Who is in charge of music for mass?

[CompSciGuy]

Is it the parish priest? The diocese/bishop? A music staff?

I am wondering, if a lay person wrote a large collection of hymns in the vernacular that are, say, more similar in sound to the traditional hymns, much more like the gregorian chant or traditional polyphonic chant in the way they sound, would it be possible for this music to be used in mass and possibly be promulgated to other parishes, if priests were willing to adopt it?

 

[Usige]

I believe it depends on the part of the Mass you are talking about. For the prospers and ordinary it has to go through the Secretariat for the Liturgy in the US. As I understand it the Secretariat has said that chant settings do not need approval as chant has pride of place and is by its nature appropriate for liturgical use. For hymns i thought they are supposed to be approved by the local ordinary (i.e. the bishop) or his designate. That being said in don’t know if that always happens. To be honest I have never seen anything officially requiring hymn approval now that I think of it.

Check out musicasacra.com as they would have a bunch of information on writting music for use in the Mass.

 

[Cavaille-Coll]

While a bishop may give musical directives to be followed throughout his diocese, the person in charge of the music in a given parish is the pastor. All musicians and directors work under him and at his direction. Sadly, most pastors don’t put enough emphasis on sacred music, and musicians often are free to do what they please. Most volunteer musicians may have musical training but often lack in knowledge of what the Church has to say about sacred music. Musicians are often strong-willed and sometimes fight a pastor who disagrees with their opinions.

The hymnal you are proposing sounds a lot like one of several that are currently in production. The three most popular are the St. Michael Hymnal, the Vatican II Hymnal, and the Adoremus Hymnal. Each of these was compiled according to the Church’s authentic teachings on sacred music, from Vatican I, Vatican II, and other documents on the subject. Many of the chant pieces in them were written within the last few years. Of course, anyone with the talent can compose hymns and chants, provided that they meet the Church’s expectations.

 

[YoungTradCath]

It is not possible to answer this question precisely.

 

[bcuster]

My pastor reminds us that he is the person in charge of all things liturgical. He has hired a more than competent liturgist/musician that he places in charge of musical selection, etc. They meet regularly throughout the year to plan.

 

[CatholicZ09]

It varies from parish to parish. At my parish we have a liturgy committee that meets and plans the music. This includes the music director, cantors, and choir members. We also ask the pastor what he wants us to do regarding the music. Ultimately, the pastor is in charge of the liturgy, but the committee meets periodically to plan music.