first week, most teens would still stay home. It’s not the music, it’s the failure to see the “use” of a religion. Sadly, this “disconnect” happens because the teens don’t see religion making much of a difference in their parents’ lives, other than to make their parents up tight and crabby about every television show and novel and pretty much everything else that seems fun.

IMO, the way to get teens back into Mass is to show them Jesus through our daily lives. When they see faith in action, every day, all their lives, they will see the need to be in church, even if the music is lame.

This worked with our girls. They knew through watching us that Jesus was real and they needed and wanted to know Him, too. And our Protestant worship service music was yucky Praise and worship music that the girls made fun of in the car during the drive to Steak and Shake after church each week!

 

[christus_vincit]

I’m not sure I agree that the 55+ crowd’s “folk music” is responsible for driving the young people and young adults away.

In my parish, the music teacher in the parish school is around 30 (married, 4 children, one deceased). She loves the “55+ hymns.” She says that these are the liturgical music that she grew up with and she loves them.

But then, she loves almost every kind of liturgical music, including the more ancient forms, as well as the most modern forms (rock).

I think that many teenagers and young adults see it the same way as she does–the “55+ hymns” are what they grew up with, and they see these hymns as “traditional church music.” I don’t think they despise these hymns. Perhaps they despise the lackluster way that these hymns are often done in parishes. How many adults just stand there with their mouths shut, looking utterly bored? If that’s what the teens have grown up seeing in Mass from all the adults that they respect, then that’s what they’re going to do when they are old enough to make the choice.

Teenagers especially cherish “traditions,” even if they appear to scoff at them. 30 years ago, Shirley Dobson and Gloria Gaither wrote a wonderful book called Let’s Make A Memory in which they discuss how important “family traditions” are to children and teenagers.

I would be willing to bet that if you jettisoned all those “55+ hymns” and replaced them with edgy new compositions by the very best of Catholic composers, that the teens would be the first to cry out, “What happened to all the good music?!”

Teens are funny that way.

I thin k that teens enjoy innovation, and when they go to Steubenville or other big youth conferences, they see a lot of different types of music, and they naturally wish they could see this back in their parish. So they squawk over the “old-fashioned music”. However, a wise teenager will eventually see that the innovative music doesn’t sound the same at the parish with the 55+ choir singing it instead of the cute rock band. And there isn’t a cute rock band in most parishes.

It’s kind of like going on a vacation and eating fantastic meals out every night. When we get home, we wish we could keep eating that kind of food. But then Mom or Dad makes the good 'ol pot roast and taters, and we realize that the fancy food doesn’t fit at home.

I personally think we could bring Lady Gaga into our churches, and after the first week, most teens would still stay home. It’s not the music, it’s the failure to see the “use” of a religion. Sadly, this “disconnect” happens because the teens don’t see religion making much of a difference in their parents’ lives, other than to make their parents up tight and crabby about every television show and novel and pretty much everything else that seems fun.

IMO, the way to get teens back into Mass is to show them Jesus through our daily lives. When they see faith in action, every day, all their lives, they will see the need to be in church, even if the music is lame.

This worked with our girls. They knew through watching us that Jesus was real and they needed and wanted to know Him, too. And our Protestant worship service music was yucky Praise and worship music that the girls made fun of in the car during the drive to Steak and Shake after church each week!

One could argue, though, that the character of the sacred music utilized at the liturgy should not be determined on subjective grounds. We are in a period of time only a half century removed from the latest Church Council. Historically, such times tend to be tumultuous as the bishops along with the faithful attempt to implement the vision of the Council Fathers. Typically, the pendulum swings too far to the left, then to the right, before it finally comes to rest in its proper place. That said - the music of the 60s-80s, though part of the ever growing heritage of the Catholic Church, will never occupy the pride of place of Gregorian Chant. Chant is not a passing fad that can be discarded as “times change”. Rather it is the most revered musical setting of the Latin Church. It is not to be revered as we look at an artifact at a museum. Rather, it is meant to be implemented during the liturgy. Why? Because it is objectively the most fitting musical setting for the Holy Mass. Music should not be catered to draw crowds. Music should foremost give glory to God. I’m not a Gregorian Chant “fanboy”. I am making this argument because I firmly believe that as Vatican II is properly implemented, chant will be revitalized. This revitalization will not occur by magic. There are MANY excellent and holy priests being ordained of late. These men, by their teaching and example, will win souls back to the Church and the return to Gregorian Chant will naturally follow as the faithful begin to rediscover the beauty of the Mass as a true re-presentation of the Sacrifice of Calvary that deserves only the finest musical setting that humanity can compose.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can’t explain why the hymn books are so full of 1970s & 1980s hymns, and so many of them were written by maybe four people. I think we all know their names.

