You could consider Simply Liturgical Music:
https://www.slmusic.org/

Also Cantica Nova:
http://canticanova.com/

There’s nothing to keep you from doing both. Unless the published piece has a really wide appeal and is well marketed, don’t expect to see much money out of it. I have a Christmas psalm that does well. I have two other psalms out that have made less than $1 in royalties in the years they’ve been available. The first example was widely marketed the second was not.

Unless some exceptional circumstance might arise, I just give my compositions away now. Most (all that I have copyright clearance to give away) are now on CRCCM’s repertoire site. Unless you’re writing the stuff everyone on this board complains about, you’re probably not going to do well financially, and even then I believe most of the “big” composers probably make more off of workshops and concerts.

Thanks, @MarkB, @francis, & @MarcCerisier, Cantica Nova is right on board with the kind of music I want to compose. However, as they admit, they're noticeably lacking in resources. I just want to provide beautiful music that has value to others.

Here's the problem: mechanical royalties aren't squat, and ASCAP/BMI/your PRO here don't pay for liturgical performances (which is as it should be), though there's always the chance that your piece might be done on a concert, so it's still worth registering.. The main reason for print publishing is credibility: somebody else has spent money to make your music available, so it has more credibility right out of the gate. If you're "singing a new church into being", it might be worth it; you have a chance of selling enough units to merit cutting the check. But if you're writing in the continuing tradition of the Church, you're in competition with Palestrina, and I don't care how good you are, Palestrina has >400 years of brand recognition. Why should people pay for your music when they can have Palestrina for free?

My personal response has been to put my things up on cpdl under personal copyright. They're widely available, under an excellent search system, at a Palestrina-like price point. Those to whom they speak can find them, and if they want more of the same, can commission me.

If you do use a living composer's music, or an editor's editions, let them know. It may be just the encouragement they need at a bleak time. And it gives them some idea of what to do: more of this, less of that.

Starve a composer long enough, [s]he will die.

While there is something to be said for offering our works to the service of the Church and Her glory (I would never make my parish purchase copies of the music I compose for this choir whilst employed there!) the fact of the matter is that composers have a real need to live, too. If my church decides they will no longer pay me enough to justify my continued employment here, they will cease to benefit from my talents and compositions too. 'Good will' doesn't pay my mortgage or grocery bills.

I self-publish, and I only hope in any given year to break even with my web hosting costs. So far I've fallen short of the mark. But I also never thought this would be a get-rich scheme.

Merci beaucoup mes amis.

@Chris Garton-Zavesky, good to hear. I'm planning on submitting my Mass in Bb minor to CanticaNOVA, but I need to make sure all is kosher and I write an exquisite cover letter.

You can listen to it here: https://soundcloud.com/alexchoyce/sets/mass-in-bb-minor?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The score can be viewed here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4a7pmnzbab0vi41/Mass in Bb minor - Score.pdf?dl=0

Any advice? All can chime in.

My main criticism is not the music itself, but rather the organ part which is not idiomatic. It is written like it’s for piano, but marked for pedal. If played as written, you’d only use the right hand and feet. I think it needs to fleshed out differently. Perhaps you could consult an organist if you aren’t one yourself.

B-flat minor (with all the high F's) is way too high for the congregation. It would be much better transposed down a minor third to G minor. It's hard to imagine having to listen to the screeching F's in the Kyrie.

Actually, @ServiamScores, I can see how to write it for two hands and pedal. It shouldn't be very difficult. I'm thinking of having it written with the right hand playing the melodic parts (top 1 or 2 notes) and the left playing the supporting tones. I'll have it fixed and will show it to you on this thread.

The high F's aren't just in the Kyrie.

Listening to the piece in my head, the F - Bflat- Dflat C motif rings a bell marked "Fiddler on the Roof".

You have metronome markings of quarter note at 140. I gather you mean this to indicate that the movements shouldn't drag, or have melancholy qualities to them, but I wonder if that's not tremendously faster than most congregations can sing with any degree of accuracy.

[Not your fault]: The Kyrie proves, to my mind, why (in what way) the EF asks greater maturity of its participants. All the "chorus" does in this setting and, frankly, in most settings, is respond to the call.

Measure 21 of the Benedictus puts the word "the" on a strong beat (the downbeat), which (I trust) is not what you intend. Perhaps you're following the Solemn ictic placement method which avers that a strong syllable should rarely receive an ictus because it's already getting emphasis as part of the text. [That's a clumsy explanation, everybody, so don't pounce on me for it].

