Dale Price of Dyspeptic Mutterings waxes indignant on the expectations of the Choir-Robed Masters in the Church Loft that thou shalt sing:
CRM: "Many Catholics still find singing in church a problem, probably because of the rather individualistic piety that they inherited. Yet singing has been a tradition of both the Old and the New Testament. It is an excellent way of expressing and creating a community spirit of unity as well as joy. Ephrem’s hymns, an ancient historian testifies, ‘lent luster to the Christian assemblies.’ We need some modern Ephrems — and cooperating singers — to do the same for our Christian assemblies today."
DP: "Ah, yes — one of the great evils of our time — individualistic piety! I suppose I should be thankful that the commenter didn’t mention fish on Fridays, too. The Borg Collective approach to liturgical reform is bent on stamping that out. You see it in the diktats from the liturgy offices demanding that the faithful Keep Standing and Singing, Dammit! after receiving the Eucharist. Resistance is futile — you will experience renewal. Thou shalt not engage in private prayer in the liturgy.
"Nope — no can do. I need time alone with God, and I’ll take that time, thank you. After that, you can hit the spinner and try to tell me where my hands and feet go next (red dot, blue dot) in the remarkably creative interpretation of the rubrics, thanks."
Personally, I rather like singing — whether pew mates like to hear me sing is another question — but I can completely understand why not many join me from the congregation in doing so. The melodies are difficult to learn within the first verse or so, and sometimes the lyrics are downright embarrassing. For example, I absolutely refuse to sing about consubstantiation (e.g., "Supper of the Lord"). However, the upside to knowing well the lyrics to popular contemporary hymns is the ability to play the Catholic version of annoying your friends with rounds of "It’s A Small World." One round of "Table of Plenty" is plentiful enough to stick in a friend’s head for the rest of the day. So, if you get a banal hymn stuck in your head, share the misery:
"Come to the feast of heaven and earth,
Come to the table of plenty!
God will provide for all that we need,
Here at the table of pleeeennteeeee!"
You’re welcome.
What drives me absolutely crazy is the assault on the poor masculine pronouns that used to appear frequently and happily in church hymns.
There are many examples of this idiotic practice, but let me cite one instance that comes to mind.
There is a hymn called “Seek the Lord,” whose refrain USED to say,
“Seek the Lord, while he may be found
Call to him will he is still near.”
It NOW says:
“Seek the Lord, whose mercy abounds,
Call aloud to God who is near.”
All the offensive male pronouns have been removed to appease the delicate sensibilities of … WHOM?
This is insanity multiplied. The very masculine word “Lord” remains, but all the pronouns that refer to this masculine noun have been excised. Who are we kidding?
With the pronouns removed, it is incoherence, not mercy, that abounds. Is the “Lord” in the first line the same person as the “God” in the second line? Are we referring to the second person of the trinity in the first line, and the first in the second? It is the concept of “Lordship” that’s to blame for the presence of masculine pronouns in the original version. Why retain the concept of “Lordship,” yet run those poor, innocent pronouns out of church?
If the authors of the hymns we sing in Church must bow to political correctness, can they not at least re-write their hymns in English?
What about if you’d like to sing along, but you can’t because it is truly impossible to follow along with the musicians? At my parish, this is a problem. Sometimes, the guitar is so loud and the woman singing is so quiet, we can’t even tell what song we are supposed to be singing. Sometimes those singing are singing in such a way that we just can’t follow. I think the problem in our parish is that these are volunteers, and that they aren’t aware that there is a difference between singing FOR people and LEADING people in song. I also think that they often don’t have the opportunity to practice together…I think the guitar player is trying to play along with the singer, and the singer is trying to sing along with the guitarist, but they aren’t really in sync, and they tend to come off choppy, and inconsistent in speed. Anyways, whatever is going on, the result is a slow, torturous dirge.
As a side note/question…what is the deal with singing everything to the tune of the same song?? For example, singing Agnus Dei, Sanctus, Our Father, etc to the tune of O Come, O come Emmanuel…
I think the worst thing that most churches have done is instigated…erm, instituted cantors or small choirs for the Masses. I’m an alto, but most of the female singers are soprano, so I can’t reach those notes. I feel sorry for the men, too, because the choir seems to have more tenors than baritones to set the pitch.
In my hometown parish, the organist started the hymn, but everyone sang. (And I mean EVERYONE.) When I subbed on the piano one summer, I was told to use the microphone to announce the song and page number, then to start the first phrase of the song. That is all. I also had to drop the key of several songs to accommodate more of the male parishioners.
