Christian Music

[Psalm23]

 

[Psalm23]

 

[Psalm23]

 

[Psalm23]

 

[Psalm23]

 

[InChrist]

 

[Psalm23]

 

[halbhh]

 

[halbhh]

I was going to offer 1, but another also popped up, so I'll offer 2.

 

[exchemist]

The problem is not only that the music we hear in our churches is dull, it is immature as well. The components—melody, harmony, rhythm, text—are simplistic; and what can we say about the instrumentation we hear in church? We wonder why teen-agers leave the church with such reckless abandon. Possibly we give them no challenge to reach for. Certainly we are underestimating their capacity for understanding music. There seems to be an almost universal consent that adolescents all love folk music in the church. Not true!

We have relied on amateurs, who have no memories of our great historical traditions and who have no understanding of modern music. Their background is exclusively secular. Therefore, they have little or no appreciation for liturgical celebration. Thus we have produced a body of musical materials that is “Catholic,” i.e., only found in Catholic churches. Our musical expressions are antithetical to our hopes for ecumenical outreach.

Moreover, we seem to feel that as Catholics it is inappropriate to have fine music in our churches. I cannot believe that attendance at symphony concerts is limited to Protestants, Jews and atheists.
The real reason most liturgical music is terrible | America Magazine

I know you posted this a year ago but I've only just come across it and I have to agree. One of the sad things is that Catholic schools don't seem to teach the traditional hymns and other music, the teachers having been brought up in the hip'n'trendy era of the 60s and 70s and trying desperately to get dahn wiv ve kids - a doomed enterprise. The cathedrals, or some of them, do still fly the flag for real music (Westminster Cathedral has a choir school and a world-renowned choir) but at parish level the effort is generally lamentable. Whereas in the Anglican church the music tradition remains strong.

My own parish is blessed with an excellent organist and does have a choir, which I was part of for many years, and still keeps a bit of musical tradition alive at Sung Mass each Sunday. It being Lent, last Sunday we sang the Attende Domine, which I am particularly fond of:

 

[halbhh]

I know you posted this a year ago but I've only just come across it and I have to agree. One of the sad things is that Catholic schools don't seem to teach the traditional hymns and other music, the teachers having been brought up in the hip'n'trendy era of the 60s and 70s and trying desperately to get dahn wiv ve kids - a doomed enterprise. The cathedrals, or some of them, do still fly the flag for real music (Westminster Cathedral has a choir school and a world-renowned choir) but at parish level the effort is generally lamentable. Whereas in the Anglican church the music tradition remains strong.

My own parish is blessed with an excellent organist and does have a choir, which I was part of many years, and still keeps a bit of musical tradition alive at Sung Mass each Sunday. It being Lent, last Sunday we sang the Attende Domine, which I am particularly fond of:

Yes, it's best for an apricot to be an apricot, and not try to be a kiwi fruit, is another way I'd say that.

Both are good.

One doesn't invalidate the other.

But rather, each should be fully appreciated in its own way is my attitude.

Let me illustrate, the music I love most of all kinds is probably Gregorian Chant (on most days)... -- and I loved to hear that you just posted -- yet....I'm not feeling distress we have none of that in our church. We have other fruit, which is good in its own way.

So, over time, I hear different things, some on my own. I enjoy the apricot taste in it's own way, and the kiwi, and when I want some banana, I can get that too.

While we easily made peace in our church, choosing to have different types of music in different services, sometimes people can feel as if everything depends on things being what they know works for themselves.

It's understandable.

Yet when an entirely different style of music came through on tour and chose our church for a performance, a powerful gospel choir -- and they blew the roof off with their very different style of music than any we ever have....

So different....

We danced and sang along at times, and no one seemed to need to judge it as wrong, even though it was so different.

That's what we should be, but you can totally understand that people love what they know from the past helps them best connect with God, in past days. So, we have different services with different types of music.
(if it seems theological to someone though, we can try to draw on Romans 14 NIV to help us)

 

[exchemist]

Yes, it's best for an apricot to be an apricot, and not try to be a kiwi fruit, is another way I'd say that.

Both are good.

One doesn't invalidate the other.

But rather, each should be fully appreciated in its own way is my attitude.

Let me illustrate, the music I love most of all kinds is probably Gregorian Chant (on most days)... -- and I loved to hear that you just posted -- yet....I'm not feeling distress we have none of that in our church. We have other fruit, which is good in its own way.

So, over time, I hear different things, some on my own. I enjoy the apricot taste in it's own way, and the kiwi, and when I want some banana, I can get that too.

While we easily made peace in our church, choosing to have different types of music in different services, sometimes people can feel as if everything depends on things being what they know works for themselves.

It's understandable.

Yet when an entirely different style of music came through on tour and chose our church for a performance, a powerful gospel choir -- and they blew the roof off with their very different style of music than any we ever have....

So different....

We danced and sang along at times, and no one seemed to need to judge it as wrong, even though it was so different.

That's what we should be, but you can totally understand that people love what they know from the past helps them best connect with God, in past days. So, we have different services with different types of music.
(if it seems theological to someone though, we can try to draw on Romans 14 NIV to help us)

Yes we have quite different music at the Family Mass, earlier on Sunday. That's more pop/folk style, which some people like. I hate it. But I went to an Anglican school and sang traditional church music and hymns, many of whch were written by top class composers. For example this one, a tune called Westminster Abbey, was composed by Henry Purcell, who was the organist at Westminster in the time of Charles II and William and Mary:

Or this, another of my favourites, by Orlando Gibbons, another Westminster organist, but at the time of James I :

 

[Apostle John]

The Lord of the Dance

 

[Kenny]

 

[pearl]

My own parish is blessed with an excellent organist and does have a choir, which I was part of for many years, and still keeps a bit of musical tradition alive at Sung Mass each Sunday. It being Lent, last Sunday we sang the Attende Domine, which I am particularly fond of:

We too were fortunate to have had a director of religious education who had a masters in liturgy and a gifted organist. Catechism classes always began with the introduction and familiarity with the hymns for the upcoming Mass. So we have a mixture of both, music performed by the choir to be breathed in and fill the soul, and those that are singable which allow us common folks to raise our own voices in praise.

 

[exchemist]

We too were fortunate to have had a director of religious education who had a masters in liturgy and a gifted organist. Catechism classes always began with the introduction and familiarity with the hymns for the upcoming Mass. So we have a mixture of both, music performed by the choir to be breathed in and fill the soul, and those that are singable which allow us common folks to raise our own voices in praise.

I've said before that one good thing Benedict XVI did was to try to rehabilitate music in the church. But the culture remains fairly philistine, I'm afraid.

 

[halbhh]

So many amazing songs around, and this below is exactly what my grandparents' church was like, but much larger.

Just try to imagine this same quality of singing with 400-500 singing this way instead of just 50, and you can maybe get an idea how that was

 

[Kenny]

So many amazing songs around, and this below is exactly what my grandparents' church was like, but much larger.

Just try to imagine this same quality of singing with 400-500 singing this way instead of just 50, and you can maybe get an idea how that was

I think hymns like these just make the world a better place

 

[metis]

I think hymns like these just make the world a better place

One of my favorites is "Let There Be Peace On Earth", and we badly need it at this time.

 

[Kenny]

One of my favorites is "Let There Be Peace On Earth", and we badly need it at this time.

I remember that song at a unity church that my aunt use to go to. She took me there.