Hey,
I find that the music commonly played in non-liturgical Catholic worship settings (and even sometimes liturgical settings) to be overly mushy, modern, protestant, emotional and even effeminate.
(snip)
Does anyone have a similar experience? Thoughts?
I personally do not care for this kind of music, but I see nothing wrong with having it performed at non-liturgical settings. Having been trained in stricter ideas of appropriateness of liturgical music as most of my liturgical mentorship came from a cathedral and have directors of worship who were either trained at the Vatican or very conservative, there are many kinds of music, ranging from classical to contemporary, which I find inappropriate for liturgy, but perfectly fine in other worship settings. That said, I also understand there are different needs and talents in various parishes, so I’m not really critical. Someone mentioned that poorly performed music is more tolerable when it’s the music you like. As a musician, for me, that is completely the opposite. Because I know how it can sound, hearing it done poorly is a thousand times worse. I would rather not hear Palestrina, for instance, if it’s done by a choir who can’t sing in pitch a capella, or chant if it’s sung by a singer who might be a good musician and singer, but doesn’t know how to chant or sing with as much straight tone as possible. When it’s music I don’t care for, it doesn’t matter as much for me if it’s done poorly, so in a weird way, it’s more tolerable.
I also don’t necessarily see it as “Protestant”. Having worked at various Protestant churches as a musician, I know there would be many at those churches who would find that categorizing offensive. Now, perhaps this kind of music came about in certain Protestant denominations, but it shouldn’t be categorized as strictly Protestant. Many of those the Protestant churches I’ve sung in actually do a lot of Catholic sacred repertoire… music that many Catholic churches no longer do. So…
All that said, I do empathise with you. As a teenager, I also felt really disconnected with many people my age because the parishes all seemed to cater to one kind of youth. As a teen, we never had chant, polyphony, etc. done at mass, so all we knew were the folk music that was mostly played at the time back in the 90s and then the Christian contemporary music was coming into vogue. I first heard this music at my cousins’ church who were born-again, fundamentalist, non-denominational Christians. The very first song I ever heard like this was “Our God is an Awesome God”. I never connected to it and then the, I don’t know what to call it… maybe the culture, of what kids and adults did when the music played (ie. raising hands in the air, etc.) always was too shallow for me. I have nothing against the people who like this music and find spiritual fulfillment from it. (I’m sure many would find the music I prefer spiritually shallow as well - in fact, I know a few who do.) When parishes started to use this music more, people like me were often left out and looked down upon. So, it initially left a bad taste in my mouth and for years as a younger woman, I actually would become physically affected whenever I heard this music at mass… to the point where I would have to run to the bathroom as I thought I would throw up. I have since learned to control these physical reactions and I don’t let it bother me if I have to hear it at mass. The years have also taught me that not all people who like this kind of music were not rude and condescending like those initial individuals I met at the parishes which started to do this music. I also found that many received similar treatment from musicians on more of the classical strain. It was happening all around, so it was good for all of us to see that we were not all like that.
Anyway, I don’t know what kind of advice I can give you. If you live in a more metropolitan area, you might be able to find a parish which employs the kind of music you are looking for. Where I live, the kind of music you are talking about isn’t as prevalent in the parishes as it used to be, but you probably find it more in the suburbs. The cities and more “artsy” areas use more “regular” kinds of hymns or chant, polyphony, traditional hymns (some volunteer, some paid instrumentalists/singers, like in the parishes where I currently work, so they can do this kind of music) I didn’t find it until my junior year of college and joined a volunteer choir in the city which is also where I met my first real mentor and friend in liturgical music… one of the most humble people I know. I learned so much during my years there and I’m very thankful for that time. I was the youngest in the choir at the time, most of whom were in their 30s, 40s and 50s, but I fit in immediately. (I always got along better with older people anyway.) You don’t have to be with people your own age to feel connected.
