Michael Silhavy continues to report on Mass settings in parishes of Minneapolis-Saint Paul archdiocese over at Twin Cities Mass Settings.
On the First Sunday of Advent, 62 parishes will be using 30 different Mass settings.
Top four musical settings:
Mass of Creation, Marty Haugen
Missal Chants, Anonymous Committee/Holy Spirit (tee hee)
Mass of Renewal, Curtis Stephan
Mass of the Angels and Saints, Steve Janco
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I know that some dioceses mandated one common setting. Forget the name of the one here, but every parish is to learn it. The idea is that everyone would know one common setting – for ordinations, chrism masses, etc.
Is an ordinary permitted to absolutely mandate a certain Mass setting for any period of time? I would think that the Graduale Romanum, the Simplex, the ordinary Mass settings of the Liber Usualis, and the tones of the Missal, for example, can never be forbidden (or, put positively, may be used always and everywhere for Mass and other liturgies). The EF and the Anglican Use are unaffected by a decision along these lines given their particular law. However, there are a small minority of places where Latin plainsong is used often in the OF as well.
I know that for the vast majority of Catholics a modern setting is pastorally recommended. I do not wish to contest this. I have access to the OF in English/Latin or the EF. I don’t have any reason to complain. My diocese has two parishes set aside for people like me. However, I would hope that a bishop who mandates one modern Mass setting for every single Mass sung in his diocese for a certain period would exempt the already-settled Latin-language minorities in his diocese. I know that a forced imposition of a modern Mass setting in the two traditional parishes in my diocese would highly upset the parishioners.
Then again, I must respect that other parishes will be highly aggrieved by the compulsory new translation. The Catholic liturgical universe neither creates nor destroys negative energy, but merely displaces it.
Jefferson City was one.
I’ve been using the Mass of Renewal at our weekly Masses in school for a few months now and it works well. It is parish friendly, yet also upbeat enough to work for young people.
I really like it, and would thoroughly recommend it.
We’re going to be using the Mass of St Francis, not only because it was composed by Laura Lea Duckworth, the director of worship at our parish, but also because out of the 60 mass settings reviewed by worship and choir directors in the Archdiocese of Louisville it tied for first place along with Rick Manalo’s Mass of Spirit and Grace.
Our Office of Worship is not mandating mass settings, but held a series of workshops to narrow down to 3 recommended settings and to pick two settings to use for archdiocesan celebrations.
The Mass of St Francis is being adopted by numbers of our parishes, and there’s been enthusiastic feedback as parishes and choirs have begun practicing it. (Our archbishop hasn’t allowed early use of the new texts.)
To add to international confusion, Paul Taylor’s Mass of St Francis is being very widely used across Australia.
The Mass of Renewal is working very well at our parish and school as well. It may become “our” Mass of Creation.
I did a similar survey for the Diocese of Phoenix in August. (A particular mass setting is one thing the Diocese of Phoenix is not mandating) Similar results: 39 responses, 18 different settings noted. Many local composers are using their own settings.
Top Eucharistic Acclamations:
Mass of Renewal (Gokelman & Kauffman) 7
Mass of Creation (Haugen) 5
Missal Chant (ICEL) 3
Gloria:
Mass of Renewal (Gokelman & Kauffman) 9
Mass of St. Ann (Bolduc) 6
Missal Chant (ICEL) 3
The Mass of Renewal popularity can be attributed to David Kauffman coming here to do an evening worskhop, where choirs from around the Diocese could sing that settings and directors could hear for themselves what it would sound like.
Marquette University is currently using Curtis Stephan’s Mass of Renewal (OCP). After 6 weeks they are just beginning to sing all the acclamations again.
Wait?!?! How did I miss all along there are TWO different Mass of Renewals?
In the AD of Seattle, Mass of Renewal (Gokelman & Kauffman) is popular.
So Jack and Susan (and others), which one are you using?
We’re going to be using the William Gokelman/David Kauffman Mass of Renewal [Good For The Soul Music] After listening to –and singing through— I don’t even remember how many settings, I invited the parish to an open rehearsal to sing through three ‘finalists’ This was the one that most thought would best help us pray the new texts. An extra bonus for our parish is that there will be a Spanish edition available in 2012.
We will also be using the William Gokelman/David Kauffman Mass of Renewal. We held a Hymn sing along last Sunday afternoon and in that context introduced and sang through the Mass of Renewal. Everyone sang the new Mass with enthusiasm. I believe there are only 3 other parishes introducing the Mass of Renewal in the Diocese of Sacramento. The Diocese has suggested that all parish commuinties learn OCP’s Heritage Mass.
