Music by Protestant Composers

[nezzz]

Well, I recall one year when I was singing Christmas carols with my neighbour who was a protestant, there was one song (can’t remember which one it was, its a rather popular song but I can’t remember the name now) which had a verse on the Immaculate Conception which was omitted from the score sheet.

Similarly, when we borrow protestant songs for worship here. The lyrics were always checked to make sure they conformed with Catholic teaching and edited if necessary. Some differences in the lyrics can be subtle, eg. covered by the Blood of the Lamb instead of washed so you have to really pick up on these

 

[Cat]

I can easily sing along with most of the contemporary Christian songs. We use a lot of that kind of music in our prayer group and we all sing.

Sorry to take so long to get back to this thread.

We have to be careful here.

If you read these forums, you’ll see that a lot of the people who advocate for Gregorian chant and other forms of chant say, “ANYONE can sing chant! I learn it easily, and so do all my pals!”

Well, that’s great! But just because you and your pals sing it doesn’t mean that everyone can sing it.

And the same principle goes for contemporary music.

We don’t want to be like those who say, “Stuff and nonsense! Anyone can learn (insert favorite type of music).”

And then…there’s the question of singing certain styles well.

I might be convinced that “anyone can learn (insert musical style),” but I am NOT convinced that everyone can learn to sing it well. Now I realize that singing in youth group or Mass is not a symphony by professionals. So maybe my point is not worth worrying about.

I personally don’t like to hear chant butchered by Midwesterners (like me) singing it with exaggerated diphthongs, and it grates on me to hear contemporary music sung by people who have no idea how to sing it and try to make it sound operatic (remember that skit on Saturday Night Live with the two music teachers at Alta Deena Middle School–yech!).

But that’s just my background, and I can go along joyfully with anything that is sung by enthusiastic people who love God and want to worship him. I’d rather hear Midwestern chant or operatic CCM than no music at all, or wimpy “correct/non-offensive” music.

 

[markomalley]

Hello,

I’ve been battling with this in my head for a couple days now and it’s getting frustrating to get different answers from different people.

The issue is this:
Is it okay to sing non-Catholic Christian music in a youth group?

The music is composed by different non-Catholic people, and although the lyrics are just about praising God and don’t include anything contrary to the Catholic faith, they are still composed by Evangelical protestants, and some non-denominational Christians.

It’s frustrating because I’ve heard arguments from both sides, these are some of them:

(snip)

What should I do? I am the youth group coordinator btw, and I play in the choir as well.
I thought about asking my Priest, but I’m afraid he’s just gonna say “Oh it’s okay, I don’t see anything wrong with that, go ahead!”

In a youth group setting, it might not be a bad idea to do Protestant-written music, particularly in the case where the same composer writes inoffensive songs and offensive songs. The reason I say this is that it provides you with an opportunity to teach the kids a little bit about discernment. You can demonstrate where somebody can write both good and bad and that it is up to the hearer to always keep his spiritual antenna up so that he can recognize the difference between the two.

In a liturgical setting, I am constantly befuddled why we are being ordered to sing music written by people like Marty Haugen (a former Lutheran and current UCC member). I constantly wonder why we have such a lack of talent among the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics that we are forced to use pablum written by such a person as our only alternative. But that wasn’t your question.

I’d say “go for it…” but use it as an opportunity for some practical catechesis. It might actually help them when they listen to secular music…as they most certainly will when they are away from the youth group.

 

[Sarabande]

I

In a liturgical setting, I am constantly befuddled why we are being ordered to sing music written by people like Marty Haugen (a former Lutheran and current UCC member). I constantly wonder why we have such a lack of talent among the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics that we are forced to use pablum written by such a person as our only alternative. But that wasn’t your question.

The thing is, we actually don’t have a lack of talent. There are many, many very good Catholic composers, but their music just isn’t either being promoted (which in the music and arts world is half the battle no matter how talented you are) or it just isn’t being bought enough by the music ministers. Part of that has to do with taste and the other part has to do with not knowing about the music (because of lack of promotion) or ability/talent level. Catholics tends to have a stereotypical reputation of being poor musicians with poor sacred music tastes amongst the Protestant musicians that I work with and I think that even many have bought into that stereotype and have helped to make that stereotype true in some instances for a variety of reasons. I mean how often do I hear visitors from other parishes get overwhelmed just by hearing good musicianship at the parishes where I work because their parishes don’t have it? Too often and that’s not good. It should just be a given, especially coming from a sacred and secular music culture that excelled for centuries at it.

In regards to Protestant vs. Catholic music, I have no problem with who the composer is as long as the words are not counter to Catholic teaching and the music is appropriate for liturgy.

 

[Elizium23]

In regards to Protestant vs. Catholic music, I have no problem with who the composer is as long as the words are not counter to Catholic teaching and the music is appropriate for liturgy.

Personally I would add the stipulation that it should not be weak. The largest problem with today’s so-called sacred music is not that it is offensive or blatantly heretical but that it is inoffensive and wishy-washy. Good lyrics should be solid catechesis, and any poet worth his salt should be able to pile on double and triple meanings to make grist for the mill of contemplation. Deeper meanings should mean that we can read profound theological truths in the words, not that they could be interpreted one way in an orthodox manner and another way heretically. “Lord of the Dance” was written in an homage to a pagan idol of Shiva. Doesn’t that give it an unsettling deeper meaning when you consider this? Marty Haugen is a non-Catholic and that can be forgiven; Mozart was a Freemason and we’re fine with his compositions! Yet Mozart left us with classics, rich and deep in texture and meaning. Haugen… not so much.

As always, the Psalms and the Propers are our gold standard for comparisons. The Psalms are rich in their imagery and poetic meanings, and were divinely inspired as the highest form of prayer in the Bible. The Propers, many based on the Psalms themselves, as an integral part of the liturgy are purpose-made to match the mood and meaning of the Mass of the day. If a hymn cannot adequately pass muster according to these high standards then it should be discarded in favor of the Propers.