Amen and an Unintended Consequence

I find the new tone to the doxology before the "Great Amen" to be extremely frustrating.
I don't have the exact notes in front of me, but the previous tone ended something like, "doh-re-re-mi-re-do-do" on the words, "forever and ever," indicating a clear "do-do-re" for the congregation to sing "A-me-en." In fact, after singing that for a few months in a particular church, it's almost impossible to not sing it whenever I heard that tone at another church, but found myself being interrupted by the instruments proclaiming the beginning of a completely musically unrelated "Amen."

Now, it is quite interesting (and wonderful!) how the priests are being encouraged to sing so many of the newly translated parts of the Mass, and they are! And, many churches, at least among those I'm familiar with, are taking a stab at singing the corresponding parts, including the "Great Amen." But unfortunately, whatever musical genius decided to CHANGE the final ending tone of the doxology, along with the words, has provided a disappointing level of confusion for anyone trying to sing a simple "Amen" here.
The new doxology ends something like, "mi-mi-re-do-re-mi-re," on the words "forever and ever," (sorry if that's not exactly right, I've only heard it a few times,) but I've even checked the Roman Missal, and yes, the congregation is expected to start their "Amen" on DOH when the priest has just finished on "RE!!!!" ARRRRRRGHGHGHHGGHGHGHG!!!!!!!!!!
(I'll start it strongly on the proper note, doh, and the congregation cautiously joins in, as it is slightly intuitive, especially if the congregation is able to follow someone who knows what they are doing.) But... I am extremely sad as I suspect that this hesitancy of non-naturalness of being expected to start on a different note than what has just been heard, will not contribute to any congregations ever finding this tone "natural," which is what I found when I sang it previously.

It seems that hardly anybody is truly satisfied with the new translation, or at least the baggage that it brings with it (I heard a good priest recently complaining over the word "prevenient" in one of the prayers for the Immaculate Conception. And while I can't really argue against his complaint that he had no idea what it meant, I do wish that at that moment I had said, "Well, even if we don't know what it means, it does make me want to go and look it up!" le sigh.)
Anyhow, an interesting unintended consequence of how the priests have not been encouraged at all to sing their parts for the past 40 years, is that now, once they are, I have heard more than one person comment on how it helps the congregation with the new translation. By this I mean, in many churches, the automatic response to a spoken "The Lord be with you," is, of course, "And also with you." BUT... if "The Lord be with you" is sung, then it suddenly requires a moment of thought for the congregation, and they are more likely to sing "And with your spirit," especially if they are in a church which hasn't been singing the dialogues for the past 40 years.

So...for once, we can thank them for trying to (indirectly?) eliminate certain degrees of solemnity from the liturgy! It has helped at least one thing about this new translation to be easier!

Random thoughts

My life has been rather interesting... I had a great post to write about my new (temporary) job, but then things changed and I decided to not write it.

Organists, don't forget this fabulous postlude for this weekend! Sorry I can't find a link online... Franck's Sortie "Venez, divin Messie" from L'Organiste!

How come in the Mass, the priest says at the doxology, "All glory and honor IS yours," but then a moment later, after the Our Father, we say, "For the kingdom, the power, and the glory ARE yours..." Which is grammatically correct? And is there a difference that I am not seeing?

Speaking of translations... We should just say, "And also with your spirit." And get over it. (haha, not really.... but that's about what it comes out to be!)

Children's choirs simply do not work during the liturgy. By the very nature of them being there, you have all their parents there, who are going to be turning around and waving at them, and being distracted by them, and so there is no way that the congregation is "paying attention" to Mass itself. And then, there is the applause. Even if it's not until after the final song, it just goes to show what people were *really* there for...

I'm not in love with the latest music trend among traditionalists...

"Contemporary Sacred Music."

Specifically, Kevin Allen. The CMAA (or at least related people) has totally taken him under their wing and is promoting him loudly.
http://musicfortheliturgy.org/Kevin_Allen_Motecta_WTRMrk_2011.pdf

But honestly, I'm not all that impressed. While of course I greatly appreciate his attempt at writing 3-part, latin choral music (easily transposed for a 3-voice mixed choir!) and I also love the idea of singing psalm-tone verses in between repetitions of the same short motet (what choir hasn't been so sad at watching all the work they put into learning a piece, quickly disappear as they sing it once...and then it's done?!) I just haven't found the several pieces that I've listened to to be all that...good.