I have sometimes imagined that there are residuals being collected and somehow that translates into pressure to keep those in the books. I hope it’s not so.

An interesting thing has happened in one of my two parishes. For a long time there was pretty robust congregational singing. I thought that was really neat, and I appreciated the hymns being sung. Some were old protestant standbys. Well, I live in the southern Mo Ozarks and if you listen to the radio at all, you’re familiar with them. Some, interestingly enough, were classics in one way or another; written by Mozart or were adaptations of old Irish or Scottish or German hymns. People liked them, grace notes and all.

But then we got a new music director and now it’s almost entirely hymns by “the seventies four”, and nobody sings. Well, sometimes she does hymns that I don’t even know the origin of, but they sound like “Crystal Cathedral” kinds of music.

So, she got a choir together and they sing those hymns and the congregation doesn’t.

The parish has lots of people who are 50+. Also people who are much younger and older. Maybe they’re too “country” or “too Ozarks” to appreciate the “seventies four”. I’m guessing few of them ever wore bell bottoms and Beatle hair, and so maybe they missed out on the faux folk song era back in the day. Maybe they find those songs hard to sing (which a lot of them are). I don’t know.

But I do know it doesn’t take much to cause a whole congregation to stop singing. Well, I’ll admit, if the director allows “Holy God We Praise Thy Name”, people do sing even though singing along with a choir (which has PA) kind of dampens enthusiasm for singing. When you can’t hear yourself over the choir, it’s kind of daunting.

When you get right down to it, “the people in charge” have probably more to do with whether people sing than anything else, because they choose the music. And they’re largely self-appointed. It’s too bad there is no coordination nationwide, or maybe it’s just as well that there isn’t.

 

[27lw]

You know what I wish?
I wish we had some organized way to teach the next generation of Catholic school children about our faith, and the chant, and the authentic music for the Church. Maybe something like a school associated with each parish. And in that school, good music could be used for school Masses, and maybe even Gregorian chant could be taught in the first 5 minutes of every religion class, or every music class…And then Catholics in the future would have good memories of chant, and they would be educated about these things…
Just a dream!

 

[clem456]

When you get right down to it, “the people in charge” have probably more to do with whether people sing than anything else, because they choose the music. And they’re largely self-appointed. It’s too bad there is no coordination nationwide, or maybe it’s just as well that there isn’t.

I’m feeling really negative about this whole issue right now so I will try to be restrained.
At our parish we have a “ministry class” who have de-facto taken charge of parish operations, from front desk greeters to pastoral associate to catechists to picking and choosing music over the head of the liturgy director. These are predominately 50 and over, female, and well educated. They like to associate with… each other, and are fairly exclusive in that regard. Most or all of them have never had a job outside of parish life, social service work, or teaching. (Those are all laudable professions, but, it is a limited slice of life). The parish hires them, their friends get hired, and the children of their friends get hired. They are prosperous, comfortable, smug, and liberally in-tolerant.

Bottom line is, we have liturgy in the style we have it, cause that is what the “ministry class” like, it’s what they believe is best for the rest of the Church (the Church just hasn’t caught up with their brilliance yet), and they should know, cause no one dares tell them any different. Entrenchment at it’s best.
Their mantra is, “everybody needs to change, except for us”! Everyone else is a little bit ignorant and stuck in the past, except us. They know what is best for people 40 years younger than them, cause they know what change is all about, and we have to mold the mysterious to our own liking, cause change is good for it’s own sake.
When does it stop.

 

[OraLabora]

That explains that much at least, but it doesn’t explain the disregard for the Church’s entirely-non-instrumental musical patrimony, i.e., chant and polyphony. Anyone can do them, and chant especially is not terribly difficult to learn.

