"Ok, we'll suck more next time."

You know, there were musical settings of liturgical texts which I nevertheless thought inappopriate in a liturgical context, at one time.
I was disabused of that notion when finally I heard a world-class soprano and a fine choir sing Mozart at an otherwise superbly arranged and acomplished.

We don't need to lower the quality of the music, we need to raise everthing else to the same level of excellence.

(Save the Liturgy, Save the World.)

That worn canard, indeed. Provided the music is sacred and excellently rendered, such a complaint can often be traced back to plain old envy.

And the composer intended his work not be performed?

Since the OP gives little context for the offending remark, it's difficult to appraise the full situation. There's no accounting for taste, unfortunately. Some people think "Worthy is the Lamb" from the Messiah a perfect anthem for Easter Sunday; I think it's operatic trash that belongs on the vaudeville stage. It's certainly an attention-grabbing work, but sometimes perception is louder than anything else.

Some people call "performance" anything that is slightly above or beyond their level of comprehension. Some do have a real aversion to serious music. My own boss admits his affection for the sillier music of his youth---Ray Repp, Sebastian Temple, etc. He freely admits that it's juvenile, but he can't get over his liking for it. He never asks me to program these things for liturgy, but he's representative of his generation.

Soldier on. Keep working hard. ignore the naggers and doubters. Do your work for the glory of Jesus Christ and to sanctify the faithful.

He who steals my repertoire steals trash.

rogue63... i totally concur... worthy is the lamb is not for the liturgy. nor is most of mozart. save it for the stage.

Use "execute" instead.

"We executed sacred music at Mass."

This could mean one of two things, though...

I think I would call it performance when the personality of the singer or player is conveyed more powerfully than the text or the music, which can happen with amateur Mozart, professional folk or anything in between.

Performance - what is a 'performance'? Certainly, it is nothing to be afraid of, nothing to deny, nothing to apologise for, or to be cringed at as one caught off guard by small minded ingrate accusers! Far from it! Stand your ground!

It is a presentation to one or more others of a well-prepared example of one's literary, acting, musical, artistic, etc., talent. That is all. It may be presented for the glory of God in the liturgies of his Holy Place, or for human entertainment-enlightenment in the parish hall or opera house. It may be rewarded monetarily, but this is not necessarily the sole motivation of the performance. It is certainly not the sole motivation in liturgical performance. When remuneration is involved it is to support the 'performer' in perfecting the unique 'talent' with which he or she has been endowed by our Creator and in his or her endeavour to make the perfection of this talent and the beauty of holy worship his or her life's work.

There is no inherent mendacity in this arrangement. It is appropriate for the Church to avail itself of a variety of talents (including musical ones) in the building of a house for God, and in the beauty of his worship that takes place in this Lord's house. This house of God represents the best affordable talent and performance from architects, artists, vestment makers, composers, sculptors, painters, mosaicists, furniture makers, priests, deacons, organ builders, choirs, acolytes, people, and... musicians... and makers of incense, and bricklayers. All are performers of their best talents for the Lord. The parable of the talents makes glaringly clear God's wrath upon the servant who buried (did not perfect) his talents and did not present to him an appropriate growth and return on his gift (did not 'perform'). This is as true of the musician as it is of the priest who does not beautifully offer his sacrifice and preach well. So then, there is nothing wrong with this word 'performance'. Let us accept it and glory in offering it to the All Holy. If some ingrate 'accuses' you of performing, thank him or her and let him and her know that it was your meagre offering to God of what he had given you. 'All things come of thee, O Lord; and only of thine own have we given thee.' Go forth and perform, in gratitude, love, and humility, before your God!

(And, I might add: we should, all of us, appreciate that a gift from above to one is a gift from above to all.)

MJO
That was excellently put and I am going to think about your post in the days to come.

When the music "upstages" the liturgy, a performance has taken place, even inadvertently.

Never, never, never should parishioners recognize a concert with a Eucharistic side show. That said, the solution isn't to prune the music but to bring a proper reverence to the liturgical celebration.

Chris G-Z offers (performs?) a pertinent viewpoint. Too, he is wise to note that it's not normally that the music is an ipso facto 'performance' in the worst sense of the word, but that the liturgy itself is not a 'performance' in the best sense of the word. It is difficult to find the proper balance when one has a solemn high mass going on in his head to match the music he is offering, whilst those in the sanctuary have a pretty low church mass in mind and deed. It is the latter which is at fault, not the former. Far too many priests just don't 'get it'. Far from faulting the music, people should expect more from the sanctuary.

'Yea, zeal of thine house hath even eaten me': thus spake the Psalmist. As I was reflecting yet more on the subject here at hand I was reminded of two chants well known to all of us. 1) Terribilis est locus iste; hic domus Dei est, et porta caeli, and 2) Locus iste a Deo factus est, inaestimabile sacramentum, irreprehensibilis est. Yet, how often and how easily we at times forget where we are. We are in the vestibule of heaven, and far too often what we do (even at liturgy) there is wholly, preposterously, out of place - whether it be idle chatter, sloppiness in liturgy (by people and priest alike!), extraordinarily inappropriate and unworthy music, and more.

Yes, our churches are each one the gate of heaven. Rereading Dante's Paradiso the other day, these words from canto XXII, ll. 7 ff, jumped out at me: first is H.W. Longfellow's translation, second is Allen Mandelbaum's. Each reflects, as a prism, an aspect subtly different of Dante's thought.

1) And {Beatrice} to me: 'Knowest thou not thou art in heaven,
And knowest thou not that heaven is holy all
And what is done here cometh from good zeal?'

2) she [Beatrice] said: 'Do you not know you are in Heaven,
not know how holy all of Heaven is,
how righteous zeal moves every action here?'

Perhaps meditation on these words of Dante's, as well as the above introit and gradual for the dedication of a church, will quicken our zeal, purify our minds, enlighten our vision, and sober the choices we make in our various vocations, be they priestly, musical, diaconal, or the participation of the faithful. All are called upon, given unique charisms, to serve in the house of the Lord. For us musicians, we have an august heritage going back to the Levites and the temple. Let us fulfill our charism with a profound and holy zeal, satisfied with nothing but the finest of our craft, and offered with nothing less than the very best that we can do. To paraphrase Dante: 'knowest thou not we are in the vestibule of Heaven'. Yea, let all who breathe know it. Let righteous zeal move every action here. Heaven knows naught but perfection. Alas, all we can do here on earth is 'our best' - so let it be our Very Best.

They are good and faithful Catholics, don't get me wrong, but the "worship" isn't about getting closer to God, but about bring God down to us or about affirmation. These aren't revelations to any of you, but it seems to account for the "performance"-phobia.

...speaks with as much (if not more) gravity as the loudest fortes of a Messiah chorus

Yes!

Is God pleased by a beautiful performance? Not only that, but also by the prayers of those who are move by the beautiful performance.

Like the Angelic Doctor, all we can offer is straw. So let ours, like his, be the superbest straw that we can find and do. And, as Stimson says, our best is but shadows: let, then, these shadows be so full of wonder as even to hint vaguely at what we will do above. They should leave all amazed that the glory of heaven could be so far more glorious than our mean shadows of straw.

hymn-centric "participation"

I have said this before, I will say it again ---
Singing something that isn't part of the liturgy is a poor substitute for participation (actual or active).