Yes, it's a bit contemporary sounding, and I know one of the reasons that it's so lauded is that it's relatively easy for a church choir. But... I wish I knew more about music theory... (I felt like I barely passed it in undergrad...) so I can't necessarily comment on his music as regarding the rules, but I find much of what he does, (like in terms of using accidentals,) to be...cheap.
Random picardy thirds, or borrowed minor chords, that just seem to...come out of nowhere!
I think it's pretty good voice-leading, but the actual chords themselves...just irritate me sometimes. They don't seem to be going anywhere!
(This is what I'm going to be working with the choir on.)

I mean, it's not bad, and can be quite enjoyable to listen to... well, I just don't know how to describe how I feel when I'm plunking out the chords on the piano. I'd love to hear someone chime in who has more theory background...

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist

I suppose I'll post this under the actual name of the cathedral, since I don't really have much to say that is negative... which, btw, it is quite a lovely cathedral, and really looks exactly like what a Catholic cathedral is supposed to look like... (unlike, ahem, certain dioceses in another state to the northwest...)

So, on this day which was both mine and my dear husband's last Sunday without both of us having church/work commitments, we decided to go to the cathedral for Mass, and were not only blessed with the bishop saying Mass, but also were pleasantly surprised with the beautiful music selections!

I didn't take a copy of the bulletin (which had most of the congregational of the music selections in it,) but I'll write about what was notable to me.

Apparently the full choir does not normally sing, and they certainly sounded quite prepared and professional!
There was a lovely organ prelude, followed by the choir singing some beautiful polyphonic piece (I believe it was in Latin, but unfortunately I have no idea what!)

The opening hymn was "Lord whose love in humble service" which isn't such a terrible hymn, although some of the verses have some very annoying PC social justice-y themes to them.
The Kyrie was surprisingly lovely; I believe it was an interesting combination of simple call-and-response with the congregation, with a middle "Christe" verse that was a beautiful polyphonic choral setting.

Followed by, unfortunately, the awful diocesan-mandated setting of the Mass of St. Paul the Apostle Gloria. I mean, it's not such a bad piece of music, but...suitable for the liturgy? And to be sung by a congregation? And the accompaniment, to be played by your average church organist? It's just so...syncopated. I love it when non-musicians (or else professional musicians with no sense of appropriate liturgical music) choose music to be learned by an entire diocese...
Lansing, consider yourselves lucky!
Anyhow, the choral section was really neat to listen to, and the organist was of course fabulous, but none of it really made anyone in the congregation attempt to sing along!

I don't remember much about the psalm...it might have had cool choral verses.
The Alleluia was taken from "For all the Saints."

The Offertory was a modern-sounding choral piece, probably a bit dissonant for some people, but very nice for the occasion, IMHO.
I believe that the Sanctus/Mem Accl/Amen were from an old-translation Mass.
And now I'm trying to remember the Agnus...I *think* it was similar to the Kyrie (or else I'm mixing them up,) with some congregation, and some lovely choral singing.

The song for communion was that awful "Center of My Life" song, that seems to be the absolute favorite of every single church around here (but I had never heard prior to coming here,) As a song, it really just makes me want to link arms and rock and sway with everyone else around me. Maybe we should all pull out our lighters (or cell phones) and wave them in the air.
I can't remember the verses, but I'm pretty sure that every time I've heard it, something about the theology (or lack of) has really bothered me about...maybe the last verse?
Finally, the closing hymn was the ever-wonderful and rousing "For All the Saints." (with, I must add, the PROPER rhythm... "ALLLLLLLL who by faith..." NOT "All WHOOOOOOOO by faith..."

And then I believe that there was a nice but relatively brief (the church emptied fast) postlude, although I didn't listen closely.

Anyhow, overall the best cathedral liturgy that I've ever seen! I'd give it an 8.5/10!

