Comments on: Bishop Sample on Music at Mass

By: John

John — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:19:54 +0000

Thanks for the suggestion, William Serious. Turns out he directs near me. I think I’ll check it in person.

By: ARM

ARM — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:43:53 +0000

This is excellent! The true spirit of Vatican II: the next logical step after “Don’t pray at Mass; pray the Mass.” To me, tacking four hymns onto the liturgy is just about as appropriate as it was to pray the rosary during Mass, the way the little old ladies used to. Okay, if it’s all you can manage, and I’m sure God appreciates the good intentions, but it’s not how things are supposed to be. Also, a priest friend who’s of the same mind as Bishop Sample points out that the one time Catholic congregations do actually sing is when they’re singing parts of the Mass like the Lord’s prayer or the Preface dialogue.

By: William Serious

William Serious — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:40:11 +0000

There are actually quite a large number of Mass settings composed which were for the new translation. I’m partial to this one:
http://www.benesonarium.com/roman-missal/

By: Tom O'D

Tom O'D — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:59:14 +0000

Interesting stuff! If this is the start of a new wave of liturgical music, it’s going to take years and years and years to implement.

By: Anna Williams

Anna Williams — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:28:37 +0000

P.S. For anyone interested, I've just found an updated version (for the new translation) of Richard Proulx's Community Mass -- here on Youtube.

By: Anna Williams

Anna Williams — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:18:32 +0000

I'm guessing he mentions DeBruyn's Mass of the Resurrection (which can be heard on Youtube here) because it's one of relatively few settings that were written for the new translation of the Mass, meaning it's at least better than awkwardly shoehorning the new translation into old musical settings (as I've heard many parishes do). I'm not a huge fan of the Mass of the Resurrection either, and some of it (the Alleluia, for example) seems like the average congregation may have trouble singing it. I haven't heard Proulx's Mass settings but I'll check them out!

By: John

John — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:00:49 +0000

I thought this would be about a bishop sampling liturgical music maybe for a hip-hop album.

The bishop might be hyper-legalistic at times but I like the general direction. But why Mass of Resurrection? I’d prefer Schubert’s Deutsche Messe adapted by Proulx or any Proulx Mass.

One factoid from the GIRM I didn’t know: “Since the faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently, it is desirable that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Profession of Faith and the Lord’s Prayer, according to the simpler settings.”

Those are the parts least likely to be sung in Latin and I’m not sure they should be. They’re the most ecumenical prayers of the Mass. There’s value in reciting them in the vernacular. If we want to introduce more Latin/Greek I’d start with the Kyrie.