Then again, we had this wonderful Bernardine nun, Sister Agnes Edwina, who taught us all to sing and give back to God what He’d given us (even if He gave us a voice like a cat in a fanbelt). Oh, and I do mean He. I remember when the words of “Let Peace Begin With Me” were changed from “brothers all are we”, Sister and the (female) music director told us to ignore the new wording.
Thanks Michelle, now that hideous song will be in my brain the rest of the day.
My favorite “no male references” change in song is “Whatsoever you do to the least of God’s people, that you do unto me”
I find all the changes annoying, but that one in particular.
I’ve been humming “Table of Plenty” on and off for the last hour…and now I remember whose fault it is!
Many thanks…I will try to pass on the joy.
[Rant Mode: ON]
I don’t mind singing at Mass, even though I can’t carry a tune. But I will not sing any song written by Haygen, Haas, or Schutte. Hymns should (amoung other things) praise God, not affirm our OK-ness.
I also refuse to sing a song singing God in the first person.
[Rant Mode: OFF]
It’s easy to complain about lousy worship music, dicey lyrics, intrusive choir directors, etc., but at the end of the day this litany of the usual suspects doesn’t fully explain the sad musical diffidence of the Catholic in the pew.
I’m lucky enough to attend a church with
(a) a classically trained music director steeped in the musical heritage of the church;
(b) a hard-line pastor who would never, ever allow a “Glory and Praise” type ditty at Mass; and
(c) a glorious old-style mechanical pipe organ, one of the best in the state.
Every week we consistently have great music at Mass. It doesn’t matter. Catholics don’t sing. I do, and there are a couple of others, but most of the congregation doesn’t even open the missalette.
I don’t get it. Never have. (Don’t know whether Thomas Day’s book explains this or not. I never read it.)
I was at a mass at Philmony Scout Ranch, where the priest told us to sing loud if we had a great voice “to thank God for our voice.” However, if we had a lousy voice, to sing LOUDER “to get back at God for giving us that voice.” Reminded me of a friend who always used to say “the bible says to ‘sing a joyful song onto the Lord,’ not a beautiful one.”
I am very lucky to have a good parish, with a good choir (Cantors in Ecclesia). They also don’t give us the words to the more meditative songs, but still use easy-to-follow tunes for things everyone sings (even for my convert wife with no latin experience). I like not having to try to follow the song during communion, as I can’t get the words out of my head while trying to pray, but having a nice chant/polyphony background is wonderful.
I’m with Tom wholeheartedly. I can handle all of the insanely stupid lyrics, but the incredibly horrendous phrasing that people will go through to avoid saying him/he/his is absolutely driving me up the wall!!!!!!!!! Just as Tom said they will keep things like Lord or they will say Jesus (clearly a man), but he/him/his absolutely shall not be spoken!!!! ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGHH!
You have to forgive me. I thought my parish was somewhat sane, but last weekend they struck he/him/his from the responsorial (at least the part that the congregation sings the rest still had he/him/his’s). It’s like nails on a chalkboard to hear the ridiculous efforts to avoid using pronouns.
Brian
When were these “hymns” last contemporary? 1972?
Another symptom of the liturgical abuse with which the Church has suffered since Vatican II–bad music (tunes really not suited for the average, untrained voice) and even worse texts. When parishes insist on a more professional approach to music, as Mr. Greydanus’ parish does, that will be a big step toward alieviating what we consider to be the problem.
And yet, if my own experience is any indication, it wouldn’t make Catholics sing. We would have fewer occasions of stumbling at Mass, and that would be a good thing, but the problem of Catholics not singing is bigger than what the musical (anti-)establishment is trying to ram down our throats.
Almost every week before Mass, our music director (a 50ish woman) grabs the microphone and gives the following “exhortation”:
Music-Lady: “Good morning!!!”
Congregation: “Good morning” [half-hearted]
Music-Lady (in condescending tones): “Now I know that you can all do better than that! Let’s try again: Good morning!!!” [she literally says this every…single…week]
Congregation: “Good morning” [loud enough to shut her up]
ML: “Today we are singing blah, blah, blah”
[then she’ll review certain stanzas and give extraneous comments on various topics]
ML (sternly, like a kindergarten teacher to her class): “Remember that you are the main choir for Mass and the main participants [and sometimes she even says “main celebrants”]. There is no reason not to sing loudly.” [except for the fact that the dreck you pick for us to sing is not worth the effort]
ML: “Have a great celebration and have a great week!”
What I like best about my parish is that while they have a bad small choir, the fan fare they put on for Easter and Christmas and every other major feast day is awesome! Trumpets, french horns, organ, its fitting and wonderful! now, if they would just get rid of frikin “amazing grace” Id be happy, i refuse to sing that song, i hate it. AND that God-forsaken OCP missal! YUCK! change it to Gather if you have to, anything but that! I agree that hymns should adore and praise Our Lord, venerate Our Lady and Worship the Heavenly Father.
