Thanks for the insight. I, who grew up Catholic with the opposite musical experience, don’t associate stringed instruments *per se *with secular music, since I also heard guitars played reverently at Mass since I was a kid. There’s a piano at my church that’s used for hymns, there’s a piano at home that I can bang out tin pan alley music.
What I object to is the rare occasions when musicians (of any kind) at Mass become the focal point.
Westerby.
But this is not something that the musician usually has any control over. I would challenge you to find a musician at any Mass who would confess, “Yes, I am striving to be the focal point of the Mass.” I’m sure that it happens once in a while, but most of us are very aware that we are merely servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His people.
When a musician plays a beautiful or exciting piece of music, people look at them and admire the work and the skill of the musician. Sometimes if a piece is particularly well-done, the entire congregation is so caught up in the wonder and glory of the piece that they spontaneously applaud, which in the United States is a way that a GROUP says “Thank you.” It’s not the same kind of applause that is done at a concert for an “idol.”
For the last few times I have played for Mass, I’ve played some Bach on the pipe organ, and I’ve played it fairly well with the appropriate stops (I have a very good teacher) at the proper level. People come up to me afterwards raving about how much they like the music and thanking me for playing Bach.
Obviously the people were not adulating me like young kids adulate Justin Bieber. Or were they? There are people in the parish who always tell me, “I love hearing you play,” or “I love it whenever you play at Mass!”
Are these people doing something wrong to admire me as a musician?
One little boy always tells me that he likes the way I play “Loud.” That’s his way of describing my playing style. I don’t blast, but I play piano (for the hymns) with a full, rich style that I learned in the Protestant churches, and it’s very nice for congregational singing.
So should that little boy be rebuked for liking a certain musician?
Or should I stop playing “loud” and just play as “soft” as possible so that no one will even notice what I play, let alone actually feel compelled to join in the congregational singing?
Should I stop playing Bach, or anything “exciting”, and not play anything at all for a prelude and postlude so that no one will notice me?
When I was at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe this summer (LaCrosse, WI), the organist played GLORIOUS preludes and postludes, and also amazing introductions and improvisations in his hymns. Almost everyone in the congregation turned around to try to get a look at him and the beautiful pipe organ. I made it a point to climb the three flights of stairs after Mass to tell him how much I enjoyed the music. **He definitely called attention to himself by his magnificent and skillful playing, although a lot of the reason we were all so enraptured is that we are not used to this kind of music in our parishes. **
Was I wrong to tell the organist how much I enjoyed his playing? Is that organist wrong to play pieces that actually call attention to him? Maybe he should just play really simple organ style so that no one will notice him or the music at the shrine.
But obviously, the answer is NOT for musicians to pare back and play simple stuff that doesn’t call any attention to the music. The ANSWER is for ALL Catholic musicians to play and sing and conduct with all their heart and soul and do their best to help show fellow Catholics that the Mass is truly “heaven on earth.” If we all did this, then the Catholic parishioners would get used to glorious and excellently-done music and they would not applaud anymore because such music would be the norm rather than a wonderful surprise.
I think that some Catholics are under a false belief that good music (well-written and well-executed) calls attention to the musicians and the music. This is not true–really good music calls attention to GOD. We need more, not less, good music in the Mass. Everything at Mass, including the music, should point people towards Jesus Truly Present in the Blessed Sacrament, and well-done music will help do this.
