Book recommendation
  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,183
    Among the many books I am plowing through for the love of my Tournemire project,I invite you to read Stephen Schloesser's Jazz Age Catholicism. For those who are interested in the framework for composers such as Messiaen, Durufle and the revival of chant in France after the First World War, it places all of these in the context of a Catholic revival. Good eating for those interested in chant and chant based music from terra sancta, that is to say, France.
    Thanked by 4scholista CharlesW JulieColl marajoy
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Thanks for this, Kevin. I'm always fascinated by anything French and Catholic!

    What is it about traditional French Catholicism that inspires and heartens us all? Their faith, their joy, their tenacity, their community, their LOVE is testament to the fact that in the profession of their faith there is something radical in the best sense of the word.

    I really believe that the reason traditional French Catholicism is the strongest in the world is because their participation in the Mass and the liturgy of the Church is something that is as normal and natural to them as breathing. It just flows out from them with no pretense and the children are brought right along and included in everything with very little fuss and adult intervention. Their liturgies are a combination of glorious pageantry and a joyful "family" atmosphere as can be seen in this video.

    CAUTIONARY NOTE: This is for educational purposes only. I in no way endorse the extra-ecclesial attitude of the SSPX: I'm just hopelessly in love with their French liturgy!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_8eFqo8cdU

    Update: Someone pointed out to me that the ordinand, L'abbe Bernard Lundi, has Pope Benedict XVI's coat of arms embroidered on his chasuble. There is more about it here (although I don't endorse the website. I just found it on a Google search.)

    Here's a better picture:

    image
    Thanked by 1Jacques Perrière
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    I just looked up Jazz Age Catholicism on Amazon and read the reviews and will order it at my library. (Nobody ever orders books there so we can order just about anything we want!)

    It's interesting that the review recommends the postwar influences of Jacques Maritain (my father's favorite philospher) and George Bernanos' whose Diary of a Country Priest is of course a most compelling read.
  • ronkrisman
    Posts: 1,388
    John 11:35
  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,183
    Julie,
    There is a Maratain Center at Notre Dame in Indiana. Great stuff. Tournemire knew him. Also, for a much fuller read of post-war France, read Jane Fulcher's The Artist as Intellectual. A real in-depth read of musical life in the post-war era.
    Our friend Jacques Perriere here on the list can probably speak to this better than I can. Maybe in the next 10 years my book on Tournemire will appear. Too much reading to do right now.
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Thanks for the book recommendation and the info on Maritain. I've only read The Peasant of the Garonne, and that was a long time ago. Looking forward to your book as well. Sounds like a nice hefty project!

    By the way, have you seen this video documentary on the Latin Mass movement in Kentucky? I saw it being promoted on Rorate Caeli.

    Here's a link to the video, Missa Saeculorum.
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