Why do Churches Continue to Purchase OCP Material?

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silicasandra said:
I get the criticism about singing “in God’s voice,” but “I Am the Bread of Life” is actually one of my favorite hymns - it usually brings me to tears. Even if I am one of the people singing, I am acutely aware that the words are not “mine.”

As a (fairly recent) convert, I am not very well schooled in Church music, but there are several contemporary hymns that, while not representing the best that the Church can offer in terms of music, still move laypeople, and for the right reasons, in ways that music that seems distant and inaccessible probably couldn’t - at least not right away.
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Oh, yes, I know how popular and well-loved it is with many people. For the record, I don’t always get weirded out by that hymn, but when I do allow my mind to focus into that aspect of the hymn, it does feel very uncomfortable. The congregations at the parishes where I cantor love it when I lead it because I sing it well and (as they have put it) it moves them spiritually. I think they are just happy they have a cantor who can actually sing the intervals well in the refrain without cracking or going flat. It’s a nice melody and is written to move people even without the words. It actually would make for a great song in a musical.

My goal is to always sing everything like a prayer… even secular music and even if I’m not a particular fan of the music I’m singing/leading. I always try to find something good about a piece of music I may not be keen on and focus on that so that the music I render is sincere and not trite or shmarmy. I try to bring out some sort of depth in the music, whether through the use of my voice or through something else, like in the text. It really is amazing how a voice or instrument can move people even if the music may not be particularly good or not easily accessible.

The main problem I have with the hymn, musically, is that it is difficult to sing for many people. A lot will drop out of the refrain, so it almost always becomes a solo rather than congregational singing. Now, that just might be in the parishes where I sing or have sung, but it always seems to be the same where ever I’ve been.
 
revert_jen said:
I’m not sure what tenses have to do with it, but when you are reading scripture, and God says something, there are quotation marks around it, and frequently something like “And the Lord said to Moses…” For example, the corresponding scripture passage is, ‘Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life…”’ And the lector announces the scripture passage and everything. It’s not as if a lector just goes up and speaks as if s/he is God.
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That makes a big difference to you? Two word in front of thousands? I am think I can state categorically that in English, everyone understands perfectly well that the word are from Jesus. An elision, which are common in English doesn’t throw one person off, unless they want to be thrown.
 
pnewton said:
That makes a big difference to you? Two word in front of thousands? I am think I can state categorically that in English, everyone understands perfectly well that the word are from Jesus. An elision, which are common in English doesn’t throw one person off, unless they want to be thrown.
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Kids don’t necessarily understand. My kiddos sometimes have a hard time understanding the songs sung with God’s words. I’ve had to explain more than once that those words are God’s words to us, which doesn’t always make sense to them yet since they’re still pretty literal in interpreting the “I.”

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean those songs aren’t worth singing, of course – children might not fully understand praise and worship music or traditional hymns or Gregorian chant, either. I offer this only to say that there are probably some children in your congregation who don’t fully understand these songs and that it is a quotation. And there probably are other parishioners who, like revert_jen, are uncomfortable with singing God’s words in first person.
 
Sarabande said:
The main problem I have with the hymn, musically, is that it is difficult to sing for many people. A lot will drop out of the refrain, so it almost always becomes a solo rather than congregational singing. Now, that just might be in the parishes where I sing or have sung, but it always seems to be the same where ever I’ve been.
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Same in our parish. The intervals and range are tough for a lot of people.
 
AnastasiaRomano said:
Same in our parish. The intervals and range are tough for a lot of people.
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It’s not so much the range, per say, because there are many singable hymns that have the same range and the congregation sings them well without having to drop out. It is how it was written… more appropriate for a trained singer or naturally gifted singer than the average person in the pews. The interval in the refrain, especially the octave jump in the last “and I will raise…” make it difficult, I think, more so than the actual range.
 
AnastasiaRomano said:
Kids don’t necessarily understand. My kiddos sometimes have a hard time understanding the songs sung with God’s words.
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I guess I am just spoiled. Having a child brought up in Church my own son never had such issues. Perhaps their our cultures where tense makes some difference, kind of like the Jewish people never saying the name of God. I know here we have literature from all perspectives. But perhaps this explains why OCP is still around. If this sort of thing is what is bothersome, it is probably not such a problem.

BTW - This Sunday the first readin is first person from Jeremiah 1.
 
10thCrusader said:
Why is it, when they get to communion hymn, they almost always choose something that theologically horizontal, 1st person singular, and/or compositional schlock like Taste(less) and See? What is wrong with something more reverent and appropriate like “Let all mortal flesh keep silence” or “At the Lamb’s High Feast?”

They always do their worst on the communion hymn… 🤷
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Tell me why a pretty close quoting of Psalm 34 is bad? The Psalm is in the first person singular.

And why is the second person form better?
 
SMHW said:
I never know which song people mean. I know at least three contemporary songs called either “Taste and See” or “O Taste and See”.
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Then there are also the old motets which are delicious.
 
929dad said:
Tell me why a pretty close quoting of Psalm 34 is bad? The Psalm is in the first person singular.

And why is the second person form better?
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I didn’t say Taste and See was theologically bad. It’s just compositionally awful from a musical standpoint, and rather hard to sing in large congregations.

Unfortunately bad taste is not a mortal sin…
 
10thCrusader said:
I didn’t say Taste and See was theologically bad. It’s just compositionally awful from a musical standpoint, and rather hard to sing in large congregations.
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Much of what passes as liturgical “music” is bad in composition and in lyrics, both. Much of it seems to have been composed for the lowest common denominator in the congregation.
Unfortunately bad taste is not a mortal sin…
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No. It’s just distracting and detracting from the beauty of the liturgy.

I would so much rather have a silent Mass than bad music. (And this is from someone who finds music almost essential to the Mass.)
 
Sarabande said:
The main problem I have with the hymn, musically, is that it is difficult to sing for many people. A lot will drop out of the refrain, so it almost always becomes a solo rather than congregational singing. Now, that just might be in the parishes where I sing or have sung, but it always seems to be the same where ever I’ve been.
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I have had the benefit of hearing it mostly sung by a choir, so even if many parishioners drop out it still sounds like congregational singing. 😉 (Not to mention it sounds very, very nice!)
 
silicasandra said:
I have had the benefit of hearing it mostly sung by a choir, so even if many parishioners drop out it still sounds like congregational singing. 😉 (Not to mention it sounds very, very nice!)
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Yes, having it led by a good choir helps almost any hymn/mass part sound like congregational singing. 🙂 The places where I currently work don’t have choirs, unfortunately, so it always ends up becoming a solo.
 
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