Nope! This one's even better!
RSCT to Jeffrey Tucker/NLM. This is the beginning of Mass at last year's Sacred Music Colloquium. Very classy, very solemn, very prayerful, and very reverent, yet in ENGLISH!
Well done!
Peace,
BMP
Showing posts with label CMAA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CMAA. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 23, 2007
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD
The 100th anniversary edition of Catholic Church Music, written by Richard Runyan Terry in 1907, is available for a free download at Musica Sacra. (Link is to more detail, as well as the download links.)
Red Sox cap tip to our good friend Joe from the RPInet boards.
Peace,
BMP
Red Sox cap tip to our good friend Joe from the RPInet boards.
Peace,
BMP
Monday, February 12, 2007
BLACK AND WHITE
I've been checking out the totally revamped Musica Sacra blog, and liking what I see as well, especially their sidebar resources.
Amongst them is the famous Black List of 1922 and the White List of 1947 (with supplement from 1954). The 1922 Black List is also included on pages 60-61 of the 1947 White List. The 1954 supplement also has Lead Kindly Light on its black list.
Some of the blacklisted items I saw did not surprise me, though some of the composers surprised me.
- The black list denounces all Masses of Lambillotte, as well as his Ave Maria. I for one never saw his Masses or his Ave, so I cannot judge. Three items of his that did not make the black list (for two of them, thank God! - and for the third, oh God!) are of his most well known works by the average Catholic organist (read: not just any musician - an organist) and probably bring back memories for many - Come, Holy Ghost (I did say Come, Holy Ghost, and not One Spirit, One Church), Panis Angelicus, and On this Day, O Beautiful Mother. Can you guess which one I gave the "oh God" to?
- The St. Basil Hymnal (all editions as of 1946) got the axe as well. I used to use the Alma Redemptoris Mater setting by Samuel Webbe, which appeared in the tail end of the 1916(?) edition of said hymnal. The tune was actually a slightly altered from the hymn Come Ye Disconsolate. The 1958 edition is a big improvement (IMO) which I can speculate would have been whitelisted had a white list been established at that time.
- The four titles listed under "Hymns" that got the axe (thank God!) were four of the largest bits of evidence that there was bad music before Vatican II as well as after. They are Mother Dearest, Mother Fairest (#697 in this year's OCP Music Issue, and from the Wreath of Mary, a hymn book which also got axed), Mother Dear, O Pray for Me (#706 in same Music Issue), Mother, at Thy Feet is Kneeling (referred to by one of my old permenant deacon friends as MotherRat), and one of the biggest thorns in my side from my Holy Name days, Good Night, Sweet Jesus (one certain elderly lady used to lead it at the end of Benediction).
- The two wedding marches that I have discouraged (at a 90+% success rate, I might add) for years at many a wedding consultation are the Bridal Chorus (aka Here comes the bride, big, fat, and wide) from Wagner's Lohengrin and the Wedding March from Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream.
- Several Ave Maria settings got axed, including Bach/Gounod, Schubert, and RoSewig. When I was at St. Timothy's (a church I refer to simply as "The Roundhouse"), we had a soprano who went ga-ga over the RoSewig when she was asked to sing for weddings. Man, if I only knew then! At funerals, when asked for "the Ave Maria", one should note that I DO NOT default to Schubert if a particular setting is not specified (which is 90% of the time, and I very seldom bother to ask). If someone does specify Schubert, I'll usually give in. If not specified, I'll more likely do the Arcadelt or the Victoria.
Apparently, false advertising was eminent in 1922 as well. Check out this exposing paragraph:
The attempt of certain publishers to "hoodwink" a gullible public by using in an indiscriminate manner the caption "In accordance with the MOTU PROPRIO" deserves the condemnation of every friend of liturgical art. A flagrant attempt to pull wool over the eyes of the innocent is found in the publication of the popular song "Silver Threads among the Gold" as an "Ave Maris Stella" under the caption "In accordance with the MOTU PROPRIO".
I wonder --- what would a black list look like if assembled in 2007? Worse --- what would a black list look like if assembled in 1982? 1975? Anyone wanna triple dog dare to compare what a present day black list would look like as presented by the CMAA? Adoremus Society? USCCB? NPM?