St. Joseph in Toledo

Today being one of my last weekends where I am completely free to attend Mass wherever I want (at least until late February, and certainly one of my last in the SE Michigan area.) I received a recommendation to attend St. Joseph in Toledo, which was interestingly on my way to where I had to be later on Sunday!

After an unexpected realization that I must have written down the directions wrong, I knew I was in the right (somewhat sketchy) Toledo neighborhood, driving around on a Sunday morning. I had a vague idea of the cross streets, but couldn't find the church. I saw a steeple of what I was sure must be the church, but no, it was just some Protestant church. Finally I followed my gut, making use of the directions I had to leave the church (which were more accurate,) and saw another (much less impressive) steeple in the distance, which I determined to be it.

I found the church surprisingly small, but I decided that the inside was about the same size as St. P. (It's amazing the difference that being in the city versus country can be!) I attended their EF Latin Mass, and had a few observations.

One of the more interesting was that I noticed a great percentage (10%?) of the women wearing not just mantillas, but pashminas or scarves as a head covering. I must say, I am a fan. I approve of the simple, not-drawing-attention scarf, that a woman might even wear on the street today, (rather than the lacy mantilla...like...who ever came up with that idea?!)

I won't comment on the music, other than it was about what I expected, (Missa de Angelis, that pretty holy week Adoramus Te, I think Arcadelt's Ave Maria, the Panis Angelicus hymn, etc.) although this is not the first church like this that I've been surprised to find an all-male choir! (small though it may be.) They could also use a new organ. I didn't go up in the loft, but I could see pipes, but, let's just say...I don't think that's what they were using. :-/

The only liturgically interesting things I noticed, were that even though they did Missa de Angelis, they split the Sanctus/Benedictus as is permitted (required?) for a polyphonic setting. (Is that permitted for a chant setting? Every rubric I have ever read has directed it to be sung non-split.)
Also, I noticed that the communion antiphon was sung at the very end of communion. Is this an option, or incorrect?

ok, that's about all I can remember, although I thought there might have been a third liturgical interesting thing... the priest gave a VERY short homily (you know, one of those ones where you just start to really listen...and then he's done!) maybe cuz Mass started more than 10 minutes late I think cuz people were in confession... but yeah, overall a lovely church and liturgy! Thanks for the suggestion, JL!

Holy Family

It's nice to be free on Sunday mornings...
Finally got a chance to go to Holy Family in Greektown this morning! It did not appear to me that they do ANYthing illicit. It is basically just a Latin, Novus Ordo, ad orientem, (very sparsely attended) Mass.
The claim to fame, being that it is likely that they are the only Catholic church in the US that has NEVER had an English, versus populum Mass!
(The rumor is, since they are the Sicilian church in the diocese, apparently back when VII happened, the grandmothers there were just like, "no, we're not doing that...") I would like to now dispel the rumor that it is much of a "mixture" of EF/OF.
There was nothing illicit, especially that the priest did as far as I could tell... the only "crossovers" that I noticed were in what the people did:
-knelt at beginning of Mass
-didn't sing pretty much anything (the tiny choir did.)
-servers lifted chasuble
-didn't say "Amen" at communion, the server did. (at the rail)
-knelt for final blessing

A little gem of a church, housed away downtown! I think it seems smaller than it is, being surrounded by those big buildings. But when I was inside and thought about it, I'm sure it's actually larger than St. P! (It just doesnt have as high a ceiling. maybe thats why it seems smaller.) Very gorgeous. If you want to sort through some pictures, you can get an idea of what it looks like from AF- http://picasaweb.google.com/115178373895033328671/DetroitChurchBlog or his whole experience (similar to mine) http://detroitchurchblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/holy-family-greektown.html

Electronic organs

While being a student of organ, I was always taught to look down on "electronic organs" (read: an organ without pipes. Which pianist would prefer to play an electric Clavinova over a Steinway?)
And, in my experience, this was easy to do. But I had pretty much only ever played 30+ year old electronic organs.

That's one of the big accusations against them--how many other electronic devices do you know that dont last more than a few years? So isn't it obvious that these organs will all need to be replaced within our lifetimes? Contrast that to "real" organs; many of the good ones last well over 100 years, and just need the occasional re-leathering.

