Professional musician and composer on "laughable" Catholic music

[VociMike]

We’ve heard it over and over. But will anybody listen?

ncregister.com/site/article/3376

 

[DanteAlighieri]

We’ve heard it over and over. But will anybody listen?

ncregister.com/site/article/3376

Good point raised – I feel strongly that God is worthy of art, though I don’t agree that only classical music is art.

The problem is that, as he pointed out, many people making the decisions as to what music will be played in Mass are not qualified to do so from an artistic standpoint (this is not meant to belittle those who are), and that is a direct result of a paucity of qualified folk who seek music ministry jobs. Furthermore, merely being qualified does not endow one with good taste.

As the writer said in his article, he is happy to remain a composer – because he hasn’t been asked. If he feels so strongly, why doesn’t he seek a position at a parish where he can make a difference?

Peace,
Dante

 

[pm1853]

There are positive and negative aspects to this article. He raises valid points on the volunteer system AS CURRENTLY PRACTICED in many churches, but…

1. Why should people ask him his opinion on music in the church? Who appointed him as the musical expert? Just because he is a professional musician and composer does not mean that he is entitled to be a consultant.
2. Zero percent of the music represented on his website is liturgical in nature. As wonderful a composer as I’m sure he is, he himself has written no music for the church (I could very well be wrong, he may have written stuff…but there’s nothing on his site to indicate so). Why wait to be asked?

When I was younger, I always complained about the music in my church. My father would then counter with “Why aren’t you doing something about it then?” Its fine and dandy to critique as much as you want, but…

If you are a trained musician, who is not happy with the music, who composes music for a living, and who waits for an invitation…you’re waisting your time. Get out of your seat, stop writing articles, and actually do something. You’re not going to get an invitation, so don’t bother waiting.

 

[VociMike]

There are positive and negative aspects to this article. He raises valid points on the volunteer system AS CURRENTLY PRACTICED in many churches, but…

1. Why should people ask him his opinion on music in the church? Who appointed him as the musical expert? Just because he is a professional musician and composer does not mean that he is entitled to be a consultant.
2. Zero percent of the music represented on his website is liturgical in nature. As wonderful a composer as I’m sure he is, he himself has written no music for the church (I could very well be wrong, he may have written stuff…but there’s nothing on his site to indicate so). Why wait to be asked?

When I was younger, I always complained about the music in my church. My father would then counter with “Why aren’t you doing something about it then?” Its fine and dandy to critique as much as you want, but…

If you are a trained musician, who is not happy with the music, who composes music for a living, and who waits for an invitation…you’re waisting your time. Get out of your seat, stop writing articles, and actually do something. You’re not going to get an invitation, so don’t bother waiting.

You make good points. I can only speculate, but perhaps the author is having an awakening of his own on the subject, hence the appearance of his article at this time.

But whatever his personal situation, it is his expert musical evaluation (and that of his peers) that should be of concern to us. One does not need to be a composer of Catholic music to be able to expertly evaluate the current crop of Catholic music. The universal Church, with over a billion members, should be able to do so much better in that art which Vatican II proclaimed as “greater than any other art” due to its vital connection to the liturgy.

 

[pm1853]

Voci, I agree with you entirely and I am sympathetic to the views expressed in the article. My concern is that we have only ourselves to blaim for being in a situation like this. If we are not taking the initiative to improve our situation, then we just fall into a vicious cycle where ultimately nothing happens.

You are most decidedly correct when you you say “The universal Church, with over a billion members, should be able to do so much better in that art which Vatican II proclaimed as “greater than any other art” due to its vital connection to the liturgy”. The tragedy is that those over-a-billion-members are slipping in many areas. We simply can’t afford to wait for a written invitation. We are ALWAYS invited to give God the praise and glory that He is due. Why then are we simply content with writing articles when many of us (and I include myself here as I have been just as guilty of this) have the ability to write better music?