I am curious if many parishes are singing the dialogues as part of the introduction. Two parishes locally are doing that. They are planning on doing it only temporarily. The belief seems to be that it is easier to learn the new responses if they are sung.
We have already begun with the revised Mass of Creation, and the assembly has it down already. We are also using the revised John Lee Gloria (arr. Proulx). I have made a card for them to follow the changes. I discussed it with my pastor and we thought that it would be best to keep a familiar tune, since all these words were changing/going to change.
Since the folks have done so well with this, we are going to do Michael Joncas’ revision of his Psallite Gloria for Christmas. We sang the original and the Latin refrain, does not change for the people. The choir is working on the verses.
Where did you find Joncas’ Revision of the Psallite Gloria, please?
Since September we’ve been doing Proulx’s Gloria Simplex, which is really very nice and easy to sing, and the chants that are in the new Roman Missal for the Sanctus, Mystery of Faith and Agnus Dei. We’ve been doing these unaccompanied and the congregation is belting them out and even I now can lead these parts myself at the daily Mass.
By Christmas we hope to institute the Mass of Creation except for the Gloria. Eventually we’ll use the Mass of Sing Praise and Thanksgiving since both of these are what the parish knows best from the older translation. I’m hoping we’ll also learn the Community Mass including its Gloria.
I do pray that eventually there will be a version of the Mass apart from what is in the Missal that everyone who speaks English in the USA would know. It seems the Mass of Creation became that by default previously, but with so many new settings I wonder what will surface without a top-down mandate.
I really doubt Mass of Creation will be replaced. Many of us find the revision to be fine and will keep using it.
At my parish in Parsippany, New Jersey, we are singing the Psallite: Mass at the Table of the Lord Gloria, it really works and the assembly is really singing it, very simple, and a great way to learn the new text. As for the Eucharistic Acclamations, we are singing Proulx’s Mass for the City, this is new for the parish community and again a revised setting that really works well.
As Diocesan Director of Music for the Diocese of Paterson, we are using the above settings plus Proulx’s A Community Mass. A letter is going out to all the parishes informing them that these will be the settings used at Diocesan Liturgies, but no mandate, just information.
Our music director picked the Storrington Mass, and we’ve been doing the Gloria since September. I don’t have any big complaints about it musically, but the text is terrible – it simply DOES NOT sing well. Not looking forward at all to the rest of the new texts. And if I’m to be subjected on a weekly basis to hearing our pastor chant or sing most of the Mass parts, it’s gonna be much, much more difficult to attend.
Back in ’79 I was privileged to be the bassist for the SLJ’s (and due to circumstances, for many other NALR artists) at the Chicago NPM. That afforded me some wonderful face time with those gentlemen (Bob Dufford roamed the halls of the McCormack Hotel to inform me of the birth of my third duaghter back in CA., don’t ask.)
During a great casual talk with John Foley, he advised me that before proceeding further with any composition one needs to objectively evaluate the artistic merit of the melody as a stand alone factor. Then, determine whether that “wothy” melody is wedded both naturally and effectively to the text. Foley emphasized that if the composer’s confidence level at that assessment remained strong, then go forward.
Here’s my point- how many of us have simply sung or played through the new and revised settings’ melodies and text unaccompanied? I know I have for myself before we ALL had group leadership discernment meetings last spring. I also had a session with a vicar in which singing the melodies/texts/rhythmic aspects revealed both brilliance and extreme flaws among both the famous and unknown, new and old offerings, published or manuscripts.
Foley (and later Joncas gave me the same advice) was dead on right; and that’s not rocket science.
I have to believe that many DoM’s likely don’t make or take the time to put all their repertoire selections to this stress test. And as Lynn Thomas mentions above, were they to do this process, they would discover clearly which “sings well’ and which not so much.
If and when I can get a breather and come off my hiatus at the Cafe, I’ll flesh out these thoughts with specific examples.
Charles,
Our DoM is very good; and I think she did in fact test several settings. Perhaps my comment is at least as reflective of my intense dislike for the new texts [and the process by which we got them] as it is of the workability of this particular setting. I’m inclined to think the new Gloria is just plain unworkable as a sung text. It’s artistically quite unappealing to me.
Our diocese – Gaylord, recommended the following:
New – or mostly new:
Mass of Redemption
Mass of Renewal (Kaufmann) – the setting the Cathedral will use
Revised:
Mass of Creation
Heritage Mass
At my parish, we have began using Storrington Mass and will use it until Lent – not something I usually do. Christmas Eve/Day will be Mass of Creation. Lent will most likely be Mass of Remembrance. Ordinary Time I will be Mass for Christian Unity. Joncas’ Psallite Mass Gloria will be used for Christmas though.
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