Peace,
BMP
Amongst them is the famous Black List of 1922 and the White List of 1947 (with supplement from 1954). The 1922 Black List is also included on pages 60-61 of the 1947 White List. The 1954 supplement also has Lead Kindly Light on its black list.
Some of the blacklisted items I saw did not surprise me, though some of the composers surprised me.
- The black list denounces all Masses of Lambillotte, as well as his Ave Maria. I for one never saw his Masses or his Ave, so I cannot judge. Three items of his that did not make the black list (for two of them, thank God! - and for the third, oh God!) are of his most well known works by the average Catholic organist (read: not just any musician - an organist) and probably bring back memories for many - Come, Holy Ghost (I did say Come, Holy Ghost, and not One Spirit, One Church), Panis Angelicus, and On this Day, O Beautiful Mother. Can you guess which one I gave the "oh God" to?
- The St. Basil Hymnal (all editions as of 1946) got the axe as well. I used to use the Alma Redemptoris Mater setting by Samuel Webbe, which appeared in the tail end of the 1916(?) edition of said hymnal. The tune was actually a slightly altered from the hymn Come Ye Disconsolate. The 1958 edition is a big improvement (IMO) which I can speculate would have been whitelisted had a white list been established at that time.
- The four titles listed under "Hymns" that got the axe (thank God!) were four of the largest bits of evidence that there was bad music before Vatican II as well as after. They are Mother Dearest, Mother Fairest (#697 in this year's OCP Music Issue, and from the Wreath of Mary, a hymn book which also got axed), Mother Dear, O Pray for Me (#706 in same Music Issue), Mother, at Thy Feet is Kneeling (referred to by one of my old permenant deacon friends as MotherRat), and one of the biggest thorns in my side from my Holy Name days, Good Night, Sweet Jesus (one certain elderly lady used to lead it at the end of Benediction).
- The two wedding marches that I have discouraged (at a 90+% success rate, I might add) for years at many a wedding consultation are the Bridal Chorus (aka Here comes the bride, big, fat, and wide) from Wagner's Lohengrin and the Wedding March from Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream.
- Several Ave Maria settings got axed, including Bach/Gounod, Schubert, and RoSewig. When I was at St. Timothy's (a church I refer to simply as "The Roundhouse"), we had a soprano who went ga-ga over the RoSewig when she was asked to sing for weddings. Man, if I only knew then! At funerals, when asked for "the Ave Maria", one should note that I DO NOT default to Schubert if a particular setting is not specified (which is 90% of the time, and I very seldom bother to ask). If someone does specify Schubert, I'll usually give in. If not specified, I'll more likely do the Arcadelt or the Victoria.
Apparently, false advertising was eminent in 1922 as well. Check out this exposing paragraph:
The attempt of certain publishers to "hoodwink" a gullible public by using in an indiscriminate manner the caption "In accordance with the MOTU PROPRIO" deserves the condemnation of every friend of liturgical art. A flagrant attempt to pull wool over the eyes of the innocent is found in the publication of the popular song "Silver Threads among the Gold" as an "Ave Maris Stella" under the caption "In accordance with the MOTU PROPRIO".
I wonder --- what would a black list look like if assembled in 2007? Worse --- what would a black list look like if assembled in 1982? 1975? Anyone wanna triple dog dare to compare what a present day black list would look like as presented by the CMAA? Adoremus Society? USCCB? NPM?
Peace,
BMP
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
WHY OCP AND GIA WORRY ME
In response to the two comments on this post (one being my own reply):
Brother Andrew had mentioned that in addition to the CMAA being represented to aid the BCL on revising two important BCL documents, Music in Catholic Worship and Liturgical Music Today, GIA and OCP will be there as well. Now, I haven't seen anything about the documents as of late on the GIA site, nor the "common repertoire" ideas, but OCP has been working on their "common repertoire", with about as much GIA stuff listed as their own.
