New and Revised Mass Settings

Perhaps you saw at Jerry Galipeau’s Gotta Sing, Gotta Pray that the BCDW is now permitting publishers to unveil at least some new and revised musical settings of the Order of Mass. WLP offers its sneak previews here. GIA info is here. OCP is here.

Here is an excerpt from Jerry’s report:

On Sunday, I received word from Father Rick Hilgartner of the Bishops Committee on Divine Worship (BCDW) regarding musical settings of the new translation of the Missale Romanum.The BCDW, in response to the fact that music publishers (like WLP) have been asking about ways to share our new musical settings of the new translation through music showcases (like at NPM next month in Detroit) as well as through the world wide web, has allowed the following:

1. They are “happy to allow some limited presentation of preview copies of selections from the Order of Mass.”
2. Publishers can not take orders for new products until the final text of the Missal has been issued.
3. Publishers must make clear that these musical settings are for preview only and are not yet approved for liturgical use.
4. Publishers may not share complete settings of the Mass; we can only share samples or excerpts from a variety of settings.

Editor

Katharine E. Harmon, Ph.D., edits the blog, Pray Tell: Worship, Wit & Wisdom.

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Comments

12 responses to “New and Revised Mass Settings”

  1. Jeffery BeBeau

    Thanks to each of the publishers for doing this!

    I appreciate what GIA and OCP have done with interviewing the composers on the revision of a familiar piece or in the composition of a new one. It makes it that much more personal when you know the through and attention that went into the piece. It also reveals the care that people like Marty Haugen take when revising a well know and beloved setting like the Mass of Creation.

    On a personal noted I am looking forward to seeing the new Mass of Light, which is among my favorites.

    Thanks to WLP for providing complete recordings of important Mass pieces, such as the Gloria and Sanctus, it makes the new translation that much more real, in particular the Mass of Redemption, which I am fond of.

    I am looking forward to the revised setting of pieces I cherish, and also learning new ones, to take a place along side some well loved older settings.

    Reply
  2. Gregg Smith

    The composers have done awesome things! I can’t imagine it was easy for them to re-work some of their settings. It will be nice to finally be able to play through all the music…just not two pages!

    Reply
  3. Kevin Faulkner

    I for one, will be too happy to not use the revised Mass ordinary settings by these composers. Like much of the history of liturgical music, things such as the Mass of Creation and the Mass of Light and other settings served their purpose and their time. But in my humble opinion, they have outlived their usefulness and it is time to place them on the historical “shelf”. i can say that I have used these settings, but I also choose at this time to make a break and with the new translations offer to my community settings that are musically more substantive.

    Reply
  4. Fr. Christopher Costigan

    Did I miss something, or is WLP the only site that has samples?

    Reply
  5. Greg Smith

    GIA used to have samples but took them down for some reason.

    Reply
  6. Fr. Christopher Costigan

    I’m anxious to hear the samples from Steve Warner’s new setting from WLP. I spent a lot of time listening to his work in college.

    Reply
  7. Fr. Christopher Costigan

    A question regarding the new settings. I noticed that most of the composers were “the old standards.” Were any of the publishers accepting other people’s works, or did they mainly work through the ones they already had to “come up with something new?” I ask for two reasons. First, if there aren’t any new up and coming composers, then that is a problem for the Church. Second, if the companies gave exclusive access of texts and materials to the old guard and did not actively seek new talent, that is a big problem as well.

    Reply
    1. Judy Schwager

      Fr. Christopher,
      I speak as a dabbler in liturgical composition: I for one have never tried to get my music published, but I personally know people who have. Let me assure you that there are many, many up and coming composers who are not (yet?) well-known. Publishers run a business and they are wary of taking risks. It is very difficult for a new composer to break into the mainstream. Mostly we just “publish” our work on the office photocopier and use the pieces in our own parish.

      Also this summer, NPM is sponsoring a competition for unpublished mass settings using the new texts. I heard that over 150 entries were submitted. Whoever wins that competion will have a better shot at big-time publication, but a leg-up like that is a rare opportunity at national exposure.

      Reply
  8. Judy Schwager

    I’m excited about the new mass settings that will be available. It looks like there will be something for every parish to be successful at singing the acclamations. I’m happy to see a new mass setting by Curtis Stephen for contempory flavored music. Some of the GIA settings sound enticing as well. It will be hard to choose which ones to start with!

    Reply
  9. Gary Feldhege

    Liturgical Press will publish several new and revised mass settings including one by The Collegeville Composers Group (composers of the Psallite project). This setting is multilingual and can be sung in English, Spanish, or Latin. The Lord’s Prayer is also available in French. In addition to our new collection of music for Christian initiation, “You Will Be My Witnesses,” a selection of acclamations from this new mass will be presented during our Liturgical Press showcase at the NPM conference in Detroit next month.

    Liturgical Press is pleased to also publish new and/or revised mass settings by Jay Hunstiger, Christine Manderfeld, OSB, Frederick Strassburger, Robert LeBlanc, and our very own Anthony Ruff, OSB.

    Reply
  10. Tom Pomeroy

    Greetings,

    I noticed that none of them have books or recordings for the music from the Roman Missal itself. Shouldn’t someone have a CD of the Music actually printed in the Missal? Or even put harmonies to those musical texts.

    peace

    Reply
    1. Christian Cosas

      NPM is supposed to be posting those on their website at some point.

      Reply

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