Bad music is one reason why I almost exclusively attend Mass at a Benedictine abbey (loved the place so much I became an oblate! )

I’m in French Canada and it’s no different on the French side, we had a bunch of really poor hymns composed by a person who shall remain nameless but found favour with our publisher of missalettes. They range from un-singable tunes to tunes that sound like they should be the jingle for a laundry soap advertisement on TV.

That said, I would like to address your comment about chant being easy to learn. That’s probably true for the ability to read and to an extend sing some of the simpler settings of the Ordinary of the Mass.

But that’s far from the case for the Propers. One thing the abbey did… was inspire me to join a local schola. I’ve been singing Chant at (exclusively OF) Masses for 12 years now. Learning to read chant is one thing and is indeed quite simple; learning to sing on-key is a big step up. Learning to sound polished and come across as a single voice, which is what chant is supposed to do, is not so easy and takes years of practice. In our early days we were accompanied by the organ, but since about 7 or 8 years we’re exclusively a cappella now. Going a cappella in fact improved us tremendously, we could not afford to be sloppy!

Most introits and communion antiphons can be handled with practice. Lots of practice. But to move up to graduals, alleluias and offertory antiphons is quite another matter; these are very melismatic pieces, and to sing them on-key, with everyone on the same note at the same time, takes considerable practice as a schola working together with an adroit choirmaster who can properly place his choristers so the weak can be led on by the strong.

It’s not for nothing that Paul VI commissioned the Graduale Simplex which has much simpler settings for the Propers, based largely in fact on the simpler antiphon styles of the ferial Divine Office. This was intended for use by smaller churches without the resources for experienced scholas.

Unfortunately we neglected chant for so long, that it’s a very steep learning curve to form any kind of competent schola in most parishes today. It’s not impossible; local choirs can perhaps start small, with some of the easier introits for example (like Laetatur Cor), and the simpler settings for the Ordinary (Mass XIA, XVI, XVIII for instance) to gain experience.

The problem also is that we don’t have a very long tradition of good vernacular hymns like the Anglicans enjoy (as well as the Ordinariate parishes). Our true patrimony is almost all chant and even that’s recent. Before the late 1800s, chant had been considerably denatured to no longer come close to what had evolved out of the Carolingian era, with much very dubious musicology; Mass VIII that so many think is “Gregorian” chant is a bit of an example, it was composed much, much later than the Gregorian era and has many distinctly un-Gregorian elements. Solesmes restorations are in fact modern interpretations of what we imagine 9th to 12th century chant did sound like, by trying to restore original melodies from ancient and far from clear manuscripts. The current corpus of chant as we know it, really was finally formalized only in 1908 with the release of the Vatican Edition of the Roman Gradual (for the Mass; the Divine Office is another matter). If you think about it, the Anglican corpus of sacred vernacular music goes back even further than that!

Personally I prefer quiet spoken Masses to those with poor, un-singable music. I do think we can do better. For all its flaws though (and the modern corpus of Gregorian chant has many; the Divine Office melodies in fact have been in considerable flux in the last few years as musicologists study and re-study ancient manuscripts, generating not a few PhD dissertations in the process), the Gregorian repertory is indeed the best we have and when well-performed, can be very beautiful.

 

[Cat]

One could argue, though, that the character of the sacred music utilized at the liturgy should not be determined on subjective grounds. We are in a period of time only a half century removed from the latest Church Council. Historically, such times tend to be tumultuous as the bishops along with the faithful attempt to implement the vision of the Council Fathers. Typically, the pendulum swings too far to the left, then to the right, before it finally comes to rest in its proper place. That said - the music of the 60s-80s, though part of the ever growing heritage of the Catholic Church, will never occupy the pride of place of Gregorian Chant. Chant is not a passing fad that can be discarded as “times change”. Rather it is the most revered musical setting of the Latin Church. It is not to be revered as we look at an artifact at a museum. Rather, it is meant to be implemented during the liturgy. Why? Because it is objectively the most fitting musical setting for the Holy Mass. Music should not be catered to draw crowds. Music should foremost give glory to God. I’m not a Gregorian Chant “fanboy”. I am making this argument because I firmly believe that as Vatican II is properly implemented, chant will be revitalized. This revitalization will not occur by magic. There are MANY excellent and holy priests being ordained of late. These men, by their teaching and example, will win souls back to the Church and the return to Gregorian Chant will naturally follow as the faithful begin to rediscover the beauty of the Mass as a true re-presentation of the Sacrifice of Calvary that deserves only the finest musical setting that humanity can compose.

