Musicians in Catholic Worship ­ III Bells and Whistles, Guitars and Tambourines

Adoremus ^ | October 2003 | Lucy Carroll

[AnAmericanMother]

My problem is with the modal scale on the pipes. If you listen carefully, the high "A" at the top tends to be flattened slightly. When the pipes hit the high "A" at the end of the 8th bar of "Amazing Grace", it really makes the hair stand up on my neck (and not in a good way).

But the REAL abomination of desolation is the "Star Wars" theme played on the pipes. THAT ought to be a capital offense.

After the '45 Rising, the pipes were banned as an "instrument of war" right along with the broadswords and ball-trigger pistols.

[xzins]

But, if we don't let the young and the new explore their gifts and have a means of sharing it, then we'll sacrifice the new, and the young ones will look elsewhere.

Give them the stage for a bit. Check out the JMTalbot link I gave AmericanMother.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002UEN/qid=1066402280/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-8988547-4487807?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

[conservonator]

I don't have a problem with new; I have a problem with bad.

Thanks for the link; I try to give it a listen.

[ArrogantBustard]

the modal scale on the pipes.

I actually like that ... it's part of their charm.

I've never heard "Star Wars" on the pipes ... the "main theme" just doesn't fit, but some of the others might.

[Desdemona]

The quick answer is to recruit musical Episcopalians.

Actually, there are plenty of us Catholics available. We're willing.

[AnAmericanMother]

Thanks. I found my way there about the same time you were posting (many of the other websites' clips won't play on windowsmedia).

First impressions (*a little unfair from short clips) - he has a very pleasant, warm voice although he forces it at times. The arrangements seem to me to fall between two stools - folk and pop - the strings are too much, and the choral harmonies are muddy. But several of the melodies are very striking and well composed. I would like to hear some of his melodies in a cleaner arrangement - say with a string quartet or backed with a very small SATB choir (10-15 solid folks with a good English sound.) But that's just me -- I think some of Rutter's arrangements are too lush. If I want lush, I'll go with Samuel Sebastian Wesley or C. V. Stanford. (Stanford's "How Beauteous Are Their Feet Who Stand on Zion's Hill" is one of the greatest of the Victorian barn-burners. Full throttle, tires smoking, I love it! :-D )

[AnAmericanMother]

The quick answer is to recruit musical Episcopalians.

Actually, there are plenty of us Catholics available. We're willing.

I know, but we have to get the choirmasters' heads on straight. And get the kids started early so they know what good music is supposed to sound like! :-D

[Desdemona]

Hey, my grandmother's old parish for a time had an accordian player. The guy was a member of the parish and they couldn't afford an organist, so he played. When the new pastor came, he didn't care for the accordian, though, and found money for an organist. That poor man was really hurt. You do have to be careful about it.

[xzins]

JMTalbot did a joint album with Michael Card a few years back....very, very good.

Check it out.

I think JM is some kind of monk someplace. (you can tell from that that I'm not catholic....just one who appreciates..)

[AnAmericanMother]

Oh, my gosh, what an awkward situation!

You haven't ever heard that country song about the old geezer they threw out of the choir 'cause he couldn't sing? It's a tear-jerker. On his deathbed he says that Jesus will let him sing in the heavenly chorus. I wish I could remember the title or the artist.

[ArrogantBustard]

an accordian player,
Another of the world's true oppressed minorities.

I look forward to the day when my parish Church is finally built, and we can move out of this blasted middle-school cafeteria. And have an organ. We've a fairly traditionally minded (graduate of Christendom College) choir director ... I think she's looking forward to it, too.

[AnAmericanMother]

I saw that album go by - it's one of the ones I couldn't get the audio clips to work on.

I'm not strictly classical - I adore the old Sacred Harp choral music. It's an old Southern Mountains musical tradition that's remained essentially unchanged for 250 years. It is four part a capella fuging tunes composed according to strict rules. I prefer to hear it sung by a trained choir, but if all I can get is the rural folks bawling it out at the tops of their powerful lungs, I'll take what I can get.

done in the more palatable way.

the original authentic sound with the bark still on (grit your teeth now.)

[AnAmericanMother]

For the starkest contrast, you'll find the tune "Windham" on both albums. Play 'em seriatim . . . ouch!

But a great way to spend a weekend is to go to a Sacred Harp singing out in the country. It doesn't sound so bad when you're right there in the middle belting out your part!

[dsc]

"Get excited about the new."

The so-called "new" is merely regression to more primitive forms and decadence.

For Church music, just look at the first two digits of the year of publication.

If the first digit is greater than 1, in the trash.

If the second digit is greater than 8, in the trash.

[AnAmericanMother]

Hey, now, I'm as reactionary a musician as you're likely to find anywhere, but I won't go THAT far . . .

(of course, I'm inherently suspicious of anything composed after 1805, but I will make exceptions.)

[dsc]

"of course, I'm inherently suspicious of anything composed after 1805, but I will make exceptions."

Exceptions? Sure, on a case by case basis.

Oh, and to make sure we're not making a mistake, exceptions should be subject to a review period before being accepted.

One or two hundred years ought to do it.

[Desdemona]

For Church music, just look at the first two digits of the year of publication.

You mean composition, right? Using 19th Century copies gets a little iffy.

[AnAmericanMother]

The Hundred Year Rule is a great thing.

I tell my kids they can't declare music or a book "great" until it's had over 100 years of testing.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

The role of anti-Catholic secret societies in spreading confusion and disorder in the Catholic Church is a subject worthy of deeper research with regard to the aesthetic terrorism on the loose in AmChurch. The phenomenon of bad taste seems more American and modern than a conspicuously Catholic phenomenon. I don't know enough about organized sodomy and anti-Christian secret societies in Episcopalianism to be in a position to advise recruiting from those ranks.

A low Mass said in Latin reverently does the job. Priest I knew could pull this off in 25 minutes. Seminary faculty might want to explore this. The musical circus can get a bit much. Not all that keen on loud organ grinding myself...

[dsc]

No, I want the original sheet music, and instruments manufactured prior to that year, and contemporaneous musicians, too. So there. Nyah.

(Federation salute from "Spaceballs")

Picky, picky, picky.