City of God, I was hoping that could of just been contained within the the United States until it wasn't sung anymore eventually.

Here's a link to the 'liturgy' page on the visit website. The page links to a .pdf version of the 'Magnificat' booklet that contains the papal liturgies and associated material, including music. The Bishops of the two Conferences (Scotland and England & Wales) are to be congratulated for making a million hard copies of this available for free.

Interestingly, the only copyright notices I've seen so far are against music and non-liturgical texts - I can't find any references to copyrights on translations of liturgical material. Assuming I haven't missed something (and I'll grant my eyes aren't what they used to be), does this set an interesting precedent, or have the publishers explicity obtained permission to use translations without reference, and if so, why?

ps I see the Holy father is to be serenaded with 'Amazing Grace' by the Strathclyde Police Pipe [Bag]Band. I'm sure he'll be amazed but have the grace not to show it.

AG to "New Britain" is the most popular piece of "bagpipe" repertoire. That is not to say that it is so popular amongst pipers! Most of them really hate it when asked to perform it. It has become a musical stereotype. It is requested just as often at weddings as at funerals. (Don't get me started on what Freud would have to say about that!) There are so many more interesting "laments" and fold tunes for the pipes - but no one is familiar with them except for pipers. There are also multiple versions of the piece, including one in 4/4 rather than 3/4. (It's a really bad sound when two pipers perform AG, and they're not playing the same meter!) An adjustment to melody needs to happen in the 3rd line if the pipes are accompanying the hymn being sung, at least as the melody appears in North American hymnals.

Bagpipes certainly give an impression "wailing". But their actual loudness is quite a bit less than a really strong pipe organ reed stop. A pipe band outdoors will sound just fine. One or two pipers inside, especially with organ accompaniment, is a wonderful sound. My son and I have been doing it since he was in 6th grade, and had learned AG.

Maestro,

My 'excellent for Scotland' referred to the value of the proffered link to those who wanted to know about music for the the Scottish part of the visit (I was trying to say "the link is only for Scotland, not the other part of the UK to be visited", without sounding picky to those who have no earthly reason to know the difference). It was not intended as a judgement on the music, which appears to be a curate's egg in both countries.

Some Corpus Christi Watershed shorts filmed in Cardinal Newman's house

Steve - about 'marching as to war': the last time pipers led the way into actual battle was in north Africa during WWII - the Germans were reportedly terrified and called them 'the ladies from (Hades)'.

Newman was an active musician, and considered (in The Idea of a University) music to be the expression of ideas greater and more profound than any in the visible world. Susan Treacy has written an article on John Henry Newman and Music for Adoremus.

The Idea of a University was pretty stern about restricting universities to their traditional study of the liberal arts (and theology), which includes music as one of the Seven but would never call someone to study only that one. In Newman's view, technical education or a research institute wasn't really a university thing.

Re: bagpipes -- Anyway, there were single reed bagpipes all over Europe and the Mideast (probably all over the world), and they were a Roman instrument. Heck, they were a traditional Bavarian instrument!

Medieval German bagpipe music on YouTube
Live medieval German bagpipes in Wurzburg
Medieval German band Corvus Corax playing "Stella Splendens" (Which is nice, because it's a Red Book of Montserrat tune, and there are pictures of bagpipers on a lot of Spanish pilgrimage route churches. Not church music, though; it's a dance tune for helping people stay awake all night during the vigil of a holy day, and it was danced outside on the square. It has religious words, though.)

One of the nice things about Holy Family in Dayton is that a couple of the stained glass windows include bagpipes (dudelsacks, anyway) as motifs. One is clearly supposed to be a shepherd's bagpipes, but I can only suppose that the one associated with Christ's Passion is supposed to be a Roman military one. And of course angels are notorious for playing bagpipes as well as harps and other instruments, though not in the pictures in that church. :)

Baker has been gracious in the past in responding to email questions as well.

Published by Bishops of England and Wales.

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."A senior Catholic insider said last night: ‘This booklet is most unfortunate because it risks exposing the Church to ridicule once again."

Here's more information about the pamphlet from the Daily Mail.

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The Pope is in Scotland! Amazing St. Ninian's Day parade of parochial schoolkids -- also, a thousand pipers. :)

There's a video from the Telegraph. It shows Susan Boyle in her parish church, which looks very nice. She says that what she'll be singing is a secret, so who knows?

(It sounds like she's got a bit of a cold, so let's hope she feels better by the day. You can certainly tell that good nutrition makes a difference to health, though; when she first hit the scene, she had that slightly malnourished look that comes with middle-aged genteel poverty.)

Beautiful visuals: long twilight shadows and wind-blown chasubles.

Friday, 1:20 EDT. Waiting for Pope and Archbishop to arrive in Westminster Abbey, the choir is singing....If ye love me by Tallis.

The choristers are seriously distracted.

It's even more apt than I'd thought--the tune is Westminster Abbey. The text is JM Neale's translation of Angularis fundamentum.

Hahahaha.

The post-Communion hymn of praise, which visibly moved many in the congregation:

"O Bread of Heaven, beneath this veil
Thou dost my very God conceal:
My Jesus, dearest treasure, hail!
I love Thee and, adoring, kneel;
Each loving soul by Thee is fed
With Thine own Self
in form of Bread.

O food of life,
Thou Who dost give
The pledge of immortality;
I live, no ‘tis not I that live;
God gives me life, God lives in me:
He feeds my soul, He guides my ways,
And every grief with joy repays.

O Bond of love that dost unite
The servant to his living Lord ;
Could I dare live and not requite
Such love - then death were meet reward:
I cannot live unless to prove
Some love for such unmeasured love.

My dearest God! Who dost so bind
My heart with countless claims to Thee!
O Sweetest love, my soul shall find
In Thy dear bonds true liberty.
Thyself Thou hast bestowed on me;
Thine, Thine for ever I will be.

O Mighty Fire, Thou that dost burn
To kindle every mind and heart!
For Thee my frozen soul doth yearn;
Come, Lord of love, Thy warmth impart;
If thus to speak too bold appear,‘
Tis love like Thine has banished fear.

O Sweetest dart of love Divine!
If I have sinned, then vengeance take;
Come pierce this guilty heart of mine,
And let it die for His dear sake
Who once expired on Calvary,
His heart pierced through for love of me.


Beloved Lord, in Heaven above
There, Jesus, Thou awaitest me,
To gaze on Thee with endless love;
Yes, thus I hope, thus shall it be:
For how can He deny me Heaven,
Who here on earth Himself hath given?"

I didn't have a chance to watch it. Was there any Propers, even in vernacular and/or Latin Ordinaries sung?

Thanks, Kathy. I didn't get to see all. But it is very beauiful. Chant and Latin prayers. Our Holy Father was saying the Eucharistic prayers in Latin and all other bishops join in Doxology in Latin. Made me cry. I'm sending this link to our children's schola, when they hear the same "mortem tuam' that we sing, they will be so happy and proud.

Our Pope will help us and lead us, Catholics, to experience the "sacred" that is lost in modern time.
Long live our Pope!!!

KTO has video on demand of a number of liturgies and addresses of the Holy Father in the UK. Here is the Mass from Westminster Cathedral. The ecumenical service from Westminster Abbey is also available, as is the Mass in Glasgow.