|
| Musical Musings: CNP Feedback |
|
CNP Feedback - Ultreya MusicThe "Feedback Box" on the CanticaNOVA Publications website has proven quite effective in promoting communications on a variety of subjects, and expressing concerns of liturgists and musicians. From time to time, we'll compile a few of these questions or comments and put them in public view, with the hope that others with similar concerns may benefit from their content.
Q. Dear CNP:
Third, I question the use of the ambo for all the pre-announcements before Mass and after Mass, used extensively for talks, announcements, etc.
I must admit that I felt extremely uncomfortable in light of GIRM #309, which says "only."
A. Dear Kersie: Thanks for your kind words about the CNP website. We're glad you find it useful — our philosophy is to stay very close to the Church and her documents [like the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and the GIRM]. Let me try to help with your questions about the music at the Grand Ultreya Mass you attended. This is part of the Cursillo Movement, and I must admit my lack of experience here. I've never been to any Cursillo events, but they have been sponsored at my parish, which tends to be very orthodox and faithful. I understand that much good can come from these sessions / retreats / meetings and my remarks should not in any way denigrate the spiritual benefit to be had through Cursillo. I do know that the music is almost exclusively "contemporary" and "folksy" in style. I'm not sure if that's a "requirement" by the Cursillo organization, or simply a result of using the songbooks that they publish, which are filled with that kind of music. Curious … could one do a whole Cursillo with Gregorian chant? Now that might interest me. Here are the contents of three music collections published by Cursillo: Serenade Songs
DeColores
Palanca Songs
There is nothing wrong with singing all of this kind of music at meetings, at prayer services, at concerts, etc. Most of the titles, I don't know at all. Of the ones I recognize, I'd only consider singing one or two at Mass. These all really represent what could be called "religious/inspirational" music, which has its place in car stereos, homes, prayer meetings, iPods, etc. A major problem in our Catholic parishes is confusing "religious/inspirational" music with "sacred/liturgical" music. The first does not belong at Mass; the second does. The three songs you mentioned, while not found in these Cursillo songbooks, were certainly in the "coffee-shop" or "rock concert" style. Here's the beginning text of the first one:
I woke up in darkness surrounded by silence It seems like a para-psychology song, focused intently on the singer … not on God. The second has lyrics a bit more suited to worship, almost a psalm paraphrase:
Chorus Again, it's very ego-centric — all about what I'm doing and what's happening to me. The music, though, is very simplistic; it sounds like a song for a country road rather than a church. The third one:
Verse 1 has music that puts me in mind of a commercial for a Vacation Resort Destination. So, aside from the strong secular connotations and the introspection, what's wrong with these songs at Mass? These are not appropriate for liturgy because they deviate and fall very short of what the Church asks of us at Mass, both in text and in music. Holy Mother Church offers her children the ideal texts for the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ to his Father in Heaven. We don't need to move any further than the Proper texts given by the Church. On whatever day you attended the Mass after the Grand Ultreya, there was a Proper text that should have been sung at the beginning — a text from Scripture itself: God's divinely-inspired words, not a contemporary composer's. For example:
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry to you all the day long. How can we substitute that Scripture with, "I woke to reality losing its grip on me"? As insanely far as these contemporary lyrics have moved from sacred Scripture, particularly the Psalms, that's how unsuitable they are for worship. The music, too, needs to be examined. The ideal music for singing the Proper texts is noble and ancient Gregorian chant, given in the Church's official songbook, the Graduale Romanum. This music is our history and tradition as Roman Catholics. In his motu proprio, Tra le sollecitudini (a document having profound influence on the liturgical writings of Vatican II), Pope Saint Pius X writes, The more closely a Church composition approaches Gregorian Chant in movement, inspiration, and feeling, the more holy and liturgical it becomes; and the more it deviates from this supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple. One can hear just how far these "religious/inspirational" songs do indeed deviate from Gregorian chant. Never could we mistake one for the other! It's my opinion that the music you heard at the Grand Ultreya Mass, and almost all of the "feel-good" music from the end of the 20th century, is mired in personal emotions and individual feelings — both of which are supremely antithetical to the corporate, universal and sacred dimension of true liturgical worship. "I can see the light before I see the sunrise" while I'm jogging; but "Have mercy on me, O Lord" while I'm praying with the Church at Mass. Regarding the use of the ambo for "mundane" announcements, it's certainly not ideal. However, the rubrics [reserving the ambo for sacred purposes only] never expect us to do the impossible. If the church was large and there was no other microphone available with which to be heard, perhaps an exception was in order. The perfect placement of the singers: a choir loft. Traditional churches had lofts so the singers could be easily heard without being seen and "admired" or "idolized." I know churches, though, whose choir loft is used as storage or overflow seating, while the folk ensemble stands in the front, concertizing. Until pastors find the humility to at least understand the ad orientem posture (which puts them and the people facing the same direction), there will be little incentive to deny prideful singers their elated rush of "interacting with the audience."
Gary Penkala
|
Back to CNP Feedback IndexSubmit Your Music / Contact Us / Company Description / Links