I came across an update of recommended songs for Catholic churches in Australia that was put out last year – which shows how I don’t keep up to date on these things anymore – and it raised rather a lot of issues.
This is part of the ongoing deleterious effect on the Church from Liturgium Authenticum from way back in 2001. Whatever the original intent of this document, it became an attempt from Rome to control the English speaking Catholic churches and has done all sorts of terrible things. The main evil was the appalling Latin to English transliteration of the Mass that priests have been attempting to proclaim for the last decade. LA led to decisions that appeared to have been made by people who didn’t speak any English and certainly without any appreciation of Australian English. The recent Plenary in Australia recognised this translation as deficient, when it called for a new one from the Bishop’s Commission for Liturgy.
Another consequence was requirement of Bishop’s conferences to produce a list of suitable songs for review by the CDW (now the the Dicastery for Divine Worship etc etc) and obtain their recognitio. LA was an instrument of control in that it determined that the repertiore should “remain relatively fixed”, once they got rid of anything they found threatening. Of course at a parish level with minimal resources and few musicians, the selection is often fixed for other reasons. Possibly the era the organist knows – maybe the 70s, or from when they could last afford hymn books – Gather Australia or As One Voice. I doubt this is exactly how LA wanted if fixed, as it was not centrally controlled.
This was all occurring in the era of central repression that saw fine people like Bishop Morris taken down at the whim of Rome. I don’t recall any great rush to get this music selection done around the world – I’d be fascinated to know if anyone else bothered – but in Australia the NLMB was formed in 2005 and by 2009 they had created their list for approval by their betters at the Vatican. Under those circumstances it is not surprising that they picked a lot of old tunes that wouldn’t confuse or alarm the CDW.
This list was the bedrock of CWB II which it was largely superceded by, as it was meant to be the hymn book for the Australian Church. There is a very helpful list of songs that got a tick of approval without getting a guernsey in CWBII, but CWB II is now our hymn book that every church is using.
Six years on from publication is it? Should it be? I can’t find what it’s sales are, but the fact that it is print on demand does not suggest a huge demand. I have the paperback “East German Green” edition that is functional as a resource. It’s deficits are well known. It was written by organists, for organists. Few songs have guitar chords – they are even removed in some cases. It might sit on an organ well but defeats most music stands due to its weight and general awkwardness. Not all the songs are covered by OneLicence. The song selection was already dated at publication and had few recent Australian songs. None of this is surprising considering the climate of its long gestation and the influence of cathedral organists on the book.
I wonder how many parishes had the money to buy full music editions for all their musicians and pew books for all their parishioners as they may have done in years past with GA and AOV. A lot of parishes rely on the musicians themselves to pay for sheet music now as there just isn’t a budget. The standard is now projected texts and any new sheet music purchased for download from AOV, GIA and OCP. CWB II was meant to have a digital edition soon after publication but I went looking for it today and cannot find it. Even parishes that sing their traditional repertoire well have little need for it, as public domain hymnals have most of the tunes.
Which brings me to the list of “exemplars” of contemporary music published with the update:
The following list provides some suitable examples of contemporary hymns and songs for use by the assembly that have been published since Catholic Worship Book II or which were included in overseas Catholic collections not considered at the time when CWBII was published. As so much contemporary music continues to be published, it is important to have some suitable examples with which to compare other pieces being considered for inclusion in liturgical celebrations.
They provide ten new songs and ten adaptations of old songs. With one exception, Paul Mason’s “Power of the Spirit”, they are American songs from the OCP/GIA axis. I have blogged all but one of the new songs over the years and I like them, although the Latin stylings of “Go Make a Difference” and “Alleluia! Raise the Gospel” need some adaptation for most parish ensembles and many of the others have P&W and Gospel roots that would function best with a full band. They are not really inculturated for Australian parishes.
However, do the Australian Bishops think that these are best examples for Australian parishes to be looking at for contemporary music? I suppose there must be no contemporary Australian music being written at all these days to use as exemplars. I am uncharitable enough to point out that of course there is, and much is available through Willow Publications and “As One Voice”. Maybe the problem is that AOV even now represents a serious competitor to CWB II. By not acknowledging their work in their list of approvals, it could appear to be an attempt to steer parishes away from the new AOV material in their digital store. Whether it is the intent or not, it doesn’t help a small company like Willow survive. The success of AOV has always been an issue for the Catholic church in Australia, as they were never under the control of the Bishops. The reality remains that for many parishes, AOV was the defacto Australian Catholic Hymn Book and CWB II did not supersede it at all, they just augmented it with new online sheet music purchases.
I know many disagree with me about CWB II, and I am very glad it meets the needs of their parish. I am curious if anyone knows what the penetration of CWB II into suburban and country parishes is generally. I also am interested in what people make of the ACBC recommendations – do they guide them and do they influence them to avoid non listed songs like those from Willow? I would welcome having gaps in my knowledge filled by those with different experiences. Australian Catholicism, in the cities and suburbs at least, is nearly congregational these days – if you don’t like the liturgy just try the next suburb, so there are a wide range of Australian Catholic liturgical expressions out there.
To be fair the article does says:
With local and international music publishers (and self-publishing composers) constantly producing new pieces of music it is not possible to provide an exhaustive listing of music which is appropriate for liturgical use. Many of these pieces will meet the criteria for appropriate inclusion within Catholic liturgical celebrations in Australia. The contents of Catholic Worship Book II constitute a benchmark to be met by music being considered for inclusion in Catholic liturgies in Australia.
I have a concern that due to its history CWB II isn’t much of a benchmark for an Australian parish. The latest exemplars being all American means our benchmarks from the Bishops are now OCP/GIA contemporary American and traditional hymnody from Europe. A fine mess for Australian Catholic music.