Nineteen of the twenty musicians surveyed (hand picked, I'm sure) are unknown to me, so I will refrain from saying anything about the nineteen. There is one remaining on the panel, I will not mention the name, who I still remember to this day putting up the biggest hissy-fit on NPM's message boards for my choice to receive Holy Communion from the ordained only. But I digress and will return us back to the topic at hand. Let's explore the lists some, shall we?
The first list begins with a list of Processional Chants for Advent (Entrance Songs) - their wording. Good: the category wasn't Gathering Songs. However, look at the first two titles:
Advent Gathering Rite (Daigle)
Advent Gathering Song (Chepponis)
Now, let me remind the readers that there is NO SUCH THING as a "gathering rite". Going through the rest of the category, you'll see that only TWO titles of the twenty have hymn tunes. Those are O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and Wake, O Wake, and Sleep No Longer (which is also known by an earlier translation Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying). Best bets on that category are those two, and even better: Psalm 25 (different settings), as that Psalm covers the Introit (and Offertory) for Advent I.
One look under the Psalm Settings for Advent leads to Lectionary Psalms, as well as those Lectionary antiphons with Grail verses (as you would see in Worship III). But then you see those non-Lectionary Psalms that would serve better as Communion responsories or even music during the Offertory. One example is the song Hold Me in Life, based in part on Psalm 25. Hold Me in Life is better than most in the line of contemporary pieces, in my opinion, but is a paraphrase at best of the Psalm and does not fit the bill as a Responsorial Psalm, as prescribed by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM). I would have no problem using it at Communion, however.
Now, on the fourth list, you'll see all the music listed for funerals. Despite the categories they're placed under, much of it is nothing but the "greatest hits" collections of two of the "big three" publishers. Go a little further and you find this for Holy Thursday:
Chants to Accompany the Blessed Sacrament to the Altar of Repose
I Am the Bread of Life/Yo Soy el Pan de Vida (Toolan)
In the words of Jeff Foxworthy - here's your sign!
Something in these lists tell me, "Be afraid! Be very afraid!"
Peace,
BMP
Brother Andrew had mentioned that in addition to the CMAA being represented to aid the BCL on revising two important BCL documents, Music in Catholic Worship and Liturgical Music Today, GIA and OCP will be there as well. Now, I haven't seen anything about the documents as of late on the GIA site, nor the "common repertoire" ideas, but OCP has been working on their "common repertoire", with about as much GIA stuff listed as their own.
Nineteen of the twenty musicians surveyed (hand picked, I'm sure) are unknown to me, so I will refrain from saying anything about the nineteen. There is one remaining on the panel, I will not mention the name, who I still remember to this day putting up the biggest hissy-fit on NPM's message boards for my choice to receive Holy Communion from the ordained only. But I digress and will return us back to the topic at hand. Let's explore the lists some, shall we?
The first list begins with a list of Processional Chants for Advent (Entrance Songs) - their wording. Good: the category wasn't Gathering Songs. However, look at the first two titles:
Advent Gathering Rite (Daigle)
Advent Gathering Song (Chepponis)
Now, let me remind the readers that there is NO SUCH THING as a "gathering rite". Going through the rest of the category, you'll see that only TWO titles of the twenty have hymn tunes. Those are O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and Wake, O Wake, and Sleep No Longer (which is also known by an earlier translation Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying). Best bets on that category are those two, and even better: Psalm 25 (different settings), as that Psalm covers the Introit (and Offertory) for Advent I.
One look under the Psalm Settings for Advent leads to Lectionary Psalms, as well as those Lectionary antiphons with Grail verses (as you would see in Worship III). But then you see those non-Lectionary Psalms that would serve better as Communion responsories or even music during the Offertory. One example is the song Hold Me in Life, based in part on Psalm 25. Hold Me in Life is better than most in the line of contemporary pieces, in my opinion, but is a paraphrase at best of the Psalm and does not fit the bill as a Responsorial Psalm, as prescribed by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM). I would have no problem using it at Communion, however.
Now, on the fourth list, you'll see all the music listed for funerals. Despite the categories they're placed under, much of it is nothing but the "greatest hits" collections of two of the "big three" publishers. Go a little further and you find this for Holy Thursday:
Chants to Accompany the Blessed Sacrament to the Altar of Repose
I Am the Bread of Life/Yo Soy el Pan de Vida (Toolan)
In the words of Jeff Foxworthy - here's your sign!
