I don't think any church is "forced" to buy or use. The Cathedral in Toronto just put together their own; I would be surprised if they purchase another hymnal.

I'm disappointed that they didn't include some older hymns people loved. "Sweet Sacrament" comes to mind.

The other exclusion is more Mass settings from the Kyriale. In a country as multicultural as Canada (at least my parish anyway) using a Latin Ordinary is so inclusive. I noticed, sadly, that Healey Willan's "Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena" which has been edited for the new translation was omitted.

I also understand that in Hamilton diocese we are expected to all have the new book in the pews, theoretically by Advent 2019. The book doesn't actually exist yet, of course: what's published is just the Commission's proposed table of contents.

Casavant, by "use some actual texts" do you mean use compositions written for the actual (current) texts? Or reverting to the "actual" original lyrics of everything, instead of "alt"? In hymnals, "alt." (meaning lyrics that are changed from their first author's first version) is as old as hymnals, centuries old. The CBW III has some horrible alts (like #565, brr!), but some we must be barely aware of: consider the textual history of "Silent Night" for example.

Schönbergian, I am also perplexed in a few cases (eg why these Masses?) but this edition does have to exist. It is a fairly cautious revision of CBW III, which is now 25 years old. It is not just a hymnal: it contains lots of proper liturgical material. The CBW III unfortunately was saddled with unapproved texts (including the Grail psalter which was never officially approved for Canada) and this new book will use only actual liturgical texts where appropriate.

I want to not lose the CBW III psalter -- the new psalm texts are OK (I prefer them to the Grail) but the newer music is last night 's half drunk can of ginger ale.

I heard that St. Thomas the Apostle Parish has the "With Angels and Archangels." How did they manage this? Any clues as to how we could look into it?

Is there a General Instruction of the Roman Missal
that includes "Adaptations for the Dioceses of Canada"
with an equivalent of USA Option Four ?

When would the hymns be used?

Andrew, where did you see the settings of the psalms?
Pity. There were some gems in the CBW III and the CBW II contained quite a few Gelineau settings.

The settings used at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica are those from a collection called "New Cathedral Gradual" (it may have been mentioned here before) which is a collection of Stephen Somerville's and Thomas Barrett Armstrong's psalms which were adapted to the new texts. Where needed, psalm tone chant refrains are used. The psalms are miles better than the CBW psalms, although less melodic.

Of course, Armstrong's large choral psalms weren't included, but the refrains along with simple psalm tones were.

Having looked at the collection at the link which Andrew Malton posted above me, I'm not happy, and the NCG psalms are certainly going to be used wherever I am.

About older psalm settings: the line in the GIRM (para 61.) is a US adaptation. In Canada we have no such rubric.

In practice the Grail texts with the CBW III music have been tolerated since the new (NRSV) Lectionary was approved in 2007. After all we were using that Lectionary without recognitio for 15 years before that. Around 2010 the Diocese of Calgary tried to enforce the exclusive use of the newer psalter, but I don't think the attempt lasted very long. (Anyone know better?)

At any rate I fully expect the new psalter to be "obligatory" in theory.

Is it clear about whether that refers to the 1963 Grail version or the 2010 Revised Grail Psalter?

Bringing this back to the top to ask:
Has anyone heard anything more substantial about a possible release date for Music for Catholic Worship, apart from the same "coming soon!" we've been hearing for about a decade?
(At this point, I seriously feel like Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.")

The last I've heard is that it is still has not been abandoned, and that there needed to be another round of changes to remove anything written or composed by David Haas in the wake of his misconduct - but that's all coming third- and fourth-hand, so I have no idea how credible it is.

A response from +Dowd (Sault Ste.-Marie) via Reddit:

The new hymnal is going through the episcopal review phase, with a vote due in August. I have a copy on my desk, which I will study carefully in the coming days. The study text is over 500 pages.