Papal Mass in DC (was it me or was the music crazy?)

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mom_of_ten said:
It doesn’t surprise me that the Pope would give positive reactions to the Liturgy; or that the PMOC would compliment the beauty and prayerfulness at the Liturgy…I believe we ALL saw that…notice neither the Pope nor the PMOC mentioned MUSIC…
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Well I’m sure Pope Benedict approved of the homilist and presider.

Your comment is equivalent to being asked about a banquet you went to and you reply that you had an absolutely wonderful evening. (But actually the food was the most dreadful menu you ever experienced – if the music was THAT BAD the liturgy couldn’t be complimented upon in such glowing terms.) Don’t be in denial! It’s perfectly OK for you to not like the liturgy (or the music, in this case) but at least don’t be afraid to admit that the Pope may have actually enjoyed it. This doesn’t make you anything less or the Pope anything more – It just makes you you and he he.

MonFrere
 
peacelight said:
the meaning and the sincerity of the singers that counts
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That’s like saying that we shouldn’t criticize a reader at Mass because he mumbles or stumbles. You seem to be saying that it doesn’t matter whether it is done well, as long as it is done with sincerity. That’s a recipe for mediocrity.

That Kyrie sounded like it would not have been out of place on the “Beauty and the Beast” soundtrack.

Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, call your offices.
 
It’s funny. As someone who was there, I spoke with many who were and it was a cross section of conservative Catholics who love the TLM and those who you would consider more liberal. I asked them for their reactionos of the liturgy including the music. The complaints were never about the music because they all thought the music was excellent.

The only problem they expressed: The different languages in the Prayers of the Faithful. They wanted a translation either in the program or on the screen. Most though would prefer that English be the language used through the entire liturgy.

I even prodded people to complain about the music and they did not.

While my poll was unscientific, it seems those who were there enjoyed the liturgy, music and all, with some minor exceptions as noted above and enjoyed the Celebration of the Eucharist with the Holy Father. Some even mentioned he was not to their liking after John Paull II, but have warmed up to him after this Papal visit to the US.

Tom
 
mom_of_ten said:
Would you be able to tell us where we might read or hear Joan Lewis saying she was ecstatic about the music? I ask, because when she was questioned about it on live TV (by Raymond Aroyo) she seemed VERY taken off-guard and uncomfortable…using carefully chosen adjectives like “multi-cultural…and interesting”…and when asked what she thought the Pope would think of it, she again stuttered a bit…and said something to the effect of “we’ll just have to wait and see”.

So, I’d be interested in reading or hearing from her directly that she was ecstatic about the music. Your source?
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I saw her, and she was ecstatic. Go to EWTN and click on archives. At the end of the mass, she was absolutely jubilant. So was I, although I didn’t care for the Responsorial Psalm or the Kyrie. But that’s a matter of my taste. OK, you say Joan look uncomfortable, I say she looked excited and caught up in the beauty of what she had just experienced. It’s hard to come off a cloud like that. Just watching the mass on my computer while I was working changed my day. I put my Pope Benedict Rosary in front of my screen at the final blessing, and I blessed myself as well, right in front of everybody at work.
 
What amazes me the most is how liberalism can explain away anything and everything. One of the most precious facets of Roman Catholicism are our Sacred Traditions. Regardless of the good intentions, or how good it made us feel, improper is improper and wrong is wrong.
 
Except that nothing there was improper or wrong. Maybe not to some people’s liking, but that was probably inevitable. I sang in it, and I was no fan of the Psalm, but I knew others who loved it. Go figure. What’s great about our Church is that we have such great traditions and we are cultivating new ones with each generation. We are a universal Church, and this mass was evidence of that. NY’s Mass, from what I gather, spoke more to the traditions, which is great too - it’s nice to have that balance. Maybe it would’ve worked better for the two masses to have been switched - traditional first, universal second, but that’s not how it worked. Either way, I think both masses showed much of the good of the members of the Catholic CHurch.
 
MonFrere said:
Well I’m sure Pope Benedict approved of the homilist and presider.

Your comment is equivalent to being asked about a banquet you went to and you reply that you had an absolutely wonderful evening. (But actually the food was the most dreadful menu you ever experienced – if the music was THAT BAD the liturgy couldn’t be complimented upon in such glowing terms.) Don’t be in denial! It’s perfectly OK for you to not like the liturgy (or the music, in this case) but at least don’t be afraid to admit that the Pope may have actually enjoyed it. This doesn’t make you anything less or the Pope anything more – It just makes you you and he he.

MonFrere
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Actually, I never said HOW I felt about the music…so you assume a lot…(for the record, the music was some of the MOST inappropriate for a Mass that I have ever heard)…having said that,
I LOVE your analogy above…it’s perfect! We can very easily imagine having a wonderful evening at a banquet; but the food being awful…THANK YOU…you make the point PERFECTLY.
 
Well I guess I harken back to the days before Vatican II, when the meaning of “One, Holy, Catholic(universal) and Apostolic Church” meant that. I was in the Navy and had visited several non-English countries. But, whenever I went to Mass, I knew exactly what was going on and when. I could participate no matter whether it was in France, Germany, so on. That is what I thought it was to be ONE, that is what made us one was the same liturgy. Changing the liturgy and mixing it on the fly cannot possibly keep us one.
 
