Reviews of New Mass Settings from Major Publishers
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    Following Charles' apparently widely misunderstood commentary on the Chant Cafe this morning, I have posted the beginning of my series of posts reviewing the new Mass settings from the major publishers.

    A short preview:

    Unity Mass – Norah Duncan IV
    Two of my favorite music-theatre composers are Jason Robert Brown (Last Five Years, Songs for a New World) and Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Wicked, Children of Eden). The Unity Mass is reminiscent of both composers’ work, but more as a poor-copy than as an inspiration. I honestly wish I could write for piano as well as Norah Duncan IV does in the Gloria, but as long as I’m wishing, I really wish I could write as well as the composers he seems to be trying to emulate.
    The marketing blurb speaks about the Mass setting’s diversity of styles (“calypso…early American… gentle lyricism”). That’s hard to gauge with only two tracks of fairly poorly sung and poorly produced recording. I love early American music, so I wish I could have heard the Gospel Acclamation. Overall, though, I’m not sure this setting will, as GIA says, “unite the most diverse assemblies.”

    Mass of Joy and Peace – Tony Alonso
    This setting “weaves together gentle melodic motifs and jubilant, lilting rhythmic patterns eliciting a sense of quiet joy and blissful peace.” Well, sort of. The Gloria is pretty enough, but lacking meat. Also, I’m starting to get a bit tired of refrain-style Glorias. They can work, but that better be one darn-good refrain if you’re going to make me sing it four times for no intrinsic liturgical purpose.
    I’m afraid about two things concerning thins setting. First of all, I’m pretty sure that it wouldn’t sound particularly good without all the wonderful instrumentation present on the recording, which is unlikely to happen in a normal parish. Moreover, even if you did it very well, it seems to give the impression that Mass is supposed to be… relaxing.


    Read all my reviews of GIA's new Mas settings here, and look forward to my thoughts concerning the other publishers' offerings soon.
  • benedictgal
    Posts: 798
    These new settings are, sadly, more of the same drek. They do not do these beautiful prayers justice.
  • Dale Fleck
    Posts: 49
    I truly fear that we are going to wind up with another "Mass of Creation".....what a tragedy and a waste of a good opportunity.
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 422
    I have studied nearly all of these extensively and can seriously say I am very worried...

    The ones from WLP look to be the best of the Big Three. I was also (possibly) assured by them that one of my favorites, the Danish Mass, would be retranslated.

    Edit: I do feel that when it's not overused, the Mass of Creation is not awfully terrible relative to what else is out there (i.e. Mass of Glory, any of Haugen and Haas' new stuff, actually any of anyone's new stuff)

    Edit 2: Extensive study means I've looked over/listened to all these several times, not that I went note-by-note through each setting... not that patient.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    Concern 1: Most commercial Mass settings do not come close to the ideals of Sacred music as outlined by LOADS of documents from the Church. While I believe there is plenty of wiggle room for various styles within liturgy, it seems to me that the Ordinary of the Mass is the place to be most conservative.

    Concern 2: Let's say for a minute that absolutely any style of music is acceptable in Mass, from Bel Canto opera to Heavy Metal to Salsa to techno-trance dance music. Let's just pretend that anything goes. Shouldn't the music be at least excellent for its style? For the most part, the settings I've looked at so far fall short of even being excellent within their own musical genres.

    Concern 3: We already know that this music is not going to be in line with the liturgical agenda of the conservatives and orthodox. So... is it at least in line with the liturgical agenda of the liberals and progressives? I would say... no, not really. Its cultural diversity tends to be parodic and poserish. Its congregational melodies are often disengaging and boring (helloooooooo Active Participation!). The music never ventures into any style that could be classified as truly contemporary or popular outside of the folk-mass set, so any claim of inculturation or evangelistic concern is pretty half-hearted.

    Concern 4: Considering how much people claim that chant is slow and boring, I can't get over just how long everything takes in these settings. No, I don't want to sing that Gloria refrain again, thank you. No, I don't want you to meander over a Kyrie trope. No, I don't want the words "Holy, Holy, Holy" to take up 16 bars of slow-Gospel 6/8.

    Concern 5: Related to concerns 1 and 3: It seems to me that if one is going to be in apparent defiance of the musical norms of the Church, one needs a pretty solid reason. Not a single note I have heard from any of these settings seems to suggest that there is any compelling (or even, poorly-considered) reason for choosing this or that setting over either the ICEL chants or a Gregorian Ordinary.

    Concern 6: As someone who thinks there is truly a place for contemporary music (and other non-chant and non-polyphony styles) in liturgy, I fear that such low-quality schlock serves primarily to further discredit the entire genre(s) and drive a wedge deeper between the "folkies/progressives/whatevers" and the "traditionalists/R-ersOfTheR/whatever."

    I could go on.....
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    Concern 6: As someone who thinks there is truly a place for contemporary music (and other non-chant and non-polyphony styles) in liturgy, I fear that such low-quality schlock serves primarily to further discredit the entire genre(s) and drive a wedge deeper between the "folkies/progressives/whatevers" and the "traditionalists/R-ersOfTheR/whatever."


