As I stated on another thread, Jim is a very fine musicologist and musician and a lovely person. However, he serves an American Episcopal church and I would worry about someone reviewing these books who is outside of the tradition. These are "living" books and are to be used in congregations. Yes, there are common threads to all church work, but there are specific "Catholic" issues at stake. My .02
I apologize for posting in the other thread — only after posting did I realize more than 60 comments were there that kind of (let's say) "meandered" off topic . . .
Frazier has reviewed VII, Adoremus, and St. Michael. I read his reviews of all three. He has some good things to say, and some I would not agree with. That is the nature of reviews.
Congratulations, JMO. For the larger part, I found Dr. Frazier's review quite reasonable with a few notable exceptions. For example, his observation that one hymntune only services no more than three texts I thought to be complimentary to your discretion. On the other hand, the raising of an issue that is in no way germane to the review, the absence of Spanish language hymns especially as couched as an "accomodation," is simply gratuitous and unnecessary. To mention an "omission" that a reviewer determines as significant (though content rationale is clearly stated in introductions) changes the role of the critique into an editorial. It is absolutely reasonable to question the need for twenty settings of the ordinary as well, if one is looking only from the perspective of one parish at a time. Conversely one could quite successfully argue that 20 settings provide a wonderful panopoly of options that are NOT to be found in the market-driven and researched choices of OCP, GIA, WLP, St.John's Collegeville, etc., and which were even more acutely scrutinized via MR3 by everyone, including here by Michael Silhavey, and many chosen settings have been found quite wanting. In addition, the number of settings is, in its way, complimentary to the ethos Jeff O maintains, that of honoring the role of the congregation's right of access to singing the ordinaries as S. Pius X envisioned. I'm not sure I would also have, speaking of sacrificing space (hymns for readings) felt it necessary to, on one hand, compliment the inclusion of translations of the Allen motets, and then assume that choirs using the V2 would not avail themselves of the vast array of polyphony in the CPDL and Creative Commons. Choristers, Directors and Organists have a much broader view than just the publications of any given publisher. Gary Penkala's CanticaNova serves as much as a clearing house for that information as a publisher itself. So, nothing wrong with a little self-promotion, I'd offer. But, all in all, a fair hearing.
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