Can someone tell me (or direct me to a thread or site that would) how GIA and OCP - who appear to hold copyrights to a lot of the “musak” that was used at the Pope’s D.C. Mass - charges (or otherwise somehow receives) “royalties” (or whatever the more proper term is) for each performance of this musak?
I’ve always heard it said that whoever holds the copyright to “Happy Birthday” receives money whenever the song is used in any public setting. Last week a commentator made a reference to the holders of the copyrights to the musak at the D.C. mass in a similar vein. Also, when these “songs” are used in our local masses - do our parishes send money to OCP and GIA?
Thanks for any assistance you can offer.
To this thread - the D.C. mass music was horrid.
 
As far as I know, when these “songs” are used in our “masses”, no “royalties” are paid. That wouldn’t make sense - there are “songs” common to both “books”, as well as other “books”. “Royalties” go to the “composers.”

“Horrid”? That’s a bit harsh - I know my voice was tired toward the end, but I didn’t think it was horrid.
 
aloysiusg said:
“Horrid”? That’s a bit harsh - I know my voice was tired toward the end, but I didn’t think it was horrid.
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Yep Horrid! Nope not a bit harsh, you don’t have to think it was, that’s fine I accept that. However others do think it was horrid you should accept that1
 
aloysiusg said:
“Horrid”? That’s a bit harsh - I know my voice was tired toward the end, but I didn’t think it was horrid.
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Aloysiusg,

Every Friday I go to our local Adoration Chapel and as a penance I recite the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for holy souls. Each decade I dedicate to a particular group. Often I will offer a decade for the souls of all who served the Church through their musical gifts.

Of course, I do that because I am also a church musician and know of the challenges we face in serving the LORD with our gifts. I know I have not always been perfect when I’ve been “stretched” because of peoples comments. So, the day will probably come when I will need the prayers of the Church Militant to pray for my soul in purgatory.

After seeing how you’ve been treated for you service; I think I should also pray for those musicians now living. You and I know these comments come from people who just don’t understand; yet that doesn’t always take the sting away from their less than charitable comments.

I just want to tell you THANK YOU for your contribution in the honor and service of our Holy Father. I thought it was a great week - and in all the Masses; I thought the music was special. I know the exhausting yet joyful work you went through in the preparations and the anxiousness and anticipation of each performance. As a musician I just want to say thanks!

MonFrere
 
MonFrere - thank you very much - that is extremely decent of you.

Nordar - thank you for your honesty and candor. I’m sorry our music didn’t serve your liturgical needs.
 
HOEFP said:
Well I guess I harken back to the days before Vatican II, when the meaning of “One, Holy, Catholic(universal) and Apostolic Church” meant that. I was in the Navy and had visited several non-English countries. But, whenever I went to Mass, I knew exactly what was going on and when. I could participate no matter whether it was in France, Germany, so on. That is what I thought it was to be ONE, that is what made us one was the same liturgy. Changing the liturgy and mixing it on the fly cannot possibly keep us one.
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HOEFP,

There are several different rites within the Catholic Church; the Roman Rite is but one of many. Each may possess a different liturgy. Being a musician I’ve taken an interest in liturgy, especially as it pertains to music. The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is very different if form from the Roman Rite - in both Novos Ordo and Tridentine forms.

EWTN a few years back had some priests from some of the eastern rite churches go over their rites and traditions. I thought it was beautiful how they approached their rituals. This richness and diversity is a great strength of the Catholic Church. May I remind you of the division that’s so rampant with our separated Protestant brothers. They don’t like something and they begin their own church. The Catholic Church in its wisdom has ALWAYS allowed for diversity. The CREED is our anchor of unity - not RITE.

In fact, it was the Protestant Reformation that forced the Church to have one and only one liturgy. This was done for the sake of unity. Something like this had to be done to unify the Church amist the confusion caused by the splitting factions within the Protestant Reformation. This was a great template for nearly 400 years. The need for this strict uniformity is no longer pressing on the Church. Again, it’s the CREED that makes us one, not the liturgy. This has been the history of the Church. I know Pope Benedict has a great interest in liturgy. I am willing to be taught by him. I trust him to make any necessary changes that he feels will benefit the Church. He wrote about this as a Cardinal BUT NOW HE’S POPE and has the authority to make things happen. Yet, his first items he brought to our attention were the theological virtues of CHARITY (LOVE) and HOPE. I feel we should draw our attention to these and be patient until such a time (if any) where his considerable learning decides to focus on the liturgy.

MonFrere
 
I missed that one I am now curious now. I wish I could see and hear it. No matter what it was like it was a Mass and Our Lord was present and that’s the most important thing anyone who says they would have left is thinking of themselves.
 
 
MonFrere said:
After seeing how you’ve been treated for you service; I think I should also pray for those musicians now living. You and I know these comments come from people who just don’t understand; yet that doesn’t always take the sting away from their less than charitable comments.
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Your posts are extremely condescending, I and others on here who did not like The music have not said one negatvie thing about the ones who had no problem with it.
YOU however have managed in several posts to sound soooo superior, to us underlins who are not fotunate enought to be as Intellectually music savy as you.:rolleyes:

No one, certainly not I have,treated Al uncharitably or been unkind to HIM! We did not like the music, personally I/we have nothing against Al he sounds like a really nice, sincere, honest person.
 
aloysiusg said:
MonFrere - thank you very much - that is extremely decent of you.

Nordar - thank you for your honesty and candor. I’m sorry our music didn’t serve your liturgical needs.
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Regardless of Our Differences about the music, It is wonderfull that you were able to be there and Celebrate The Mass with Our Holy Father. It must have been an awesome experience for you:)
 
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