    B I N G O
    B I N G O
    B I N G O
    AND BINGO IS YOUR NAME, Adam.

    It is amazing how a church founded upon the bravest human beings ever to walk the planet has countenanced its worship arts to an ethos of "death by commitee." Jeez, Bob Batastini, Alan Hommerding, Randy DeBruyn and the rest of each of their editorial boards basically capitulate to a lowest common denominator rationale for their publishing decisions? Really? That's not how it is, though I HAVE seen it go down up close and personal?
    Thanks, Adam, BTW, for noticing the underlying meaning of my obtuse article at CC.
    Frankly, whether its Marty or McMillan, I don't give a rip about their attached resumes and Q factor. I want to hear God in what I'm going to choose to sing back to His Grace and Honor. Chant does not suffer from this paucity, period.
    But anything new down the pike has to work simply with His integrity and with humility and without fear of creative offense. And there are capable artists out there. Heck, reality TV proves that in spades.
    But we're so afraid of not covering some requisite, a demographic, a culture, marketability, emotional appeal.
    End of rant. Back to your scheduled programming.
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    The Gloria Simplex of Proulx is the only new setting I have seen that I would consider using. The Mass of St. Agnes of Mills and Olbash's Maris Stella Mass are the two complete ordinaries (other than adaptations of Latin chants) that clearly hold up Gregorian chant as the "supreme model" for sacred music, but the former is under-composed and tonal (rather than modal), and the latter, while suitable for many parishes, lacks in its more developed compositional style the necessary universality for a visitor church such as mine unless, loath as I am to admit it, it were picked up by one of the major publishers.
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,186
    Of the settings I've heard from all three major publishers, like incantu I would consider using only the Proulx Gloria Simplex; additionally I would consider movements from the Stafford Mass of Grace.

    As a digression, more likely for the situation I'm in would be:

    - expansion of the repertoire of Greek/Latin ordinaries (Kyrie/Sanctus/Agnus) via selections from the Kyriale Simplex;
    - usage of ICEL dialogues and responses, and perhaps their adaptations of Gloria XV and Credo I;
    - looking outside the "walled garden" for suitable English settings of the Gloria (two, three max — one metrical and scored for festive occasions*, one or two for weekly use)

    * Just like it would be great to have more guitar accompaniments for chant, it would be great if a plainsong setting of the Mass were scored for brass … any takers?
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    Just like it would be great to have more guitar accompaniments for chant, it would be great if a plainsong setting of the Mass were scored for brass … any takers?


    This may have been humor. Or maybe not. But I repeat that someone with some real talent should compose a Mass using the Gregorian melodies of the ICEL chants in English (but allowing for some rhythms being added) so that it can be sung in all styles from rock to folk to traditional organ to... unaccompanied like chant. If you can make it work in all of those styles, then we can succeed in making these melodies part of the Catholic consciousness in the US - even if it's not always in their purest forms.
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,186
    This may have been humor. Or maybe not.


    SkirpR, I'm actually quite serious. :¬)
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    Then we're on the same page.
  • JDE
    Posts: 588
    Okay, I'll take that call.

    My nephew is part of a brass quintet. Were you thinking quintet, or maybe more like a Gabrieli Platoon?
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    Why not adopt somewhat the French classical alternatim approach? I don't think we are allowed to omit verses anymore, (sadly) but why not have some echo effects? "..bonae voluntaries." (phrase of brass)
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    Aristotle, AdamB, and I kind of have a running joke about the guitar thing. And I know there's at least two other classical guitarists who've attended colloquium. But, after the end of this curricular year, if there is a serious call for worthy accompaniments, I'd be willing to contribute and coordinate that effort.
    But, and this is a big BUT (pun intended in my case)- no one who undertakes such a task should have to endure any slings and arrows from gawkers in the bleachers. We've been down this road already once within the last six months, and there was way too much drama, sturm und drang, and real injury and division resulted.
    So, y'all think long and hard about whether such an enterprise is consonant with CMAA and Church ideology. And then get back to us.
  • benedictgal
    Posts: 798
    Has anyone listened to David Kauffman's Mass of Renewal?

    Here it is: http://www.massofrenewal.com/

    I, for one, find that the introductions are too long. The responsorial Gloria is problematicjec. Why do composers insist on subjecting us to this kind of stuff?

    Please share a review on this.
  • advocatusadvocatus
    Posts: 85
    Check out some of the new activity going on over in Collegeville at The Liturgical Press:

    http://www.theromanmissal.org/LUYH.htm
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,220
    Has anyone reviewed the WLP offerings at singthenewmass.com?
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    These may interest some:
    http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2011/01/three-glorias-for-new-english.html
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    The Liturgical Press collection has some tasteful settings. I would not object to having it in our pews.
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    St. Michael's Hymnal has settings:

    http://www.stmichaelhymnal.com/NewEdition/MassParts.aspx

    LISTEN TO THEM online! Composers like Richard Rice are featured.
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