Diocese of Marquette - Diocesan Hymnal
  • Ronn62353
    Posts: 25
    The Diocesan Hymnal of the Diocese of Marquette. Does anyone know the status of this project? I've checked on their diocesan website, and while its use is mandated, there is no mention of the title of the hymnal, nor how one may obtain a copy. So, I turn to my brothers and sisters for assistance.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    Copyright issues probably lead to it only being licensed for inside the diocese. Nevertheless I would like to see the index of titles.
    Thanked by 1rich_enough
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,888
    I don’t believe it is for sale for churches outside the diocese. I have a copy as it was supplied as a sample by the publisher, but this was sent to demonstrate how a hymnal could be made specifically for our diocese as well. It could be substantively nearly identical, but it wouldn’t be published under the title of the ‘Hymnal of the Diocese of Marquette’.
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 548
    I can’t think of a reason why America has never followed the German model of a national hymnal plus a[n] [arch]diocesan appendix for locally-beloved music and liturgical material for saints who have a particular following in a region. That way all our dioceses would not have to reinvent the wheel to get something nice, and (going back 50 years) there would not have been such a void for OCP to fill, and (going back 100 years) our better Gregorian angels might have gotten a national foothold.
    Thanked by 4CHGiffen mattebery tomjaw GregoryWeber
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,093
    I can think of a reason: music is largely in the hands of commercial publishers (even if ostensibly non-profit) and the USA is a place where publishers reign supreme, and the USCCB lacked and lacks the competence and desire to overcome that situation. These are the same people who are in charge of liturgical translations, and look at that process.

    Another reason: be careful what you ask for, you might get it.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • Joseph Michael
    Posts: 258
    The Hymnal of the Diocese of Marquette is published by ILP of Nashville and the contents are similar to the publisher's Credo Hymnal. The paper and quality of engraving is excellent. Like Credo, the hymns and texts are conservative. Like the Saint Michael Hymnal and the Ignatius Pew Missal, the "funeral favorites" are included. Unlike Credo, the Marquette Hymnal only has one hymn per page--less crowding of the notes and more attractive. There is a smattering of the ILP contemporary songs in the Marquette book--but less than is found in Credo. The collection includes the revision of Healey Willan's Missa Sancta Magdalena using the 2010 Roman Missal text. The revised Willan can also be found in the Ignatius Pew Missal. There is no Psalter. The Marquette book has a few of the best and beloved tunes from GIA, OCP, and World Library. There are 400 hymns--more than enough to cover any needs. The Marquette book is thin and easy to hold.

    Thanked by 4mattebery rich_enough tomjaw GregoryWeber
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,084
    I am in a diocese that was considering adopting a diocesan hymnal modeled after Marquette's, but that was shelved, thank the Lord. One reason it was shelved is that production of the hymnal became impossible because OCP began to restrict ILP to using no more than ten OCP-copyrighted songs in any custom hymnal it produced. ILP sued OCP over that restriction; I don't know whether that suit has reached an outcome in court yet.

    I used to favor having a diocesan hymnal because it seemed to be a quick solution to removing crappy music from liturgy, but I changed my mind because I concluded that it would be too restrictive and would still implicitly communicate that hymns/songs are the norm for Mass. Are parishes in the Diocese of Marquette allowed to use any of Fr. Weber's propers? Are they allowed to use any from the Graduale Romanum? I know there is a process for having music not in the custom hymnal approved for use by the diocesan worship office, and it seems to me that those collections should receive automatic approval, but I think the best solution to improving music lies in making it a priority for parishes to hire competent, trained music directors imbued with the spirit of the liturgy, which entails paying them well enough to make the job attractive and livable.

    Personnel is policy. Hymnals are also policy, but personnel is more influential both immediately and long-term, and a good director should be able to use almost any commercial resource supplemented by what's available in the public domain to reorient and build a quality liturgical music program.
    Thanked by 3LauraKaz tomjaw GregoryWeber
  • Schönbergian
    Posts: 1,063
    I oppose diocesan hymnals because the kind of quality one sees in Marquette is very, very rare. More often you will see publications like the Canadian national hymnals, with bowlderized lyrics that are not even indicated as such, questionable psalters, and editorial committees that seem wilfully ignorant of the Church's artistic patrimony. (One panel member for the new Canadian hymnal believes that everything sung during Communion must pertain directly and explicitly to the Eucharist—I suppose we must throw out most of the Graduale Romanum in that case.)
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen LauraKaz tomjaw
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