Here’s a question for the musicologists: is it historically authentic to sing the St. Louis Jesuits with British flipped Rs? Choir of St. Alban’s, Dan Schutte’s “Here I Am Lord”:
And here it is sung by Lut’erans in Iowa:
And while we’re on music, here a sign of where popular culture is at…not without implications for folks’ liturgical tastes. Lexus advertises how hip they are by trashing classical music:
Mozart?? Ouch.
Regarding the arrangement of Here I Am, Lord, I tend to find it affected when American choirs make themselves sound British. I guess I can give a pass on it when American choirs are singing pieces by British composers, but I still prefer to sing even those pieces with standard American English pronunciation – unless there is a particularly strong relationship between the pronunciation and the music (e.g. tuning two different parts with different vowels, etc.) to lead me toward choosing the British pronunciation.
Regarding the classical music in the last clip: as a classically trained musician, who took advantage of lots of reduced-rate student tickets at the symphony during my undergraduate days, I was always annoyed at those who seemed to be attending the symphony for reasons of “status” rather than real enjoyment of the music. Of course, who am I to judge(!), but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that there were definitely more than a few – mostly older folks – who were in the audience to see and be seen, and who could hardly care what was being played – as long as it was something “respectable” (i.e. no “dissonant” “modern” music).
I find great beauty in “classical” music, as well as in traditional liturgy. Just because some people who prefer either/both of those principally for reasons of decorum-over-substance doesn’t mean that there still isn’t beauty to be found there – it only means that I am probably at more of a disadvantage when teaching/catechizing people to see the beauty over those unfortunate affects and associations.
Like Christianity itself, any personal cost or difficulty in sharing with others those things we find so valuable should be well worth it.
Lacking a true phonemic orthography, the English language is subject to rather wide diversity. Fr. Schutte likely hears variations of his written words in Texas, Boston and his own native Wisconsin. Considering that the sample you provided is an English boychoir singing an English language piece in England, I’d say the ball is definitely in their court for historic authenticity!
A couple of thoughts.
Forget about accents ….. what is going on when a choir sings a congregational song in such an affected manner? Both choirs are equally “arch.”
And speaking as a former member of an English cathedral choir, I must say that we would never have got away with “Here I am, Lord; is a tie, Lord?”
Finally, assumed accents are generally cringeworthy in any context.
I am assuming the question is being asked “tongue in cheek”. Thanks for the chuckle. I do find it interesting that “Here I Am Lord” has had such an enduring quality that the text still speaks to people regardless of preference in style or presentation.
At first I thought the trio in the back seat was an allusion to the wealth and privilege of the owners of luxury vehicles. But in the end they become targets of visual mockery, as they ineffectually chase the car they’ve been dumped out of. Classical music is in a precarious position economically these days, so it all seems rather cruel. Although that may be — sort of — the point. If you are rich enough, you can be cruel. And you definitely don’t want passengers in your luxury car –which is all about power and ego! That driver is definitely more satisfied when alone.
But maybe I’m missing the point. Is this British humor? I noticed the driver is seated on the right hand side of the car. Paul Inwood, Jonathan Day, come and interpret this for us!
@Rita Ferrone – comment #5:
Is this British humor? I noticed the driver is seated on the right hand side of the car. Paul Inwood, Jonathan Day, come and interpret this for us!
Not British humor. Some of the scenery is not British, and the license plate is definitely not British but (I think) Australian — they also drive on the left with the steering wheel on the r.h. side. I also thought I detected an Ozzie twang behind the final voice-over.
Really nice sound, balance, blend by both choirs. A lot to admire. People listen to Gregorian chant as background music, so I guess who am I to judge if someone wants to sit and watch someone else sing that song. About half our assembly does it every Sunday. 🙂
Rita – I took the message to be that classical music was for our rich, class-conscious grandparents, but Lexus is for rich, egalitarian us. I guess the population of rich people exceeds the population of rich people with refined taste.
You may be right, Jim, or that “new” just means leaving behind all that “old” stuff.
@Rita Ferrone – comment #8:
+1. It’s an old advertising trick. “This isn’t your father’s Oldsmobile.”
When I was younger, and playing electric bass in a campus ministry parish, we played the SLJ catalog consistently and, I think, well. But that was the 80’s in a western mountain town where the musical culture was filled with guitar toting neo-hippies. It “worked” there and then. But isn’t that the point of inculturation?
There is an important question regarding inculturation that emerges from these examples. What is inculturated liturgy, really? The dissonance here reminds me of the experience I have had in predominantly white progressive parishes who stumble through Spanish or Korean lyrics in order to be “inculturated” or in solidarity with the global church. Is this what inculturation means? Then again, what is inculturation in a globalized culural context facilitated by the web? Of course, Schutte’s ouevre is more reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkle than Thomas Tallis, but genre blending and bending may be a mark of contemporary culture. What then? Maybe inculturation today means precisely this kind of mixing. Are we ready for liturgical mashups? Speaking of Simon and Garfunkle, enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHxPPwNySzw
P.S. The riddle of the Lexus advert is answered here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/09/lexus-luxury-market-car-japan_n_893839.html
@Joe Mudd – comment #9:
Yes, I remember when you were playing bass at a campus ministry parish in a western mountain town as I was singing/cantoring in that same choir with you! Nice to see you posting here. I agree with you on inculturation that it should not be something forced. However, I do think it is good to bump people out of their comfort zone now and then as we all become set in our ways thinking “WE” have the correct way to do liturgy. I am not sure that the “mixed inculturation’ is a good thing. I sorta think that might be like having a dinner of mixed ethnic food…you can’t really appreciate the differences and tastes without having the appropriate setting for each. I do think there is room in the Church for a variety of cultural liturgical experiences. I think what is needed is a huge dose of appreciation for the diversity of styles. It would go a long way to help de-polarize our deeply polarized church. I think there is room for all in this church that should be a big tent. Papa Francesco seems to be trying to move the Church into that direction. Under Benedict XVI, we were hearing about the “smaller, purer church” of the future. With Francis I think it is going to be bigger and messier but vastly more interesting and expressive of the universality of the church. I think there will be plenty of room in there for those who love the TLM and for me who loves the Novus Ordo of the Paul VI missal. I can barely be patient enough to see that happen!