I don’t disagree with you too much. I do question exactly what “pride of place” means in practical terms. I believe I asked this of another poster in this thread (although there are two music threads going on right now and I may have asked the question in the music thread in the “Media” section).

Please take a look back in this thread at my post, #16.

The Church can make any declaration, but if the people are not capable of doing it, it won’t be done.

At this time in United States history, the state of music education of the people would make it virtually impossible for them to sing Gregorian chant, unless the Church deemed that the sound of yowling cats with head colds is worshipful music.

That sounds harsh, but I work with singers, choirs, and several schools, and I am frankly appalled at the lack of knowledge of proper singing, music reading, and above all, the inability of children, teenagers, and young adults to match pitches!

At this time, most Americans are unable to either read music or match pitches and sing by ear. christus_vincent, ya gotta be able to do one of these two skills to be able to sing Gregorian chant! You either have to be able to read the neumes (or notes, if the Gregorian chant has been transcribed), or you have to be able to learn the “melody line” by ear and sing it back after someone sings or plays it for you

If you don’t believe me, try it. Next time you have a get-together, gather everyone around the ol’ piano, and play a random sequence of a dozen notes. Then ask each person to sing it back. You will be shocked and horrified.

SOMETHING has to change in the U.S. for Gregorian chant to be once again done on a regular basis in parishes.

I’m thinking that the change will happen in the parish schools and Catholic secondary schools. I’m think that the bishops will require all Catholic schools to hire a full-time music teacher, and this teacher will be responsible for teaching children and teens the historical Catholic liturgical music, along with all the other non-liturgical music literature. And I’m guessing that the bishops will ask that these children and teens be utilized as musicians during the parish Masses.

However, this will cost $$.

And I’m not sure how many parish schools can afford it unless a significant portion of diocescan funds are taken away from some current area and re-directed for this purpose. And that will be controversial. Which of the current uses of diocescan funds should be changed?

OR…it could be that the parishioners will be willing and eager to give more money for the purpose of hiring music teachers in their parish schools that will teach the children and teens Gregorian chant and other musical styles. That would be ideal, so that monies don’t have to be taken away from some current worthy cause.

And unfortunately, this only affects those children and teens in Catholic schools. But it would be a good start.

I have to admit that I’m a skeptic, christus_vincent. I think that the further away we get from Gregorian chant in our American Masses, the less likely it is to be restored, other than as a “historical” tribute to our heritage" type thing. I think it is more likely that this phrase about “pride of place” will be clarified to mean, “a few times a year on special historical occasions or special feast days” ; e.g., the Feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great.

And I’m guessing I won’t be alive by the time that any of this happens. (I’m 57.) Sorry, friend.

 

[ProVobis]

However, this will cost $$.

And I’m not sure how many parish schools can afford it unless a significant portion of diocescan funds are taken away from some current area and re-directed for this purpose. And that will be controversial. Which of the current uses of diocescan funds should be changed?

OR…it could be that the parishioners will be willing and eager to give more money for the purpose of hiring music teachers in their parish schools that will teach the children and teens Gregorian chant and other musical styles. That would be ideal, so that monies don’t have to be taken away from some current worthy cause.

You’re probably right but what are the chances of this happening? As 13 dioceses have already declared bankruptcy (meaning a whole lot of people not getting paid), and I imagine a whole lot of parishes are on the brink of merging or closing, something would have to get sacrificed in order for anyone to step up and get a music program going of any kind. Are people willing to forego air conditioning or heating or blackcoating the church parking lot in order to do that? It seems people can tolerate music that is not necessarily pleasant for an hour rather than sacrifice these other things. But that’s my opinion.

