Scanning and posting archives of Sacred Music
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Scott Turkington was recently at our home parish in St. Paul, Minnesota, and bundled up 30 years of Sacred Music and sent them off to the scanner. I'm super excited about this. We should start getting them back next week. We'll post issue by issue back to 1975 or so, and then we can start working backward to 1964 and then work back through old issues of the Catholic Choirmaster and Cecilia, only a few of which I've ever seen. Can you imagine how great it will be to see what these pubs were saying in 1910 or so. Wonderful!

    Anyway we are getting there. The idea is to educate and knit our present with our past to complete a picture of sacred music in the 20th century.

    By the way, thank you to all those who gave money to support this project. We are working here with professional scanners in order to get the best quality, and they need to be paid, so the contributions make a HUGE difference. It is very difficult to raise any money for sacred music in general, so it is a special inspiration to see people actually giving money to this cause.

    Also, I'm thinking that we should put out bound volumes of each on a yearly basis, so that you can own 1975, 1976, etc. with a standardized cover. It could start to look unwieldy at our store front but something tells me that there could be a demand for this. Anyone else have thoughts on this matter? Doesn't it seem like many people would want these? Or am I just projecting my own demand here?

    There is lots of work to be done. Again, if you know people who would be willing to support this work, please let them know about giving opportunities to the CMAA.
  • Brian Michael Page
    Posts: 152
    Excellent - this would be a very valuable archives to have.
    BMP
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    Fantastic! Thank you!

    Depending on your need to make money from this, having the information available in electronic form (PDFs, for instance) would be very useful to me. Books are great for reference, but can be harder to search through and copy from.

    Of course, eventually it would be wonderful to have an electronic MUSIC format of everything, rather than printout, but we have a lot of work before that becomes a reality.

    Carl
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Well, the idea is to post them all for free. We might be able to sell volumes of issues in print.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Ok, here is a new page for archives.

    Two additional older issues are up as an experiment. We'll get there!
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624

    The CMAA is pleased to offer the following full issues for download. It is just a start. Here is the archive page.


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    • Volume 134.3, Fall 2007 (Summorum, by Mahrt; Defense of Singing, by P. Phillips; Ward Method, by A. Brown; St. John Cantius, Fr. Kolinksi; 2 Communios, by Mahrt; Concerning Hymns, A. Fortescue; Gregorian Music, F.A. Mocquereau; Polyphonic Masses, by M. Procter)
    • Volume 134.2, Summer 2007 (The Sequence, by L. Dobszay; Ornamented Chant, by L. Candelaria; Aternatim, by S. Treacy; Interview with Schuler; Momentum, by J. Tucker)

    • Volume 134.1, Spring 2007 (Special issue on Dilasso: Monta, Procter, Oost-Zinner/Tucker, Weber, Dobszay, Mahrt, Treacy, Lawrence)
    • Volume 133.4, Winter 2006 (Sing the Mass, Tucker; Graduale or Missale, Tietze, Ascendant Tone, Brouwers; Mary’s song, Zulhlsdorf; Parish Workshops, Oost-Zinner; Compline, Treacy; W. Byrd, McCarthy; Last Word, Poterack)
    • Volume 133.3, Fall 2006 (Cult of Conductor, Phillips; Organ and Roman Rite, Lawrence; Organs of Oxaca, Mansfield; Mystery of St. Louis Jesuits, Tucker; the Crequillon Revelation, Lawrence; BLC news)
    • Volume 133.2, Summer 2006 (Learning Curve, Tucker; JP II on Music, Kwasnieski; Beyond Taste, Tribe; Mode II Offertories, Mahrt)
    • Volume 133.1, Spring 2006 (Gregorian Chant at the Paradigm, Mahrt; Ward Method, Zuberbueler, Brandt; Ave Verum, McCarthy; Orbis Factor, Mahrt)

    • Volume 114.1, Spring 1987 (Canonesses and Plainchant by Duane Galles, Latin Liturgy of Louis XIV, by R.D. Henry, Anniversary of PISM, by R.J. Hayburn)
    • Volume 113.4, Winter 1986 (Tribute to Flor Peters; Elphantiasis of the Word, Hanshell; Echo, Higginson; Liturgical Formation, Steinschulte; editorial notes)
    • Volume 113.3, Fall 1986 (St. Peter’s Sunday Morning, Hughedon; New Interpretation of Chant, LeVoir; Liturgy is Life, LaFontaine; Lent in Louisville, Galles)
    • Volume 113.2, Summer 1986 (Discernment in Church Music, Ledwon; Early American Catholic, Higginson; New Era in Collegiate Church, Galles)
    • Volume 113.1, Spring 1986 (Theological Problems, Ratzinger; Syntheses of the Second International, Foyer; Three Servants of the Lord, Schubert; Reviews)
    • Volume 112.2, Summer 1985 (What Makes Music Sacred, Schuler; Papal Musical Knights, Galles; Reviews, News)

