I will have a few weeks break from blogging…see you in May.
Before I go, I have at times despaired at the quality of Catholic material posted on YouTube and the web in general. Especially when it relates to music there is little that resonates with any parish situation I have come across. I suspect that most of the people doing good work in the schools and parishes have neither the time nor inclination to create bitter YouTube channels ranting about the musical crimes committed against the faithful in Catholic churches.
I won’t link to ill tempered, uncharitable and uninformed commentary, but I was pleased to see ACU contributing to the space in constructive ways.
This brief talk from Steven Warner was good to listen to.
https://acucentreforliturgy.podbean.com/e/the-continuum
You can find more of their podcasts on varying subjects there:
https://acucentreforliturgy.podbean.com
There is also some posts about the ACU at Pray Tell.
Honestly, I don’t think, as a whole, the hierarchy have much interest in liturgy or music. There isn’t much on the ACBC website, with little more than a few liturgical documents. LiturgyLines from Queensland, an excellent weekly Q&A column that helped liturgically inclined people keep up to date with what was going and answered queries, disappeared several years ago. Fiona Dyball’s wonderful music suggestions, which covered all genres on Melbourne’s “The Summit Online” stopped updating perhaps two years back. Ironically, on the home page is the message:
‘The liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the fount from which all the Church’s power flows.’
—Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 1963, §10
Now here in Tasmania we have a conservative archbishop and a conservative master of ceremonies who approves everything before hand. At the cathedral Masses, Gather, 3rd edition, is the hymn source for the main Mass, not Catholic Worship Book II, and at the Triduum liturgies, many psalm settings were eighties paraphrases, three being from David Haas’s hands. The music was mostly the same as last year, so how much interest in liturgical music is there by the boss?
As an aside, I think CWB2 has generally commendable content, but the lack of chords, its weight, the inability of the accompaniment edition to lie flat, and usage of material not likely to be covered by OneLicense (important for those using projection) has really hindered the uptake of this resource.
Dorothy made a comment on this blog a week ago saying: “People who don’t know anything about liturgy and liturgical rubrics should not be allowed to lead music at Mass.” I agree, but it all starts at the top. I have read that the three H’s are the most important factors in getting people to come to Mass regularly: homilies, hospitality and hymns. There is work to be done!
Chris
I always thought those in charge did care, but only for cathedral music. They are happy for the rest to be voluntary, cost free and uncomplaining.
I’m surprised that CWB II is not in use at Hobart, the hierarchy must be even more head in the sand than I feared.
Perhaps I should feel comforted that no-one is interested enough to tell me what to play at mass. I don’t think I would be too happy with their choices.
Homilies are hamstrung by the quality of clergy in that area, and their fear of scandalising their little ones with anything that requires thought.
Hospitality should be better but there is often lacking a critical mass to achieve that – no, that’s not a good enough excuse for being anything less than welcoming.
Hymns, or music for the liturgy more generally, may need a new Bishop with an interest, but more likely something from the grass roots or schools. Where too many small churches have no singing or listen to recordings, we have an impoverished experience of church.
Thank you for your considered input, Chris. There is indeed work to be done.
Geoff
Just for clarification, only the music director and organist get paid at the cathedral. I certainly don’t (and shouldn’t)! We (Saturday Mass) use CWB2, but a few more copies would be needed if used at the Sunday morning Mass.
Back in the 80s when I first got involved with liturgy, liturgy committees were common in my neck of the woods. They were led by the priest and concerned not just music but the environment, prayers of the faithful, etc. We met about once a month and part of each session would be catechism, and the rest would be about supporting the liturgy. Most priests didn’t micromanage, but did, quite rightly, set a firm direction. There seemed to be a lot more energy and enthusiasm in those days, but I might be looking back via rose-tinted memory cells because we were all a lot younger then! Nevertheless, having congregational support and everyone on the same page for liturgy can’t be a bad thing.
Comment has been made here and elsewhere about paying church musicians, but I don’t know where the money would come from. I don’t know typical Australian rates, but based on a UK 2017 survey, it would seem that musicians there get around $100 for a wedding or funeral. That’s a lot if it were to be paid for each Mass, especially if there isn’t a large congregation. In my experience, most churches aren’t in great financial shape.
A final comment: Catholic liturgy has always put words ahead of music. Although I now focus on traditional style music (and will admit to reducing my frequency of looking at this blog when Emmanuel Music is getting a run!), the style of music at particular Mass doesn’t bother me if that is what helps a particular congregation to celebrate Mass better. I happily used As One Voice as the main source of music for about 15 years in a totally different setting to where I am now. Frankly it didn’t work when I came here, and what I do now wouldn’t have worked there. BUT, we should not be dumbing down liturgy with dreadful paraphrases with attractive tunes: all too often they take out uncomfortable parts of sacred texts that we need to hear.