How to respond to a parishioner's request
  • daniel
    Posts: 75
    An influential Hispanic parishioner (runs the parish fest, dinner dance, OLG novena etc.) asked me to consider doing "something" to incorporate more Hispanic culture in the music program. A new pastor (also Hispanic) arrived a year ago, and she is concerned that Mass attendance has decreased, fewer people are attending her meetings to organize the above mentioned activities, and fewer laypersons are involved in liturgical ministries. She thinks that the music would be one way to help turn this around. I told her I would think and pray about it and get back to her. She gave me a commentary from the diocesan liturgy office on "Sing to the Lord" which I read after she left, but there are so many untruths in it that I cannot accept it. Whoever wrote it took so many liberties in quoting it that it amounts to a lot of mere opinion. At present, I feel like telling her "Thank you for your concern." and leave it at that. But I have questions. Am I too lazy to work with guitarists, even if I just have them play the accompaniment while I play melody and bass on the organ? Am I too jealous to include other instrumentalists? At present, all of our Masses are played with "yours truly" on organ. Each Mass has a cantor or choir. I usually only use other instruments (trumpet) on Easter. How does this seem?
  • Flambeaux
    Posts: 45
    Music of the Mexican Baroque? Lots of gorgeous polyphony, authentic Hispanic culture (not the patronizing pablum found in most parishes), and clearly worthy music in the Latin Rite.

    There are also lots of folk songs from that era that were used para-liturgically. Check out the Orchestra of New Spain based in Dallas, TX. The revival in a secular, concert capacity is the meat and potatoes of this group.
  • Michael O'Connor
    Posts: 1,637
    The situation sounds like a general parish malaise. The usual culprits are poor preaching (or over-long rambling homilies) and uninspired liturgy, but the biggest thing is usually psychological. Most organizations facing declining membership try to pander to every desire and end up seeming desperate. No one wants to commit to a desperate organization. People are attracted to groups that don't really "need" more people. The answer that no priest wants to contemplate is to embrace a way of doing things and exude confidence, even if it's not really there. This will attract people, especially the ones who want to volunteer. Quality attracts quality, after all. You don't often get first-rate musicians volunteering for a bad choir usually. If your congregation is largely hispanic, then you need to offer them something, I think. If you have good voices in your choir, try some of Francisco Guerrero's sacred songs in Spanish. You can find them in the series Monumentos de la Musica Espanola at a good university research library. Most are out of print now, though.
  • daniel
    Posts: 75
    The congregation is largely Hispanic, but we do offer them something: the music from OCP's Flor y Canto (but with organ, not guitars). I try to play the organ in a rhythmic style like the style of Hispanic music. Sometimes we add tambourines and maraccas. Should this be enough? Are guitars really necessary?
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,477
    If you already have maracas and tambourines, why not guitar?
    Are you trying to move them out of that style and into more traditional music?
    That's a good reason.
    Or can you just not be bothered to work with guitarists?
    That's a bad reason.
  • eft94530eft94530
    Posts: 1,577
    New pastor arrives. Parishioner interest declines. Therefore parishioner wants to change the music.
    Did I read that correctly? Yikes!

    influential parishioner

    In addition to being Organist, are you also the Music Director?
    http://musicasacra.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=3496
    Is there a nearby parish or mega-church or store-front chapel attracting parishioners?

    in the music program

    Does this mean at Mass, or at Festival/etc events, or both?
    --Given the STTL reference, I guess the parishioner interest is at Mass.
    Vatican documents (SC, MS, GIRM, ...) are binding.
    STTL is advisory.
    A diocesan commentary on STTL is probably even less.
    http://musicasacra.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1775
    How did the parishioner acquire the commentary?
    Are they knowledgeable about the underlying binding documents?
    --Given your use of the above phrase, perhaps your subconscious is suggesting a solution?

    But I have questions ... lazy ... jealous

    Has music membership (cantor or choir) declined?
    Have members been asking for changes at some time recently preceding the influential parishioner?
    Do you have trusted eyes and ears who can assist you in confidentially assessing the problem?
    Sometimes it is difficult to know what people have in mind.
    Not telling you exactly can set you up for failure because the something you try is not the something they want.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    I can't be sure, but it's possible that the influential parishioner wants dance-style music, something that really is not conducive to a sense of the sacred. If you can confer with the pastor and seek his reassurance that he does *not* want that, it might help avoid some potential pitfalls.