Is there a Credo?

@CHGriffin I'll be on the lookout for other Fs.

Shameless plug:
https://psallitedomino.com/blog/singing-the-creed

Serviam,

Would a Credo make a Mass Ordinary more publishable or less so, do you think?

I always thought it queer that ICEL sets "prayer" to one note but "myst'ry" to 4. A glance at Webster's 9th however validates these: 'pray-er' is a separate entry "one who prays" and 'mys-tery' gets a parenthetical variant /mis-t(ə-)rē/. Time to own the my-(y)s-te-ry, I guess.

Richard,

Yes, a Prayer (two syllables) is a person who prays, just as a maker is someone who makes and a slayer is one who slays.

My point, however, is that (usually) writing "prayer" as two syllables is bad form. I'm aware of specific places in which that's not true, so it's not an absolute.

Huh. I can definitely see what you're saying, Serviam. It is quite busy.

In your Glory to God, you could easily combine the right and left hand organ parts into the left hand with few modifications, and put the melody into the right hand.

Wow. I just have to say this has been a lot for me. It's clear that I need to study sacred music more. I live right by a Catholic university that offers a Masters in Sacred Music, so maybe I can learn organ and study great choral works. The university connects you to a church where you can practice music ministry. I'd also sing baritone in their pretty good choir.

I would highly recommend studying some scores of modern liturgical music intended for practical use by parish choirs and congregations (of all denominations), like Peter Latona, Healey Willan, John Rutter, Bob Chilcott, et al. Take a look at the vocal ranges, accompaniments, etc. Remember that this Mass will most likely be performed by parish choirs that will consist of almost 100% amateur volunteers who have very little vocal training, minimum reading skills, will rehearse once a week, and will need to learn everything by rote; something like this Mass could take a couple months to learn.

One of the drawbacks to the key that you are in is the high tessitura. I am a tenor, so I would find this no problem, but it does hang out around in the minor third between b-flat and d-flat quite a bit, which will be tiring for amateur basses and altos, and also a fair number of parish sopranos, who are sometimes more often than not Mezzos who would prefer to sing alto. I understand the artistic reasons for b-flat minor, but for practical usage use, it would also be good to offer different keys, similar to the way art songs are available in different keys for high, medium, and low voices.

I also concur with Serviam about doubling the melody in the organ part, especially if you want congregational participation. And the revision of the Glory to God organ part is a massive improvement, and encourage you to look through the rest of the organ part. There is no sin in revising: Mendelssohn revised extensively, even works that had already been published.

Not to end on a discouraging note: I do really like this setting. Have you considered the possibility of a version using the text in the Book of Common Prayer (1661)? (The most alterations would be in the Gloria.) I think that it would work very well.

The people are supposed to be able to sing all their responses,

Which is an argument AGAINST a Credo setting, as a congregation can't be expected to learn something of that length and complexity. I don't do NO, but the only time we've ever done composed Credos was during the COVID lockdown, when there was nobody around to sing along

Which is an argument AGAINST a Credo setting, as a congregation can't be expected to learn something of that length and complexity.

Au contraire! We learned my English transcription of Credo III and sang it for months, only pausing after Corpus Christi once the choir began their summer hiatus. Don’t forget that singing the creed was mentioned in V2 and Paul VI promulgated ‘Jubilate Deo’ after the council, which included Credo III among the other chants that “every catholic should know”. Furthermore, if congregations can sing the myriads of Gloriæ out in the wild (some of which are difficult and can also be on the long side) then why couldn’t they similarly learn the credo? Mind you, most people can recite it just fine (at least in groups).

I reside at a Co-op for the mentally ill and have a case manager who will not let me attend Mass due to...

@ anyone who may know: Is this a normal affair? Our choir sings once in a while in a home for the mentally handicapped; sometimes it is a challenge to remain focused on the Mass, but everyone (many of them with personal assistance) whatever his/her mental state attends, and it is always a joyful event.

Jeffrey,

If we take as the high watermark the music of Haas, Haugen, Joncas and Co., then clearly the Mass setting of a Credo would be too hard. Would it be possible to set a Credo as I'm currently organizing part of the Agnus Dei from Mass IV... that is to say for 3 voices with the chant melody being prominent within the piece? That way, they could sing the chant melody, could sing the Credo.