Obviously, for most or all churches who end up buying a new electronic organ, price is a huge factor. A "real" organ will easily be $200,000+, whilst a nice, large, electronic organ could run $20,000-$50,000. (I *think* my figures are about right. I kind of guesstimated, based on little things I've picked up over the years.) While the electronic one is still expensive, I wonder if churches forget to factor that they will probably have to buy a new one in 30 years? (Well, maybe nowadays most churches aren't thinking that far ahead--they're wondering if they will even be open by then!)

Other than the replacement likelihood, the real organ has other advantages, like the enjoyablity of playing it and how it *sounds* better. (Like, it sounds "real.")

I used to think that I could tell the difference, but the extent of my experience was from the 30-year old Allen that my first church had. (It was an awful instrument, if you can call it that...) More recently, my fiance, has been pointing out the occasional electronic organ, that sounds quite impressive to me, and pointing out how it is not real (and he would know as he has played on lots of electronic organs!)

And my surprise has led me to being quite impressed with some of the sounds that I have heard! And recently, I even was able to spend some time playing a brand new, very impressive Rodgers. I was pleasantly impressed with how much I enjoyed playing it. One thing I noticed, (compared with the only one other electronic new organ I have played recently,) it was LOUD. The volume was much more comparable to that of a real organ. For some situations, a single stop was enough. There was even one rank that I could not believe that didn't have pipes (it was a bourdon in the pedal for which a few of the middle notes, I *heard* some breathy, wind noise. [sorry, I don't know what the technical term for that is. I hope the organists understand!]) I looked for the pipes, and there didn't seem to be even a hidden rank, but, I should mention that the organist of that church was not there to verify if it did not have any ranks of pipes.

So what is this post about? My genuine surprise at the level of quality of some (at least one!) of the more recent electronic organs. Would I ever encourage a church to buy one? No. I will always value the artistic value of the craftsmanship that goes into making a pipe organ, as well as the other reasons listed above, and others I probably haven't mentioned, but I won't disdain some of the newer electronic organs as much as I used to.

more on accompaniment books...

apparently, there IS more than one church in the world whose organist likes to lock the accompaniment book away in his office! wow! who would have guessed....

Also, word to the wise-- be sure to check *how much* you are getting paid with the person who is actually hiring you for a service, before you do it, and don't just believe anyone who tells you what they "think" you will get! :-/

holy moley!

A parish FIVE miles away just posted a job description that includes the word "schola!"

This is gonna get interesting...

So I THOUGHT all organists kept the accompaniment books in an obvious place...

I mean, every single church I had ever seen had the organist hymnal right next to the console, within grasp of the organist!

So I had to play a wedding this weekend at a church where I had never touched the organ, and I assumed they would be where the books always are, so I didn't bother swinging by St. P's to borrow their books.

oops, fail. apparently there is at least one organist in the world who keeps her books locked up in her office.

LUCKILY, the wedding was at 4 on a friday, so I was able to have the office lady open the MD's door for me to get the books! phew! no more assumptions about that! (and the kind of weird thing is that the MD *knew* was coming, and had been very helpful in all other ways; I just forgot to check if the hymnal would be out, and perhaps she assumed I wouldn't need it, or didn't think of it.)

My liturgical life

A lot has been going on in the past couple months. Most significantly, I formally finished up my work at St. P's, where I have been for the past 5 years! (I left because I am moving to a new city!)

It leaves me in the interesting position of looking for a new job, which has its own repercussions...

For the first time in *years*, I am going to freely choose where to go to Mass on Sunday! I really don't know yet. I'm a huge fan of beautiful music, so I'd like to go to a church with that, but it's hard to know in advance when that will be! It's not like there is a published schedule put out by the diocese...

And secondly, until I find a formal job, I suspect that I will be "selling myself" (or I could use cruder terms...) anywhere as a sub. Goody. I'm going to be immersed in the full experience of a wide variety of liturgical styles, most of which I have been not only trying to avoid for the past several years, but also deliberately working to combat!

I suppose that's cool...

Apparently, the Mass setting that my mother co-wrote will be one of the 5 in the St. Augustine Hymnal. (Not that I am advocating for that particular hymnal ;-) but I still think it's pretty cool!)