Monday, March 04, 2013

THE B-LIST: QUESTIONABLE MUSICAL MOMENTS #12 – CAVEMAN

I don’t know, is it a good thing when you’re at the teen mass and the flute and drums start up, the first thing that jumps to mind is this…

Actually, I kind of prefer this to some of the hymns I’ve heard recently because this has an actual melody and isn’t played in a key that requires me to castrate myself before I can (try to) sing along with it.

Sorry. I’m in a mood. I’m just not convinced some of the stuff I hear at mass meets the criteria for liturgical music outlined in the Catechism, you know, “the beauty expressive of prayer, the unanimous participation of the assembly, and the sacred character of the celebration”, that stuff. But maybe I’m just old and crotchety. Either way, at the end of the day I’m certainly not more Catholic than the Church and I’ll (try to) sing along with whatever music she permits. Still, if you’re going to utilize songs that sound like they’re being played on bones, could you at least toss me one every now and then by playing a tune in my register?

8 comments:

Xena Catolica said...

My sympathies! The really infuriating part of bad church music is that chant is easy AND chant is very kind to folks with a limited range and/or zero musical talent. Yes, a trained choir makes chant sound better than a random selection of pewsitters, BUT chant makes random pewsitters sound a whole lot better than if they're singing some drek.

Our Orthodox sister Churches consider bad church art a sacrilege and forbid it, and I think they're way ahead of us on that. Bad music is liturgical abuse and ought to be banned like asbestos.

EegahInc said...

Oh well, baby steps. At our parish they're actually about to move the tabernacle to behind the altar after 10+ years of it sitting off in a corner. So I can be patient waiting on the music.

Scott W. said...

You might check this directory and see if any parishes are doing chant near you. http://musicasacra.com/registry/

Scott W. said...

At our parish they're actually about to move the tabernacle to behind the altar after 10+ years of it sitting off in a corner. So I can be patient waiting on the music.

P.S. Funny you should mention that, my parish is redoing the sanctuary. Gone will be the featureless stained-glass that will be replaced with stained-glass depicting saints. Gone will be this massive and unflattering plaster bas-relief of Our Lord doing the "touchdown" pose. Gone will be our tabernacle that was off to the side, again made of plaster, that looks like a remedial art project. It will be moved front and center.

I finally figured out what is happening though it is probably already obvious to everyone else: for many decades since the 70's the emphasis was on ecumenicism, so church architecture tended to blur Catholic distinctives. The crucifix was too much of a reminder that the Mass is primarily a sacrifice, so we started using resurrected/ascending depictions of Our Lord. The Eucharist is the center of the faith, but that is off-putting (if not offensive) to our separated brethren, so we move it to the side. And the diminishment of saints is obvious.

Now virtually every mainline denomination has gone off the rails into Secular Lefty Looneyland. There is simply no reason to pander any more, so we are seeing a move to recover Catholic identity. May it be so!

Scott W. said...

P.P.S "It will be moved front and center." should read, "It will be moved front and center and be something other than what looks like a remedial art project." :)

EegahInc said...

I knew something was going on last year when I went to mass and the glass kitchen bowls they had been using for the Eucharist had been replaced with actual gold ciboriums. It's actually kind of interesting watching the gradual shift.

Rocket Scientist said...

Good to hear the progress. I am blessed to go to a church where the marble altar rails were never removed (historic church got an exception from the Bishop) and have sung Gregorian Chant for 20 years. My only complaint in the suburban churches which have gone to part chant/part Life Teen (very odd) is that the chant is sung too slowly. It should be sonorous but not drag. However we all were beginners once. This will improve as more choir directors get some Chant School under their belts. I am curious: does anyone know how chant is being taught to choir members and directors? In our diocese the local Catholic college, the University of St. Thomas, teaches quarterly Chant classes in the evening. The downside: they charge full tuition rates.

Scott W. said...

I knew something was going on last year when I went to mass and the glass kitchen bowls they had been using for the Eucharist had been replaced with actual gold ciboriums.

Yep. Goes to Sacrifice vs. Community meal. If the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of the King of Kings, then they belong in unbreakable vessels of precious metal. During the ecumenical craze, this was softnened in favor of the "sharing of a meal" aspect, so you saw regular dining ware.

There was also kind of a get-back-to-the-early-Church craze as well, and there you would see rough clay vessels. They'd been watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade too long. :)