    • Volume 112.1, Spring 1985 (Good Friday Oratones Universales, Edwards and Hughesdon; Music for the Holy Word, Eldridge; Whither Gregorian Chant, Overath; VII International Church Music Congress)
    • Volume 111.4, Winter 1984 (The Tridentine Mass, Schuler; Guiding Principles in Liturgical Formation, Baldanza; Attitude of the Church Twoards Music from the Patristic Age to the Late Middle Ages, R.D. Henry)
    • Volume 108.4, Winter 1981 (The Workhouse, Schmitt; Liturgy and the Realm of the Rational, Graber; Member List)
    • Volume 104.4, Winter 1977 (Musical Shape of the Liturgy IV, by Mahrt; Sacred Music in Holland, by J. Lennards; Twin Cities Chorale, by R.M. Hogan)
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Folks, this is just unbelievable. I'm so excited. have a look
  • HHHitchcock
    Posts: 1
    This is a truly a significant contribution! All who are working to restore beauty to Catholic Church music will be grateful for this valuable resource -- added to the many CMAA provides through this excellent web site! Congratulations and thanks!
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,185
    For those with the time, interest, and/or courage to compare and contrast, I have placed the links to the the CMAA's Sacred Music archives alongside the links to the NPM's Pastoral Music archives on my blog.
  • RobertRobert
    Posts: 343
    Reading over some of these articles I thought, a propos Prof. Mahrt's recent EWTN appearance, it's remarkable that more and more people are just now starting to pay attention to points he's evidently been making for over thirty years!
  • JulesVanNuffel
    Posts: 126
    I agree with Helen. Jeffrey, the world will forever be in your debt.
  • JulesVanNuffel
    Posts: 126
    Aristotle, I went and looked at one of those NPM (the one about folk weddings)

    I just about threw up. What a travesty. The Catholic bishops should CONDEMN those issues, full of heresies, and officially censor them for all eternity.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Have a look now: complete back to 1975 (but for 2001-2005)
  • janetgorbitzjanetgorbitz
    Posts: 964
    Here's some useful info. from the Oct-Nov 1978 NPM issue (I Know I'll be needing this stuff):

    A set of rules-of thumb (or perhaps more accurately, rules-of strum) for wedding performance:
    1. Whever the guitar is used as the basic rhythm instrument, always add a bass. ("a guitar group without a bass is like an organ without pedals.")
    2. an acoustic guitar should be miked. While an unmiked guitar may sound more pure, in a standard-sized church it also sounds distant.
    3. Three-part harmony produces a fuller sound than two-part and SAB fuller than SSA.
    4. For satisfying voice-leading -- as well as retention of arrangements -- harmonies should be written out.
    5. The time to learn new and difficult music is not on the day of the wedding. Producing a professional sound demands untold hours of practice long before the wedding, reserving the hour immediately before the service simply for refreshing the memory. (Give special emphasis to rehearsing introductions.)
    6. The preferred location for the wedding ensemble is generally in front of, not behind the congregation, to promote better participation, and to reflect their active involvement in the celebration.
    7. Being in front of the congregation carries with it a responsibility not only to the aural but also to the visual dimension of worship: singing with uplifted, spirited face (not with brow buried in frighteningly new notes); participating fully in the entire service (by attitude, response); dressing so as to add to the beauty and joy of the occasion.
    8. The group should relate to the congregation: introducing themselves before the service, and where appropriate, inviting the congregation to join them in song, their speaking style warm and gracious and always in keeping with the solemnity of the day.

    Is this a hoot, or what? Thanks, Aristotle, for giving me the opportunity for a good chuckle to start my day :)
  • JulesVanNuffel
    Posts: 126
    Janet, did you see the article that talks about how the traditional wedding procession (with its emphasis on the priest instead of the congregation, the wedding party's "back to the people," and the chauvinistic ritual of giving the daughter away) victimizes the congregation, and does untold damage to their mental health???
  • janetgorbitzjanetgorbitz
    Posts: 964
    I loved the question Richard Wojcik feels compelled to ask all prospective couples: "Why do you want a church wedding? You don't need it to get married."

    I did read one article that tried to discourage the Entrance and 'giving away' of the Bride, perhaps not the one you mentioned, but it did seem to be a theme that ran through the various articles... funny, though, I've never seen a wedding done as they suggest... I've always seen the bride marching up the aisle after all the bridesmaids and flower girls and the men standing waiting at the altar. Think of the damage being done!!!
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,185
    @Jules: I must say that while I had the time and interest to create the side-by-side listing, I myself haven't the desire to peruse the NPM archives myself. I blame it on my personal experience from 1993-2003; I believe I lived through at least some of the more egregious 'recommendations' proffered by its contributors, and putting the list together was enough of a reminder for me of those days.

    @Janet: You're welcome, and the excerpt you provided confirms my lack of desire to browse those archives! :)
  • JulesVanNuffel
    Posts: 126
    Looking at 2-3 of those articles made me so very mad.

    But I think (for the sake of my blood pressure) it would be better to treat those articles the way I do Ted Kennedy: instead of getting mad, I just laugh.
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    Not that I see a huge point in bashing NPM, but I too saw something utterly ridiculous in one of those magazines: "I evaluate Mass like I would a party: did everyone participate? Was everyone welcome? Did I have fun?"

    At the same time I see a lot of good in those issues. There's often a focus on fair treatment of church musicians, professional development, good pastoral sense, use of the organ, and practice, practice, practice! All this next to the articles about Mass being fun... On the other hand, one has to look at how these positive ideas disappeared from Catholic musical consciousness immediately, and how the bad ideas stuck. In fact, that's one thing I like about Sacred Music Magazine, it doesn't tell me what to think or how to run my particular parish or whom to vote for. It just presents quality scholarship to those who want it. And apparently, with that article in the Winter issue that everyone wants to organize a book-burning around, it also encourages keeping an open mind.

    We may look back at NPM and see the foolishness and call it such. But future generations can look back at Sacred Music and STILL learn from it, since it avoids the zeitgeist and polemics that NPM fell into. How great is that?
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,185
    Additions now appear on my CMAA/NPM comparison list. I notice that in addition to Volumes 128-132 (2001-2005), Volume 121 (1994) of the CMAA journal is also pending.
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