    Materials from the major publishers may not be all that helpful: a priest at the Colloquium said that none of the varieties he had seen included traditional Spanish-language hymns: born in the US, he only heard them for the first time when he got to seminary!
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    There is a fair amound of well-written Spanish hymnody, that is keyboard-based It tales a bit of looking, but there is some. Spanish was being sung in parishes before the guitar invasion.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    The new pastor, she?
  • Maureen
    Posts: 678
    Noooo, the influential parishioner is the she. She is worried that there are fewer fellow parishioners attending her organizational meetings for her pet events since the new pastor arrived.
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,413
    .
  • Maureen
    Posts: 678
    The parishioner is trying to apply the remedies she thinks will work. There's no need to get mad about that; she's doing as she was taught, most likely.

    We're in a very sad part of history for music, it's true. But we also have a lot of advantages that previous ages didn't have. Acknowledge the one, and then get on with the other.

    Btw, I noticed last night that archive.org has a lot more live recordings of chant, sacred music polyphony, etc. than it used to. Some nice Portuguese stuff, for one.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    I think that we are all in accord here, but are barking up the wrong tree.

    This is a case of When Sheep Attack...

    Essentially, this is a person who is unhappy with the new pastor.

    Imagine a restaurant that has done very nicely with a good chef.

    The chef moves on and a new chef takes over and though the menu is the same, business drops off.

    So, to solve the problem, management proposes adding a karaoke night and live music on weekends.
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    Maybe you can advise her to tackle more devotional opportunities, with the pastor's guidance and permission. This brings culture to the areas most fruitful and appropriate, and gives others in the Latino community a chance to collaborate together.
    Tell her you can help with some of the music for a procession on the feast of OL Guadalupe, for example. She can Start a Santo Niño monthy devotional.

    Specific nationalities are best expressed in the devotional life of a parish. The sacred liturgy should be more about the community as a whole.
  • daniel
    Posts: 75
    Thank you, everyone, for your help. I made a novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, asking her to help me know how to direct the music in this parish, and how to incorporate the cultural needs of the Mexican people while being faithful to the directives of the Church. The answer I arrived at, and wrote in a letter to the woman I wrote about, was that after much thought and prayer I have decided to continue the music here as before. I told her that I know this is not the answer she was hoping for, but that this is the answer that I pray Our Lady, through the Holy Spirit, has given me. I showed my letter to the Pastor, who approved it, and mailed it to her. We are still on cordial terms, thank God. For the present, the waters are calm. Let's pray for each other that the Lord will guide us when the waters become rough again!
  • Maureen
    Posts: 678
    You know, praying a novena is definitely not the worst idea in the world. I think this could be a secret weapon in all music directors' arsenals. :)
    Thanked by 1tomboysuze
  • OlbashOlbash
    Posts: 314
    I trust you've found this website from the Diocese of Ponce, Puerto Rico. A huge treasury of Spanish and Latin music.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    It is good to note his willingness to share:

    Revisión, Versión Coral y edición: Abel Di Marco, Pbro. Derechos reservados. © A. Di Marco. ASCAP 3506300. Se permite el uso y duplicación de este material sólo con fines Pastorales. Prohibido su uso con fines económicos.
  • Michael O'Connor
    Posts: 1,637
    Once again, there is a very long tradition of guitar in Spanish sacred music, as a continuo instrument. There is a huge repertoire of 17th-century villancicos (before they become solely associated with Christmas) that, in some cases, puts the current hispanic literature to shame in regards to rhythm and peppiness. Much of it is in Spanish too. I don't think we will ever be able to change the desire for music like this in the Spanish congregations, but we can help it return to a mix of the serene and the peppy!
  • papalgal
    Posts: 35
    Your situation sounds pretty much like what I face down here in South Texas. Our Cathedral has been overrun by dreadful Mariachi Music and the bishop really does not care.

    The big problem with what the influential parishioner wants is that, as well-meaning as she is, she might not have taken the time to read the authoritative documents of the Church on Sacred Music. The music needs to orient us to the sublime, to the sacred, to the Divine Majesty of God, not make us think about a Mexican fiesta. Save the Mariachis for the parish social. As far as tamborines and maracas with the organ, that is about as bad as having filet mignon with refriend beans.

    OCP is not the bastion of music. Unfortunately, Spanish-language music is relegated to whatever drek OCP publishes. I am not too hopeful about the GIA stuff. We need to realize one thing, at the Mass, we are not Mexican-Americans, Italians, Anglos, African-Americans, Filipinos, Germans, French or whatever. We are Catholics, first and foremost. Our culture is the Catholic Church. Our true citizenship is in heaven. If we want to celebrate diversity, we can do that outside of the Mass. We should not make the Mass about ourselves.
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