And yet, if my own experience is any indication, it wouldn’t make Catholics sing. We would have fewer occasions of stumbling at Mass, and that would be a good thing, but the problem of Catholics not singing is bigger than what the musical (anti-)establishment is trying to ram down our throats.
In the parishes I’ve attended I’ve found that the people will often sing traditional hymns (like ‘Immaculate Mary’) but they won’t really sing the OCP-style stuff. Of course this is just anecdotal evidence, but I don’t think that Catholics have any special animus against singing. Perhaps they simply have a better sense of what music is appropriate for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
‘When were these “hymns” last contemporary? 1972?’
The funny thing is that, while a lot of the SLJ’s music did come out in the 70’s (but it was only their first album, Neither Silver nor Gold, that came out around ’72), it was only rather later that they went back and reworked the songs to get rid of the male pronouns and the references to humanity as ‘man’ or ‘men’.
Unlike a lot of people, I don’t really have a problem with their (at least earlier) music, though I can see that it doesn’t always have all the checks and balances to keep it from being used in a heterodox manner (and that it doesn’t have the same solemnity).
I am, however, in full agreement with all those who dislike the reworking to avoid the masculine. It makes it so much clumsier and makes it loose so much of its meaning.
But I’m terribly sorry for those of you who hate Haas’s and Haugen’s music, because they have written some nice stuff (I think I can concede that they have also written some horrid stuff as well, though).
I wonder if it’s a general phenomenon that the post VII composers (of a certain sort) get worse and worse the more they write (after a certain point, I suppose).
That’s one of my pet peeves too – the contortions involved in trying to avoid the words he or him when referring to God. Last time it happened I leaned over to my husband and whispered, in my best Daffy Duck voice, “Aha! Pronoun trouble!”
(OK, I shouldn’t crack him up in church. But he’s done it to me, with comments on some of the more inane hymns, so we’re even.)
“And yet, if my own experience is any indication, it wouldn’t make Catholics sing. We would have fewer occasions of stumbling at Mass, and that would be a good thing, but the problem of Catholics not singing is bigger than what the musical (anti-)establishment is trying to ram down our throats.”
I think it is a cultural thing…Catholics have been so inculturated not to sing that even when the music is good, they don’t. This is especially true among the Irish and other Catholic groups used to saying their Masses in silence due to persecution.
In my experience, our parish had this old priest who, when he sees the congregation unwilling to sing, sings in his own gravelly voice. That embarrasses the congregation into singing, just to cover it up, hehehe.
I sympathize with SDG’s parish, having a phenomenal music program and yet not having a strong singing congregation. Without having gone there, and yet having critically read Thomas Day’s book on Why Catholics Can’t Sing, I would suspect that in SDG’s parish, the music can be so professionally done that the average congregant might feel compelled to let the musicians do their thing, so as to not interfere with the quality. I’ve been to my share of wonderful choral masses, in which I feel stifled in not being able to participate, lest my lone voice would interfere with the beauty being displayed.
I think there can be a balance in terms of choosing those songs that, first and foremost, worship God, instead of focusing interiorly upon ourselves, whether in a God-to-man lyric, or a community hugfest. Singing is supposed to be praying twice, but it isn’t praying twice if the lyrics really aren’t … praying.
I also think there is a proper balance in finding songs that are simple enough to sing, but contain profound melodies. By simple, I don’t mean childish ditties. I mean songs with enough internal repetition that the average congregant would get it. A lot of older hymns typify this, and while I’m not in the all-hymns-all-the-time camp, I do sense that those songs work partially because throughout time they have been proven, whereas many of the contemporary songs have not.
We had a Mass of Thanksgiving by newly ordained Father Chris Turner at my home church last night. The first two hymns were “Praise To You, O Christ Our Savior” for opening, and “Awake, O Sleeper” for the sprinkling rite. Both are of recent vintage (the latter is by Haugen) but I enjoyed them. Like Maria, I can concede that Haugen has written some stuff that’s not so good (*cough*CanticleOfTheSun*cough*) but “Sleeper” is one of his classier efforts IMHO.
I find it pretty annoying when people don’t sing, because I badly need some company…and someone to cover up my mistakes. 🙂
There are a lot of bad hymns out there, yuppers. But I’ll admit to sympathizing with the composers on occasion. Writing hymns just isn’t like writing any other kind of song. Talking about God tends to expose all sorts of problems: bad metaphors, bad theology, bad and banal bits of tune. When I was a kid, I always thought the old hymns tended to be boring and unadventurous. Now I can see they were just trying not to say too much and run into trouble.