Something in these lists tell me, "Be afraid! Be very afraid!"
Peace,
BMP
CMAA TO HELP OUT THE BCL
Full story from Musica Sacra
On October 9, 2006, the US Bishops Subcommittee on Music and Liturgy will meet for a consultation for revisions of Music in Catholic Worship (1972) and Liturgical Music Today (1982). Two representatives from the Church Music Association of America will be there to help out:
(This clip from the post at Musica Sacra):
William Mahrt, president of the Church Music Association of America and music professor at Stanford University, has indicated his desire to represent the CMAA at this meeting. CMAA Vice-President, Horst Buchholz, Director of Sacred Music at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and Associate Professor of Music at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, will also attend the meeting on behalf of the Archdiocese of Denver.
The fact that a reputable organization like the CMAA will be represented is great news. Does anyone know if any Adoremus reps will be there?
Peace,
BMP
On October 9, 2006, the US Bishops Subcommittee on Music and Liturgy will meet for a consultation for revisions of Music in Catholic Worship (1972) and Liturgical Music Today (1982). Two representatives from the Church Music Association of America will be there to help out:
(This clip from the post at Musica Sacra):
William Mahrt, president of the Church Music Association of America and music professor at Stanford University, has indicated his desire to represent the CMAA at this meeting. CMAA Vice-President, Horst Buchholz, Director of Sacred Music at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and Associate Professor of Music at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, will also attend the meeting on behalf of the Archdiocese of Denver.
The fact that a reputable organization like the CMAA will be represented is great news. Does anyone know if any Adoremus reps will be there?
Peace,
BMP
Monday, July 3, 2006
CMAA Colloquium, Washington, D.C.
The week of June 20-25, 2006, I attended the Sacred Music Colloquium, “Restoring the Sacred”, the annual conference for directors of music and organists of the Church Music Association of America, of which I am a member. The CMAA is a professional society of Roman Catholic directors of music and is affiliated with the International Society of Sacred Music in Rome, founded by Pope Paul VI. The colloquium takes place on the campus of the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
The yearly conference is an opportunity for Catholic church musicians from around North America to meet for study of sacred polyphony and Gregorian chant. Polyphony was directed this year by Horst Buchholz, director of music at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Denver, Colorado. The advanced chant schola was instructed by Scott Turkington of St. John the Evangelist Church, Stamford, Connecticut.
Each day began with Matins, sung in English, in one of the chapels of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. After breakfast, conference attendees convened for two hours of polyphony rehearsal. Gregorian chant rehearsal took place each afternoon for two hours. During these rehearsals, we studied the propers for mid-day Mass, celebrated in Latin or English in one of the Basilica chapels or a private chapel on the CUA campus. In addition to the chant propers, we studied and learned numerous motets and two complete Mass ordinaries: the Haßler “Missa ‘Maria Dixit’”, and the Rheinberger Mass in f minor. On Thursday, June 22, a solemn high requiem Mass was celebrated for CMAA members who had died in the past year. The requiem Mass was celebrated in Latin, chanted in its entirety and included the sequence Dies Irae. On Saturday, June 24, the solemn high Mass for the feast of St. John the Baptist was celebrated at the nearby Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land. The Mass ordinary was the Gregorian Missa IV with the propers for the day. Motets included the Rivaflecha “Anima mea liquefacta est”, and the Lassus “Improperium”. The conference concluded on Sunday, June 25 with solemn high Mass celebrated at the Franciscan monastery. The Mass included the chant propers for the 12th Sunday of the year, and the Mass ordinary for the day was the Rheinberger f minor for SATB choir and organ.
The colloquium doubled in size this year, with more and more directors of music, organists, and choir members dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Church’s sacred music tradition, as affirmed by the Second Vatican Council, by Pope John Paul II, and especially now by our current Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. So great were the numbers wishing to learn more about the Church’s own music, that this year, the number of participants unfortunately had to be limited. We pray to St. Cecilia that this trend continues as it does, and that next year, our numbers once again might double.
