If you always (mainly) have piano / pop style songs (hymns), then the proper music of the Church is displaced. The people are
cheated of their liturgical heritage.
This is not just at the whim of each individual music director. The Church does have a lot of instructions abut music. Those instructions are usually just ignored!
In other words, when we mainly hear “Gather Us In” and that sort of thing, then we’re NOT hearing our own cultural treasure.
What is the opportunity cost of having most Catholic liturgies dominated by David Haas, et al?
OP, @Dolphin - - did you do your homework? Have you been studying up on what liturgical music
actually is? If you’re interested enough to start a thread, maybe you’re interested enough to read up on the topic.
As Saint Pope John Paul II said:
The Second Vatican Council followed up this approach in chapter VI of the Constitution
Sacrosanctum Concilium on the Sacred Liturgy, in which the ecclesial role of sacred music is clearly defined:
“The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred melody united to words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn Liturgy”[5]. The Council also recalls that “Sacred Scripture, indeed, has bestowed praise upon sacred song. So have the Fathers of the Church and the Roman Pontiffs who in more recent times, led by St Pius X, have explained more precisely the ministerial function exercised by sacred music in the service of the Lord”
[6].
