How do you like your church music?

[benedictgal]

To everyone else in this thread. This will continue until the other person gets annoyed and quits, because it goes nowhere.

I’ve proven my point, that yes, Lifeteen music does indeed talk about sacrifice.

I’m going for a walk.

You do not have to be rude, agapewolf, Such arrogance and snide remarks really serve no purpose and are only used when you have nothing concrete to offer.

What is even sadder is that your archdiocese has an excellent resource for sacred music that you, apparanetly, seem to ignore. The Institute of Sacred Music has released settings for the antiphons (what we are supposed to be using for the Mass in the first place). These are easy to sing. They also have these settings for all of the Church year.

At least, one priest that I know down here will be using them for daily Mass and for those funeral Masses where music is not provided.

 

[Sarabande]

Yes I agree, the vernacular is a distraction at best. As far as needing to learn new songs. Why is this neccessary? The Church has a treasury of beautiful songs. These "new " songs are nothing more than an attempt to further the agenda of the “new liturigsts”. After I receive Holy Communion, I do not want to be listening to banal attempts at music.

Pax

As a classical musician, myself, I am constantly discovering and learning “new” music from various periods of music. In church music, because I freelance a lot, I also learn “new” music which may be old hat to some congregations.

Yes, there is a treasury of beautiful hymns and so forth in the Church. That said, because of the plethora of music within that treasury, composed throughout the centuries, there is no way that each parish knows or is familiar with all of the music. So, teaching a “new” song (which may be a hymn from another previous century, a chant, etc.) would be necessary. Along with that, many people born in the 70s, 80s, 90s, etc. did not grow up with a lot of that treasury at mass. I know that was the case for myself and that of my contemporaries. So, if a music director would like to reintroduce a “new” composition, hymn, etc. the mass is the only place to teach it, since most people won’t come to a learning session during the week.

Also, although there is certainly a lot of less-than-stellar music currently being written for the Church, that does not mean there isn’t any good music being composed or written now. Unfortunately, many parishes just are not exposed to that music. You either have to go to special church music publishers (such as CanticaNova), or know the composer personally.

 

[Sarabande]

I, personally, do tend to sing out more when the organ is how you described it. I’ve found that many others do as well. When I’m cantoring and the organ has that richness and fullness to the sound, I’ve always found that the congregation sings out much more. (It also helps if the organist is rhythmically correct and doesn’t change tempo.)

It’s hard to sing with a bad cantor either in terms of voice quality or musicianship, so, a good cantor makes me sing more.

Depends on the hymn. Something like “O Sacred Head Surrounded” shouldn’t be taken at a fast clip, at least in my opinion. I don’t like dragging hymns that should be faster. I have a naturally quicker inner-metronome, so when there is a hymn which I feel should be taken faster, that drives me nuts when it’s taken at a funeral dirge. But I’ll still sing. The problem with other people who aren’t trained vocally is that some of those hymns which should be taken faster are hard to sing at a slower tempo and thus, they won’t sing it. For the your everyday person in the pews, it’s hard to keep the legato or to just have enough breath for certain hymns if taken too slow.

One or two, but it all depends on how easy the hymn is and how appealing.

I love organists and pianists, but here are a couple suggestions for organists and pianists in general.

• When playing the introduction to the hymn, set the tempo of the hymn then. Don’t change it as soon as the congregation starts to sing. I’ve been to some churches where the organist will play a hymn introduction like in allegro, then suddenly slow it down to an andante.
• Keep the beat and play what’s on the page.
• Don’t ritard the last two measures of a hymn after each verse. Just do it when you’re going to actually end the hymn.
• Please, if you have it in your repertoire, please play those awesome organ preludes and postludes. There’s nothing more inspiring and uplifting as hearing a beautifully played organ work.

Just wanted to add to what I originally wrote to OP:

When teaching new songs to a congregation, I never liked it when the cantor or music director taught the music to the congregation before the mass. I think what works better is to use that same hymn each week for a month. (You can change up the rest of the hymns each week.) By the end of the month, that hymn will be learned and then you don’t have to use it every week.

If teaching new mass parts, use the same mass for the liturgical season. By the end of the season, the congregation knows it and will remember it again when you bring it back out the next year.

If wanting to teach Latin chants, accompany them on the organ at first for a while and have the choir or cantor help support them. Provide supplements in their missalettes/hymnals if the books do not have them published in there. Within a few months, most people will know them.

 

[roadsend]

…
Yesterday, we sang Traditional Sacred music for the Second Sunday of Easter. We sang Jesus Christ is Ris’n Today, … For the recessional, we sang the last two verses of Jesus Christ is Ris’n Today. I say “we sang” because the faithful did sing. All of us sang the hymns. This rarely happens at this particular Mass.

…

Just curious, how do your faithful handle the the jump between the second and third line of that hymn?
Our faithful fade out badly. Although they are familiar with the melody, the jump is just more than most of them can handle.

 

[benedictgal]

Just curious, how do your faithful handle the the jump between the second and third line of that hymn?
Our faithful fade out badly. Although they are familiar with the melody, the jump is just more than most of them can handle.

Our priest guided us. He has a really nice voice and he managed to make the jump ratehr effortlessly. When he announced the hymn, he told us that we would be picking up where we left off and he started us out. Even as he walked out, everyone was still singing!

 

[CatholicZ09]

Our priest guided us. He has a really nice voice and he managed to make the jump ratehr effortlessly. When he announced the hymn, he told us that we would be picking up where we left off and he started us out. Even as he walked out, everyone was still singing!

