Friday, February 29, 2008

HAUGEN VERSUS HAAS?

Yup - In the Musica Sacra message boards, we now have a thread where the "music" of Marty Haugen is compared with the "music" of David Haas. Here's my favorite comment, so far...

When I hear Haugen's "Gather Us In" or "Sing Out, Earth and Skies," I feel like I should don a toga and join a band of Druids dancing around a big rock. The music sounds laughably primitive, pagan and cold. In fact, I even played the accompaniments sometimes for entertainment. When I hear Haas, I imagine Bing or Frank singing dramatic glissandos from the G to the D on the first verse of "We Will Rise Again." Amusements at best.

What I've noticed in the "melodies" of both of these guys is the frequent use of the following line-ending cadences:
suspended 2 to 3
suspended 4 to 5
suspended 4 to 3

I agree with Dave's comment above - "Amusements at best." (Amusingly funny, that is!)

Peace,
BMP

1 comment:

Jason Pennington said...

WHAT? A Druid in a toga? No way! Silly Druid! Togas are for Romans! I personally like to sing Gather Us In while divining auguries from the livers of goats. Ironically, the rites of ancient Roman religion were carried out with far more reverence than can be witnessed in many places these days by priests performing the rites of the church. Reverence for the Romans (the ancient ones) was important, and so was purity of the sacred precinct. Anything out of order meant that the ritual would have to be started over again -- the god would demand it. It's a good thing Christ is so laid back, that he's hip with gum-chewing altar girls who file their nails during the elevation, and perkily swing their pump on their toe during the sermon. We've come to far, now that we're so modern and civilized! Please excuse me whilst I make a trip to the temple of Jupiter to request a sacrifice. Oh, and those vestal virgins, when they were found out to be doinking on the side...the Pontifex didn't just move 'em to another round temple out of town. They were buried alive.

JP