But all hymns are in competition with all other hymns, including the biblical ones. Also, all hymns are ultimately failures, since you will never be adequately able either to praise and thank God, or to teach people about Him. You have to be somebody quite strongminded to stand up against that and keep writing, which is why so many of the best hymns are inspired one-shots.
But there’s a lot to be said for hymns, too. That St. Ephraem of Syria had some very good bits, though his songs seem almost too grounded in time and place. I really liked the bit about how looking into a breach in the city wall was like looking into a mirror: the folks outside saw God in His wrath coming against them, and the folks inside saw God in His love protecting them.
There was a point there somewhere…oh, yeah. If you want better music, get involved or encourage music-loving friends and relatives to do so. Get on a parish liturgy committee, maybe. Start a parish music appreciation club, or a schola, or a parish group that sings at nursing homes. Write new and better hymns and Masses and stick ’em up on the Internet. There’s no point just grousing about it; that’s the same as giving up, except with more personal stress.
Idea!
Instead of a “carnival”, maybe we should have a St. Blog’s Music Festival. The Church is supposed to be a patron of the arts, no? So no grousing essays (we already know all of each other’s arguments); just music in praise of God (and Mary, and the saints, and the sacraments, and….). Put MP3s up of our own hymns and non-secular songs and sacred compositions, or of us performing public domain works.
For people who don’t have their own websites, I’m sure the organizers could find a bit of webspace and stick ’em on. People could even “phone in” their performances through that audioblog thingy.
(Maybe also some informational essays. But frankly, I’m thinking we’d get more attention and fun by just keeping it to music. Still, what’s a music festival without a few workshops? But no competition or prizes. Contests and awards can be real community-destroyers, especially on the Web. I’ve found myself knee-deep in bitterness and flames too often for that.)
I bet there’s a lot of folks out there who have hidden talents in this area. Why don’t we do it? It’d be fun.
In my parish I have been arguing for better music for 10 years now but to no avail. What I particularly object to is the music “minister’s” choice of music for the second communion song [it certainly is not a hymn], which of course is not needed. What is needed is some silence so that communicants can “communicate” with Jesus whom they just received. The music minister often arranges the second song, so that it sounds like a musical or operatic stage event. This often elicits applause from the congregation, which is a terrible. I have quoted Hans Urs von Balthsar’s comments on this to her and the pastor, which is that if we celebrate ourselves during the liturgy instead of the one who should be celebrated, namely Jesus, we are engaging in an evil [Balthasar’s word] act. I agree. But what’s a person to do? At times I need to attend mass at our cathedral in order to participate in a proper liturgy.
Here’s something that always bugs me: what’s up with the whole ending-after-two-stanzas-without-regard-to-the-text thing? It’s like the songs are just incidental music, to fill in the places where no one’s talking. I can understand why one wouldn’t want to sing all 15 stanzas of Jesus the Very Thought of Thee, but really, there are times when the text demands that we wait and finish the last stanza even though the procession has already reached the altar. Especially with some of those Christmas and Easter songs which contain narratives. It’s sort of the same let’s-get-it-over-with mentality that leads us to sing only one stanza of the national anthem at baseball games, even though that stanza deliberately ends on a note of doubt which is resolved later on in the poem.
I’m curious what you think of Haugen’s Mass settings. I’m not a particularly huge fan of the horrendously-overplayed “Mass of Creation” (I read on another message board that someone thought it was “haunted house music,” which sums it up pretty well I suppose) but I actually don’t mind his lesser-known “Mass of Remembrance,” even though it is almost impossible for a non-musician to sing. Other than that, the only Haugen work I can marginally tolerate is “Shepherd Me O God” (even though the fourth verse, with its rock ballad chord progression and feeling of a drumbeat, is AWFUL, the rest of the piece at least has a decent, singable melody).
Man, I feel so Blessed! I complain about my parish, but it’s time for me to thank the Lord! I am a member of a large cathedral. People come from all over the local area to worship, and we all sign to fill a grand space with a joyful noise and to worship God in His Word and Sacrament. Glory and Praise, no way! The choir sings Mozart Masses, chants the Latin Gloria, even the Latin Creed. In our music God is glorified.
How does this happen? I can’t say, but here are some observations, some of which might apply to any parish regardless of its size:
Our Archbishop, especially in his cathedral, strictly enforces the GIRM.
We have a great Pastor and Music Director who train us to follow it.
We treat people like they’re smart; we expect nothing less than their best.
We’re a well-educated parish with a strong adult Religious Ed
We have a printed order of worship every Sunday.
We have a traditional hymnal in every pew.
The order (and style) of music is the same at all Masses.
Does anyone else have observations from other great churches?