Next time we sing “Jesus Christ is Risen Today”, I need to remember to bring it down a half step, because it turns really ugly with me when I try to hit the high “E” in the third stanza.

 

[Irishmom2]

I agree that you need to find a middle ground. Too soft and people are timid about singing. But too loud and it is equally bad.

Our parish has had the same organist for over 40 years…

He apparently is not going anywhere until he dies. At least that is what I am told by other parishioners.

He has problems right from the start. Before mass, he plays so loudly that it is difficult to pray. He plays “music” that sounds like he is trying to use every key … During mass, he cannot keep the same tempo for the entire song. He speeds up the end of responses as if he is trying to get it over with. He does not use songs from either the back of the mass book or the hymnal if the choir is singing. Therefore, they perform and we cannot participate.They also have a very “Protestant” sound to them. (See later example.) During communion, he goes back to blasting the organ as loudly as he can… After mass, (and I mean after the closing hymn) he really ratchets up the volume and blasts us out the door with Phantom of the Opera type music (Sounds like horror movie music…) or circus music.

My greatest complaint (oh, and believe me, I have complained…) is when he plays songs that are definitely not Catholic: “He walks with me (and he talks with me)” and my all time (not) favorite: “Shall we gather by the river?”

I have spoken to the priest, but he just listens and nothing changes. I know I am not the only one that is bothered by the music at this parish and still, here he is. I am seriously thinking of going to another parish because it really makes me dread going to mass. I would rather hear nothing at mass than this man’s playing.

Gee, that was therapeutic if nothing more.

 

[benedictgal]

Inasmuch as I love the organ, sometimes it can be overpowering, especially during the responsorial psalm (at least that is who our cathedral’s organist plays it). Here, the organ needs to be muted so that we can hear the cantor and not the organ. This also holds true for the Gospel Acclamation. Less is more in these particular cases.

 

[Tigg]

I have spoken to the priest, but he just listens and nothing changes. I know I am not the only one that is bothered by the music at this parish and still, here he is. I am seriously thinking of going to another parish because it really makes me dread going to mass. I would rather hear nothing at mass than this man’s playing.

Gee, that was therapeutic if nothing more.

This is so unfortunate! Just as the priest is forbidden from doing his own “thing” with the liturgy, (Redemptionis Sacramentum) so too, the music can cause division, not unity.

 

[SHoJ]

I sing the same no matter how loudly or softly the organ is played, but I don’t like when the organ is played so loudly that it drowns out the cantor and the assembly. It’s nice when the cantor has a strong voice and can actually lead the congregation, but I’m turned off when the cantor sounds ‘too good’ and it sounds like performance. Regardless of how the cantor sounds or how loud they are, I don’t change the way I sing. I prefer faster hymns for the processional and recessional, and slower (more contemplative) hymns for the offeratory and Communion. Actually, I would prefer no singing at all during Communion. And I appreciate that our organist doesn’t play very loudly during the Responsorial Psalm and Gospel Acclamation so the cantor can be heard.

Our parish seems to introduce a ‘new’ hymn during the seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter and a couple of ‘new’ hymns during Ordinary Time. The way the new hymns are introduced at our parish is by repetition. It is sung a number of weekends so the assembly get familiar with them. When we learn new mass parts, the same setting is used during an entire season so the assembly knows it and will remember it if it is used the following year. The most common complaint I hear at the Mass I attend is the use of the more contemporary hymns with wide ranges. If the cantors have trouble with the range, it’s a good bet the assembly will as well. As someone else mentioned, jumping from low D to high E isn’t exactly easy for most people – and is almost impossible for the people at our Mass (most of whom are 60 or older). As for your other question, I don’t mind the piano at all. Some of the hymns we sing just don’t sound right played on the organ.

When we get a particularily bad cantor, I cannot force myself to sing along…I am being truthful when I say it almost feels like a mockery to do so.

I wonder if you wouldn’t consider it an act of charity to sing as strongly as you are able when you have a ‘bad cantor’? We have a cantor whose voice isn’t very strong at all, and the assembly actually sings more loudly to help ‘support’ her.

 

[Tigg]

I wonder if you wouldn’t consider it an act of charity to sing as strongly as you are able when you have a ‘bad cantor’? We have a cantor whose voice isn’t very strong at all, and the assembly actually sings more loudly to help ‘support’ her.

This is a very charitable thought and I appreciate it. (And I have tried!) But you see, for me, the Mass is all about the praise, glory and worship of our Lord - anything that detracts from that somehow seems to diminish the holiness - the very divine nature of the sacrifice of the celebration. Please know I don’t believe the fault is so much with the cantors ( I know they are sincere in their ministry) but anything that prevents us from focusing on the Lord……whether in mild irritation or distraction……HOW can that be a good and holy thing? Am I making any sense at all?

Funny, as an additional thought, we had a priest friend who was assigned a small parish in the mountains of NM. The music really was terrible and one of the very first things he did as pastor was to call forth from the congregation anyone who had musical talent. He asked for good voices and received a virtual symphony! Those who truly had talent had hidden it (under a bushel so to speak) for they thought they would not be appreciated if they came forth on their own, for after all, the cantors had been there forever! We asked him over lunch one day, if there were, perhaps, not some hard feelings that came from all of this. His reply was that true ministry is not about self, but rather, serving in the way one is asked.

 

[kyria]

Actually at Easter my friend and I dropped into a Church neither of us had been to before on our way home from an outing to attend an evening Easter Sunday mass. There was no music at all. The Church was just beautiful. I have never felt so at peace and enjoyed mass so much, yet there was no music. It was like the Church itself was a silent music to my soul.

 

[tomylee1]

yes i like church music