Retrofitting?

At some point in Pray Tell history, the term “retrofitting” began to be used to describe the process of putting new words to old melodies. While general consensus seems to be tending toward the notion that retrofits are usually not as successful as new compositions, some retrofits will undoubtedly prove to be successful.

Are there settings out there that never caught on the first time that are now worthy of a second look after retrofitting?

Perhaps there was a good reason these settings initially never caught on. But let’s not forget the Bach Passions lay in obscurity until Mendelssohn revived them and Puccini’s Turandot sat dormant for decades. A little overstated – but some functional and well-crafted forgotten settings may be waiting to be awakened. Retrofitted versions of forgotten or underutilized settings may be equal to, or better than, some of the new settings we’ve seen to date. May I suggest that John Karl Hirten’s Rose Hill Mass from GIA (G-2982)?

What else is out there?

Michael Silhavy

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13 responses to “Retrofitting?”

  1. Charles Culbreth

    Nice topic, Michael.
    Three come to mind for me:

    WLP- Mass of the Holy Family, Jerry Brubaker
    OCP- also Mass of the Holy Family, Rv. John Schiavone
    Responsorial Mass, Richard Proulx (tho’ I’d reharmonize!)

    Reply
  2. Sean Whelan

    J. Fischer “Mass In Hounor Of St. Pius X” – Augustus Huybrechts
    GIA – “Mass of Praise And Glory” – Joseph McGrath

    I know of one older – “Mass In Honor of the Immaculate Conception” that may have been composed by Huybrechts as well.

    And perhaps even the other acclamations from Andrews’ “New Mass For Congregations.”

    Still have the original octavo of these settings, and the original Mass for Christian Unity in our files.

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  3. Jeffrey Herbert

    Some of these settings, if retrofitted as you say, are essentially just new settings. There are some actually rather good settings from the Belgian and Danish composers of the 60’s and early 70’s that have been out of circulation to the extent that they are virtually unknown. You point out Huybrechts Masses (there are about a dozen dedicated “to the Blessed Virgin” alone) but Huijbers and Oosterhuis wrote a number of settings that were, in many ways, composed to address a similar kind of transition as what we are facing right now. Most of these settings are in obscurity right now, and perhaps their Orffian sensibilities might make them seem a bit dated….I have a soft spot for these settings though as they come from that time when I was first learning organ and these were the settings that my teacher was advocating.

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  4. Gerry Davila

    Although I’m mostly a chant/polyphony guy, I actually like Carroll Thomas Andrews’ Christmas Carol Mass from 1966. The translation’s 1964, so it’s already similar to the upcoming translation. It merely needs a bit of tweaking.

    Reply
  5. John Karl Hirten

    Hello, Michael. Thank you so much for your kind comments about my Rose Hill Mass. It’s interesting that most of the changes are easy to accommodate in every movement except for the Gloria. If I ever did a “retrofit,” I would probably need to re-write that movement. Continuing on topic, I myself was very partial to the mass movements of Jan Vermulst.

    Reply
  6. Michael Silhavy

    As the process of watching mass settings bubble to the top begins, the Gloria of course appears to be the problem movement. I hope a revised Rose Hill Gloria may be forthcoming.

    Composers out there: we need more Glorias from which to choose, whether revised or new.

    As far as other complete settings go, David Hurd’s Intercession Mass and Music for Celebration (also from GIA) deserved wider usage than they got, at least in RC circles.

    A Minnesota favorite seems to be Jonathan Tuuk’s Mass of the Holy Trinity. (GIA) (That poses a whole other question: what are regional favorites across the US?)

    Howard Hughes’ Mass of the Divine Word was quite successful in my parish work. It worked with both organ and piano based ensembles. In fact, when using piano, by adding some discreet tambourine, handbells, finger cymbals and woodwinds it turned into a little faux-medieval style setting that the contemporary group enjoyed. What was most successful was the call and response setting of the memorial acclamation “When We Eat this Bread”. I am amazed that composers of new settings have by and large avoided the idea of call and response settings of the new memorial acclamations. What a quick and easy way to avoid all the (real or pretend) “drama” of introducing new texts. Let’s face it; there are going to be dozens of music directors looking for settings on November 25. Someone needs to write a call and response “Mass for the Lazy” .

    Reply
    1. Paul Inwood

      In England and Wales, call-response settings of the memorial acclamations have been rejected by the E&W approval process on the grounds of undue repetition of the text. Go figure.

      Reply
  7. Jeffrey Pinyan

    I’d welcome settings of the Gloria that treat the text as is and don’t convert the Gloria to a hymn with verses and a refrain. It would be nice if the congregation would sing the whole Gloria, and not just the opening line, on most feast days of the year.

    Reply
    1. Sean Whelan

      There are plenty out there, nothing new.

      Reply
  8. Jeremy Stevens

    Father Joseph Roff, Festive Mass in English, GIA (1964 text)

    J. Gerald Phillips, Mass XVI with Gloria XV, McLaughlin and Reilly (1964 text)

    Flor Peeters, Gloria from Missa in honorem Reginae Pacis, McLaughlin and Reilly. Our choir director, for Easter of 1965, adapted the Gloria from this Mass to the 1964 text. Worked fine.

    Reply
    1. Paul F Ford

      I’d love to see this Gloria. This is my favorite Peeters Mass!

      Reply
  9. Jeffrey Herbert

    The Flor Peeters Mass is quite beautiful…. a composer that has been largely swept under the rug in the Post V2 era.

    Reply
  10. Peter Jones

    Paul Inwood :

    In England and Wales, call-response settings of the memorial acclamations have been rejected by the E&W approval process on the grounds of undue repetition of the text. Go figure.

    I do not know if some settings have been rejected by the Bishops of England and Wales panel but there is manifestly no general policy to ban call-response settings. Christopher Walker’s In Pace Acclamations have been approved and are now published in the UK, for example.

    In regard to the Glory to God, a newly-published collection in the UK contains ten settings of the hymn: five refrain and five through-settings. Our Bishops are encouraging parishes to have both styles in their repertoires. (Not much point in me stating the title of the collection. For copyright reasons, it is only for sale in the UK and Ireland.)

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