"P&W" music with orthodox, non-banal texts

Mike R

I didn't want to hijack any of the several threads currently discussing contemporary music, so here we go. I direct a Newman Center, and though there is some support for traditional music (and I do push for its use as much as is prudent), the fact is that we get a new crop of students every year, and lose a quarter of those that I've spent four years trying to shape into lovers of chant and Ralph Vaughan Williams. It seems that more and more students come in at both ends of the liturgy spectrum (more praise & worship and more traditionalists, with fewer in the "Be Not Afraid" middle).

In trying to avoid students coming to Mass their first few weeks at college, and then simply stopping (or going to Mass elsewhere) because they find it "boring," we want to include some more "contemporary" music. But as my students know, I am absolute on not allowing theologically squishy or banal songs. My first suggestion is to take some solid hymns and adapt them to piano, tasteful guitar, etc., but I'd also like to go beyond that, at least for a start. So, can anyone give some suggestions of praise & worship or other contemporary-styled music that fits those criteria, for inclusion in a supplement?

Thank you!

Aristotle Esguerra

I have no specific suggestions; but you may consider using as a reference point the Processional, published by the Liturgy Office of the Dioceses of England and Wales, and evaluating the lyrics of proposed P&W/contemporary-styled music against the sung and spoken proper texts of the Mass (Introit/Entrance, Offertory, Communion) contained in this document.

benedictgal

I do draw the line when the term "boring" is used in reference to the kind of music that the Church calls for us to use in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We are not there to make Mass "interesting" or "entertaining". We are there to offer fitting worship to God.

Part of the problem is that we have musically dumbed things down for young people to the point that when they grow out of it, they wonder if there is anything more.

While I understand your dilemma, you run the risk of cheating young people out of the sacred patrimony that is rightfully theirs. The Newman Center at UT Austin, sadly, did this and that is why I stopped going there and found an actual parish close to the campus.

I do not mean to sound cynical, but, I have been down that road before and would not want to see young people go through the same thing. Center leaders owe something both to God and to the kids when it comes to rendering the Lord proper worship. What I mean by owing it to the kids is teaching them that the Mass is about something more than themselves. Something greater than the ordinary happens during the Mass. Someone greater than themselves is present.

Gavin

There exists somewhere a setting of the Introits in a contemporary style which may be of use to you. I think this is it, though I'm unsure: http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=19590

You also might get more creative with your programming. One thing about college liturgies I found when I was in college is that students want it SHORT. At least for weekday service (I went to a Lutheran college with daily chapel, and the professors didn't care if chapel went long, they wanted you in the classroom at 11:30). I would also consider "ramping up" the contemporary elements on feast days, with the traditional elements also included. That will tell those kids that enjoy that sort of thing "Hey, maybe I should get involved here!" And then they'll get involved for the more "regular" Masses - where you have chant/choral music!

Just a few thoughts. I understand perfectly your concerns, and they are valid.

Liam

It seems that college students often may want what they did not have a chance to experience (either because of parental choice or logistical obstacles) before they entered college, hence the flatter or even bar-bell curve distribution curve you observe. I know it was true for me (though by high school I had permission to go to Mass on my own and walk 2 miles to sample a more traditional repertoire at a neighboring parish formerly run by Benedictines, the territorial parish I grew up in had banal organ hymnody that was so bad that the folk group that sprouted circa 1970 was a far better musical option for a few years until it, too, faded into dull mediocrity and banality) when I headed to Charlottesville for college years ago.

Mike R

Thanks for the responses so far!

Aristotle - that's a great resource; thanks! I do point out to my student music directors to take a look at the propers...they don't always take the time to do so :)

benedictgal - You're right. Our situation is a bit unfortunate in that we're a very small Newman Center at a small university, so I don't have the option of having one Mass where we amp up all the traditional music and another that is more contemporary. Our student leaders actually suggested having one praise & worship Mass per month, an idea which I balk at for exactly the reason you bring up tangentially: if I had walked into a place with that kind of music for my first Mass in college, I would not have returned. My hope is to incorporate some tasteful contemporary music with the traditional. I know what you're saying about young adults needing to become familiar with the music of the tradition...but it seems the more we lean in that direction, the lower our Mass attendance goes. If the kids aren't there, we can't teach them.

Gavin - that seems quite nice, actually. Subdued yet contemporary, and of course great to use the propers. We have the Psallite antiphons in our hymnals from LitPress, but they're a bit of a mixed bag stylistically (especially with the introits...they often fit neither the solemnity of procession you get with chant, nor the upbeat character of typical modern processional hymns). It's unfortunate that this GIA set doesn't seem readily available in a pew booklet of some kind, or even on hymnprint for easy access. A pity they aren't included in GIA's Sunday's Word missal, to which I have been thinking of switching since it includes the Guimont Psalter with the Revised Grail.

Liam - that was my experience in college as well; we were raised on poorly done folk music and wanted out of it, in one direction or another. While that does seem the case today with the students who are really engaged, the opposite is true of those who just come to Mass on Sunday. Those students view the liturgy as one familiar thing in their lives, and almost like a little slice of home within their week. Because of that, they tend to prefer whatever music they DID grow up with, whether Mary Haugen, Matt Maher, or Palestrina.

Gavin

"Those students view the liturgy as one familiar thing in their lives, and almost like a little slice of home within their week."

Right. I hate to disagree with Liam, but I think he's a bit off on this one. I, for one, was always wanting to explore this or that. But most college students these days I think would prefer something familiar, to combat homesickness. Which isn't to say that one can't do anything other than the "norm". Rather, I think an "eclectic" approach would be very well-received in THIS context. Some chant, some hymns, some contemporary, some brand-new.

Not just from students, but I think from any non-musician, the most common positive remark I ever hear about liturgy from Catholics is, "They sang a song I knew!"

Liam

I guess I don't think of homesickness with college kids these days, given all the connectivity with their parents compared to 30-35 years ago. It's nothing like going cold turkey and talking with your parents on the hall pay phone (calling myself person-to-person, my parents truthfully saying I wasn't home, then they knew to call me at the pay phone) for 15 minutes once a week....

Ben

Aristotle,

I believe this is the link you want.

E_A_Fulhorst

At the risk of going far afield of the topic: Have you considered coordinating with the music department?

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