@Reyanna Rice – comment #12:
Well, this is too funny, Reyanna. Even the virtual world is truly small! My best to you and yours.
I completely agree on the issue of diversity in liturgical expressions. When I teach liturgy to undergraduates that is the consistent refrain. Wherever you look in the history of the liturgy you find diverse expressions. Various attempts to standardize the liturgy in the west only succeeded to a degree. Local flavor is simply part of the liturgical act of the local church. And, indeed, that diversity is the expression of the universal church.
Here I Am, Lord has shown real staying power over these past 30-odd years, spreading across most of the Christian world (Catholic+Protestant+Evangelical) in numerous languages. I truly believe this will enter the permanent repertoire of Catholic classics, right alongside Panis Angelicus and other perennial favorites.
My guess, based on the voiceover at the end, is that the Lexus ad is Australian (maybe New Zealand) – which is consistent with the right hand seating and in the final wide shot those look like Eucalyptus trees in the fields. In which case the ad is basically saying ‘forget all those ads for wanky Europeans cars mate ….’ (which would definitely fit in with Jim Paauwel’s comment about “rich egalatarian us” since that idea is fundamental to the myth of those countries even if not the actual reality.)
Meanwhile Here I am Lord has always seemed to me a great tune capable of multiple interpretations and must be pretty much a classic by now –
View from the pew:
Regarding: “… is it historically authentic to sing the St. Louis Jesuits with British flipped Rs?”
– With jocularity; yes, if the midwest schwas are left, well, in the midwest.
– Really though the reception of “Here I am Lord” very well maps to the reception of “Silent Night” — a guitar tune if there ever was one. Which is to write, both songs are sung
with affection.
Regarding: the car commercial.
– Culture has many vectors each of which are also expressions of culture.
Joe and Reyanna,
I actually think the incorporation of global music into the music of local churches isn’t inculturation in the sense of adoption of someone else’s culture. And it’s not necessarily tokenism either. What it is is that we’re living in an increasingly global world, and looking for ways to express a “sharing of gifts” within worship that integrates a wider world. In this sense it’s inculturation into our own aspirations as church to be citizens of the world we live in, while seeking the city yet to come.
For generations, the west exported its hymns, songs, and music. Now some of the flow is coming the other way. If handled skillfully and sensitively, it can be a blessing.
@Rita Ferrone – comment #15:
It’s the tokenism that concerns me. Certainly, not every incorporation of another culture into worship falls into that category. But, I’ve seen enough that make me wonder what’s really going on. My concern is that “multicultural” liturgy can become a substitute for real lived solidarity.
The more fundamental question for me regards the meaning of inculturation in a global/multicultural context. How do you do it? Is polyglot liturgy the answer? Maybe. I think the desire among some to return to a uniform standard simply reflects the anxiety the context provokes. It’s disorienting. It evokes nostalgia for a simpler time, and leads to classicism, as much in the liturgy as it does in philosophy. If we find ourselves dissatisfied with that approach, what is the alternative? It’s something I’m trying to work out for myself. I agree that any answer would include eschatological concerns.
On Mozart, it’s good to see him getting some air time to introduce him to people who may not know his work.
As long as Wolfgang Amadeus (baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus) Mozart receives all the royalties he’s due.
Just like in Elvira Madigan.
So if English Cathedral choirs seem to have been infected by this, and I would hope that their repetoire would come across the pond for our choirs to perform. On the other hand, I’ve never heard this chestnut done as well as it was done in the first clip.
As for the commercial, isn’t it a case of “Out with old, and in with the new?” Or “old=bad and new=good?” It’s interesting that music was used to illustrate that. Also the many explanations for the meaning of the commercial making reference to wealth, class, luxury, and privledge, shows the “Francis Effect” clearly is at work among the sheep.
In 1969, I was a student at Saint Louis University Divinity School pursuing an MA in Dogmatic/Systematic theology. While there I signed up to take a course in New Testament Studies taught by Fr. Donald Murphy, S.J. In that class were several Jesuit Scholastics who with me very much were affected by Fr. Murphy’s teaching and they were stimulated to write hymns for the daily Eucharistic celebrations which were offered in the many different Chapels on campus. For twenty minutes before each Mass the students would practice each new hymn. Those hymns have become “The Hymns of the Saint Louis Jesuits” which grew to worldwide popularity for the next twenty years throughout the world. Unfortunately, many music directors, as did disk jockeys everywhere latched on to the belief that “old” means “out of date, discardable” and they switched to Rap, Country, and other “sappy” [my words] music, even in liturgical music circles. My belief is that the Jesuit hymns, and the English translation of the Psalms of the Jerusalem Bible are as close to having long time effects in the liturgical music as has Gregorian Chant, which I predict will be popular again. It induces prayer to which current liturgical celebrations do not lead.
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