We are talking about objective versus subjective here in regards to music.
Example: I love Billy Joel… I love to play his music, listen, etc. Not only do I like it, but I can give you a dissertation of why his music is objectively good. (in his own realm-although by the way, he is majorly inspired by classical music). Honestly…about 100 pages worth …Someone has the option to not like it. But saying it is mediocre music (again, in its own realm), is not right.
I also recognize other music writers (Elton John), that I don’t care for, but I recognize the intrinsic value in the music itself. It doesn’t catch me, but thats my relative opinion. I could also give you a dissertation on why his music is objectively good.
Your comments about not liking the music is fair. I understand not liking them, but that in itself does NOT make them mediocre. In a suburb parish in a VERY Catholic city, those songs are the ones that my parish Sings the best Seriously. and again, JP II stated we are one body was his fave. So you have a different opinion. I grew up with the organ in my church…I hated it…it creates very bad memories for me. I do not view organ as intrinisically bad.
I’m not saying that compared to a classical piece of music that a Suzanne Toolan song is better muscially. I’m saying, for a regular parish, that kind of song gets the best response at a wedding. Because of your previous experience, you want to vomit. Others want to sing.
I am also located in a VERY Catholic city (so Catholic, I didn’t know that there was so much anti-Catholicism until I went to college.) I grew up in a very active suburban parish, which keeps growing and currently work in our city Cathedral Basilica.
I’m sorry, but I must say that most of those melodies, the counterpoint, etc. are mediocre, musically and compositionally-speaking, and any trained musician will recognize that. That and along with the fact that they are held up as equals to the masters who gave their brilliance to the sacred music composed specifically for the church - that’s what makes me vomit - not because I “prefer” one style of music over the other. It’s because my training and experience has broadened my mind to recognize what is well-composed and what is not. Once that is opened, it’s hard to revert, not that I would ever want to.
One can say that they prefer one kind of music to another, which is totally fine. I’m all for differences of opinion. I am first to admit that I like bad and mediocre music in other genres and I recognize the fact that they are trash comparatively speaking to the masters. But I would never have them performed for God because I do know they are mediocre and God does not deserve mediocrity. Also, to believe that compositions such as ones by Toolan or Marty Haugen are superior or deserve equal or more performance in mass to the compositions to Bach or Palestrina or Mozart would have a difficult time justifying it on a theoretical and composition level.
Also, why not have congregation sing plain song instead of those kinds of hymns? When that is introduced into mass, it’s amazing how quickly the congregation picks it up and sing with all their might. I also used to attend mass in a very rural area, where a new, young priest introduced the plain song and chants to a congregation (mostly farmers), that others would have thought were not “sophisticated” enough. (Classical music and chant has nothing to do with sophistication, as I am sure you well know. I believe it is for all when introduced correctly.) I was so moved by this, I asked this priest how he did it. Very simple. Taught it every week, they picked it up with a couple of weeks and loved it. They were so sorry to see him go. I brought it to my children’s choir back in the city, they loved it as well and apparently our guests at our wedding said you could hear their voices loud and clear chanting along in Latin with the choir.
I appreciate the fact that your parish apparently enjoys that kind of music. Good for you and for your congregation and as long as that is the best your musicians can give, then that is fine. If it’s not the best and you are capable of giving more without totally destroying the piece (it’s just as bad hearing an incompetent musician trying to perform Bach’s Organ Fugue in D-Major or an untrained singer wrestle through the Schubert Ave Maria with really bad Latin pronunciation - if you’ve never heard those pieces before performed well it can be enough to turn someone away), then I believe it is doing God and them a disservice.
I know that neither one of us will change each other’s minds. I’m not writing any of this to do that. So let us agree to disagree.
Thank you for the discussion.