A few of the colloquium participants this year were teenagers and many were in their early 20’s. I would estimate approximately three quarters of the participants were under 45 years old. This gives us great hope for the future, that so many young people are taking interest in the Church’s sacred music, attracted not only by the music’s inherent beauty and the majesty it lends to the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries, but also by the stability and connectedness such music provides, rooted firmly in some 2000 years of sung worship. We pray that the Holy Spirit continue to guide us as we work continually to restore to regular liturgical use the treasury of the Church’s musical legacy.
Sunday, July 2, 2006
Colloquium Locutions
Our friend Tyler Mitchell from the Liturgy Forum and I both attended the recent sacred music colloquium in Washington, D.C. A full report of the event will follow shortly, but in the meantime, here is a list we compiled of a few random quotes that flew into the air and tickled our ears and rather dry senses of humor/humour. Since much of the quote depends on the context, I'll try to provide as much as possible in italics.
Altos trying to take control of what's rehearsed? "I'M running this rehearsal, yes?"
Sopranos flat? "There is only ONE fifth in this scale."
Rehearsed a phrase five times, and the sopranos still get it wrong? "Short-term memory loss: sign of Alzheimer's."
Stupid liturgist in your parish who hates polyphony? "According to the Liturgical Rainbow Coalition, this music makes the Mass too long. However, the Gloria to the Mass of Cremation is twice as long as the Rheinberger Gloria."
Altos flat then correcting the held note? "Whoever seeks shall find."
Sopranos singing without thinking? "Make sure the light is on in your head."
Sopranos clueless? "Eight sopranos don't realize there is a back page to the Ave Verum. Please turn to page 4 after page 3. It's the second ending."
Choir trying to sing a new vocalise during the demonstration? "How can you sing something you haven't even heard yet?"
Tenor disgruntled about that high A: "Man, that tenor line is high! Anything higher and we're gonna have to use pliers."
Oh, thou schola, pretty please? "Will you let me slow you down there?"
Don't hijack their part! "Sopranos, you're singing the tenor line. The tenors are seductive, yes? But we just can't have that in church."
Altos trying to take control of what's rehearsed? "I'M running this rehearsal, yes?"
Sopranos flat? "There is only ONE fifth in this scale."
Rehearsed a phrase five times, and the sopranos still get it wrong? "Short-term memory loss: sign of Alzheimer's."
Stupid liturgist in your parish who hates polyphony? "According to the Liturgical Rainbow Coalition, this music makes the Mass too long. However, the Gloria to the Mass of Cremation is twice as long as the Rheinberger Gloria."
Altos flat then correcting the held note? "Whoever seeks shall find."
Sopranos singing without thinking? "Make sure the light is on in your head."
Sopranos clueless? "Eight sopranos don't realize there is a back page to the Ave Verum. Please turn to page 4 after page 3. It's the second ending."
Choir trying to sing a new vocalise during the demonstration? "How can you sing something you haven't even heard yet?"
Tenor disgruntled about that high A: "Man, that tenor line is high! Anything higher and we're gonna have to use pliers."
Oh, thou schola, pretty please? "Will you let me slow you down there?"
Don't hijack their part! "Sopranos, you're singing the tenor line. The tenors are seductive, yes? But we just can't have that in church."
Friday, May 26, 2006
Summer Music Colloquium
Liturgical Music and the Restoration of the Sacred
The Sixteenth Annual Summer Music Colloquium
Tuesday, 20 June 2006 - Sunday, 25 June 2006
The Catholic University of AmericaWashington, D.C.Sponsored by the Center for Ward Method Studies of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Musicin collaboration with the Church Music Association of America
Download a registration form at www.musicasacra.com.
Liturgical Music and the Restoration of the Sacred
The Sixteenth Annual Summer Music Colloquium
Tuesday, 20 June 2006 - Sunday, 25 June 2006
The Catholic University of AmericaWashington, D.C.Sponsored by the Center for Ward Method Studies of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Musicin collaboration with the Church Music Association of America
Download a registration form at www.musicasacra.com.
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