Old Folks' Folk Mass

[otjm]

Okay - and with no disrespect intended, my sainted grandmother had a saying (actually, she had a whole lot of sayings): “even a blind pig can find an acorn now and then”.

I have seen enough of Michael’s videos to know that if I come across another one, I will immediately move on - as in, not watch it.

There are a large number of Catholics who still will say that the current Protestants are heretics, something which John Paul 2 said was incorrect. I consider the fuss which continues ever since Amazing Grace was first criticized to be in that category. Are there some words from the protestant version which needed tweaking? Yes, and they got tweaked. Yet the song (which by the way is definitely not one of my favorites) continues to be criticized. I tire of it, and the fact that Michael Voris criticizes it does not move the needle.

I do not make an ad hominem attack; I find him to be someone who irritates me not only by his general attitudes, but also by the general way with which he approaches matters. In short, I do not pay any attention to what he says, nor to anyone’s quote of what he says. There are an unbelievable number of other sources of information and I choose to review others, not him. I have absolutely no doubt he is a very sincere person.

 

[Frankie65]

What about a World Cup of Bad Hymns?

Oh wait, Eccles has already done that one…

 

[dochawk]

but that seems to depend on the organist

wait, what?

organist

what kind of philistine uses anything but the bagpipes for Amazing Grace at a funeral?

:crazy_face:

The first time I met a bishop (retired Bishop Murphy of western PA), he quipped that he was afraid he’d shown up for his own funeral, with the KofC swarming in regalia and the bagpiper . . .

Misplaced apostrophe though hon. Eagles’ (plural, possessive).

like hawks, eagles fly so much better with multiple wings instead of just one :crazy_face:

 

[GiftofMercy]

Eagles wings is more strictly a devotional song, it speaks of a personal 'I ’ and my relationship with God.

Liturgical music is universal by definition and speaks of the entire assembly in its relationship to God.

@twf I go the hard line on these things , we are there for God and to worship God. We should all sing up and worship. Let our praise to God take over .

We should work to not be put off by babies crying, people fidgeting , off pitch song, etc. IMHO

 

[Loud-living-dogma]

Yes, our Holy Mother Church has guidance about music at Mass. But let’s ignore it.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

On Eagle Wings is based on Psalm 91 according to the composer, Father Jan Michael Joncas

 

[Sarcelle]

like hawks, eagles fly so much better with multiple wings instead of just one :crazy_face:

It will be a miracle if they can fly with just one wing.

 

[stpurl]

Which is why I said the words weren’t a problem.
The music. . . another story. So you have a song in the key of E-flat, and the first sung word of ‘you’ is D. Any idea how jarring that sound is?
Ever hear the song Bali Hai from South Pacific? The first word Bal-is middle C, the ‘i’ is high C, and the Hai is B. C, octave of C, then B.

If you’re singing On Eagles wings, you basically sing “Bal-i” silently to yourself to come up with the first note of “You” in On Eagles wings’ (which would correspond to ‘Hai’ if you were singing “Bali-Hai”) then you go down a whole step to C for “who” and then up a whole step back to “Dwell”, i.e. D, C, D, while the underlying key is E flat. Very unsettling. Then later in the key, which is 4/4 time, you get “who abide in his shadow for life” you have who a- as two eighth notes in the last beat of the measure (the 4 in a 4 beat measure) followed by ‘bide’ as an eighth note, in as a quarter note, his sha- again each an eighth note, Dow is a quarter note, for is an eighth note, and then ‘life’ is the first note of the next measure. It’s swoopy time, jumpy and abrasive.

I have listened to many, many people, ‘in the pews’ as well as ‘in the choirs’, and the vast majority have had great difficulty with the pitch and with the tempo.

 

[Minks]

dochawk:

like hawks, eagles fly so much better with multiple wings instead of just one :crazy_face:

It will be a miracle if they can fly with just one wing.

Lol! But miracles abound!

 

[JimR-OCDS]

We played On Eagle’s Wings all the time without a problem
’
The only problem I had was with the choir director for Confirmation, who said that the song was traditionally used for funerals and she said Father didn’t want it. So what happens, the Bishop gives his homily and bases it on Psalm 91 and looks up at the choir to give a hint to play, “On Eagles Wings.”

 

[dochawk]

It will be a miracle if they can fly with just one wing.

“flight”, sure. “controlled flight” is another story

Kind of like flying pigs–all it takes is application of sufficient thrust . . .

 

[Loud-living-dogma]

The problem I have with scriptural song texts is that those groovy folksy earworms get tied to the words pretty well, so there are times I can’t read something out of scripture without thinking of those horrible tunes by Joncas, Ferrell, Haugen, etc.

 

[tafan2]

I sometimes go to a monthly evening retreat for men. It ends with a benediction. Normally 40 or so men show up. In the chapel we have benediction, their voices fill the when singing O Salutaris, Tantum Ergo, and Holy God. Many of these same men are silent during the mass when the typical guitar led folk based hymns are sung. Why? No one is trying to make a statement, some songs, even in Latin, are just natural to sing, they come easy. And they happen to be beautiful.

I also attend benediction at times in the mornings when the local Catholic schools are doing the benediction. Same thing. Every school kid is singing the benediction hymns. Not so much the modern hymns during the school mass. Of course, the music director for the school is there everytime and she (or her predecessors) never seem to notice this anomaly.