 

[Tigg]

One could argue, though, that the character of the sacred music utilized at the liturgy should not be determined on subjective grounds. We are in a period of time only a half century removed from the latest Church Council. Historically, such times tend to be tumultuous as the bishops along with the faithful attempt to implement the vision of the Council Fathers. Typically, the pendulum swings too far to the left, then to the right, before it finally comes to rest in its proper place. That said - the music of the 60s-80s, though part of the ever growing heritage of the Catholic Church, will never occupy the pride of place of Gregorian Chant. Chant is not a passing fad that can be discarded as “times change”. Rather it is the most revered musical setting of the Latin Church. It is not to be revered as we look at an artifact at a museum. Rather, it is meant to be implemented during the liturgy. Why? Because it is objectively the most fitting musical setting for the Holy Mass. Music should not be catered to draw crowds. Music should foremost give glory to God. I’m not a Gregorian Chant “fanboy”. I am making this argument because I firmly believe that as Vatican II is properly implemented, chant will be revitalized. This revitalization will not occur by magic. There are MANY excellent and holy priests being ordained of late. These men, by their teaching and example, will win souls back to the Church and the return to Gregorian Chant will naturally follow as the faithful begin to rediscover the beauty of the Mass as a true re-presentation of the Sacrifice of Calvary that deserves only the finest musical setting that humanity can compose.

This nails it and is completely in accord with the guidelines. The church is particularly guilty of trying to draw crowds with music such as the Mariachi bands, or the teen Masses, with the drums and amplified sound and even some of the “guitar” Masses, though thankfully those seem to be receding.

Church teaching emphasizes that the music proper to the Sacred Liturgy possesses three qualities: sanctity, beauty, and universality. These qualities are not arbitrary or subjective, but objectively flow from the essential nature and purpose of sacred music itself. Universality means that sacred music, while it can reflect a particular culture, must still be easily recognized as having a sacred character and be able to transcend cultures. Not every form or style of music is capable of being rendered suitable for the Mass. Not only the text makes a song sacred, but the actual style of the music matters.

 

[27lw]

I think that there are plenty of Catholic schools that have some sort of music instruction, and maybe some kind of choir that sings at Mass. Sadly, I suspect that most of the instruction focuses on the same old hymns, rather than chant, good singing technique, etc.

 

[JakeWI]

Our music director of the Parish also teaches at the school two times a week… not basic music (I think there are classes for that), but for specifically “Church music”. While I am unsure of what exactly she teaches, I am thinking it has something to do with the sacred music in the Mass. Maybe not necessarily Gregorian chant, but I wouldn’t doubt something similar knowing how she has been working on slowly moving the Mass towards more sacred, beautiful music and our setting has been getting closer to a chant-like setting.

I do know there are quite a few members of our Youth/Children’s Choir… and all are very willing to participate… and want to more. Maybe we are an anomaly, who knows… but I do know that locally, there is a lot of activity in regards to participation in our youth choir.

 

[27lw]

JakeWI:
Sounds like you and your parish are in a good place! Let’s hope it continues and spreads everywhere!
: )

 

[OraLabora]

I have to admit that I’m a skeptic, christus_vincent. I think that the further away we get from Gregorian chant in our American Masses, the less likely it is to be restored, other than as a “historical” tribute to our heritage" type thing. I think it is more likely that this phrase about “pride of place” will be clarified to mean, “a few times a year on special historical occasions or special feast days” ; e.g., the Feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great.

At the parish level, you may be right. But in Benedictine monasteries around the world, it’s still given pride of place. It’s actively researched and studied, it’s practiced, and most importantly the rich treasury of chant is used in the daily liturgy. It’s at no risk of dying soon as monks pass it on from generation to generation. So there will always be a source to learn from.

The real issue is how to get it out of the cloister where more people can hear it. I know our abbey’s choirmaster is more than happy to offer instruction to serious groups, and has given our schola courses to perfect our interpretation of chant.

 

[ProVobis]

At the parish level, you may be right. But in Benedictine monasteries around the world, it’s still given pride of place. It’s actively researched and studied, it’s practiced, and most importantly the rich treasury of chant is used in the daily liturgy. It’s at no risk of dying soon as monks pass it on from generation to generation. So there will always be a source to learn from.

I hope you’re right, but be aware that Pope Francis has asked religious groups to start taking courses in finance, presumably to preserve their legacy, influence, and very existence.