Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Revised Roman Missal and Sacred Music

Will the music now played in our parish change when the revised Roman Missal is put into place? I've run across a book that may or may not be helpful. Maybe someone with some knowledge can help put it into perspective. The book is called Simple English Propers and it purports to bring back the 'sacred' to sacred music.

Also ran across this post from an organist/director at the Carmelite monastery in Philadelphia. She writes, "Soon we will be treated to translations of the Mass texts that are much closer to the original Latin missal. This is most obvious in the Gloria, which will match the phrases as they appear in the Latin missal, rather than relying on the chopped-up and re-organized translation currently in use. Along with the revised translations, may we now expect more sacred musical settings?

Sadly, this does not appear to be the case. A mailing from one of the major publishers assured me that the revised translations would be adapted to current settings, and new settings are coming, but from the same composers who gave us the old secular-style settings and hymns. It is an opportunity missed."

She makes some good points regarding simple chant, and how it is naturally adaptive to choirs and those of us in the pews. Here's another post about the upcoming changes.

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