Quandry
  • daniel
    Posts: 75
    Without much thought, I introduced number 14 from Flor y Canto II ("Santo" by Mary Frances Reza/Misa San José) to my choir. They immediately liked it, as do I. However, after some thought, I realized that it is probably not in keeping with the style of music the Church desires. It is dancelike and rhythmic, not at all like chant or polyphony. Other problems I see are that it is too repetitive, and probably would only work at Masses where a choir is present. We haven't begun singing it at Mass yet, so I'm thinking of just dropping it and hoping nobody will ask about it. Do my thought processes here seem to be correct, or am I mistaken? Thanks.
  • benedictgal
    Posts: 798
    I would drop it. In fact, a lot of the OCP Flor y Canto style is not conducive to the sacred liturgy. Unfortunately, Flor y Canto tends to play fast and loose with the Church's official texts. There is a Spanish Ordinary that one of our forum members has composed that is similar to the ICEL setting.
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,507
    I love Mary Frances Reza's music, and #14 is by far my favorite Santo in Flor y Canto 2.

    I'm probably rationalizing, and I'm no musicologist, but I wonder if being chant-like can sometimes be a matter of tensions and relief of tension. In this aspect, I think #14 could be compared with Santus VIII.

    Also, one amazing thing about Gregorian chant is that in the middle of it, the resolving cadence is not imaginable. That happens in #14 for me. Contrast with #91. Everything in #91 is completely spelled out from the opening line.

    (This is where CharlesfromCenCA should chime in.)
  • benedictgal
    Posts: 798
    My issue with OCP is that a lot of the stuff that they have does not sound sacred. Mary Frances Reza may be a good composer of religous music, but, she may not be quite suited for liturgical music. Her psalms are not really the ideal for usage as a responsorial psalm as they sound too much like soft pop.

    Having listened to the 24-song sampling of the latest Flor y Canto, it was a major diasappointment.
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,507
    benedictgal,

    I guess what I'm trying to suggest is that "sounding sacred" might not have as much to do with instrumentation, as with cadence.
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