I don’t want to turn this blog’s focus entirely onto the Missal changes hitting the Catholic church at the end of the month. But on the heels of last week’s write-up (see below), I couldn’t help but share an article from today’s Washington Post, entitled “Mass changes have liturgists scurrying to craft new music.”
The first half of the article won’t be new to most. But the second half sparks a conversation that, while I’ve subconsciously thought about, I’ve yet to really dive into with anyone. It begs the question, “What type of new music will the Missal changes bring about?”
Will the “less rhythmic” changes to the Missal require musicians to churn out more traditional, chant-style pieces? Or will we continue to see more melodic, peppy, non-traditional settings? Or will most liturgical musicians, at the end of the day, simply stick with retrofitted settings (like the “Mass of Creation”)?
What do you think?
- MW
I tried “retrofitting” my “Glory to God” to conform to the new text and was left absolutely cold. The “old” Glory was what was called the ecumenical text, and by abandoning that for the “new” translation makes me wonder — is the Church intending to be less ecumenical? Yes, I think we may have to revert to a chant-mode; sorry, I’m not going that route. I was raised in a very traditional ethnic Catholic culture, yet welcomed Vatican II with much hope. Now all I have left is hope.
These “litnicks” have no idea about aesthetics concerning the marriage of the word and the music. They are clueless and sterile of thought as to how music can make common words elevate the listener to a higher spiritual realm. Be they bishops or common scribes, their obsession to the letter rather than to the thought makes me sick! Yet, we creative folk will find ways to adapt, without having to return to the Middle Ages and Gregorian Chant.
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