Canada: approval for responsorial psalm compositions
  • Are you aware of anyone who has received approval for use of their own compositions for the responsorial psalm, not for publication but just for local use? Or aware of any cases where approval was unreasonably withheld?
  • Apart from the entire situation in Toronto with The New Cathedral Gradual, I'm not aware of any situations either way. One thing that often gets forgotten, though, is that the norms in Canada are very different than those in the USA — in fact, it's the USCCB that is the outlier by delegating its liturgical authority to each member Bishop in his own diocese.
    CCCB Guidelines for Composers of Liturgical Music
    In Canada, musical compositions for liturgical use must be given a favourable recommendation by the CCCB Episcopal Commission for Liturgy for the relevant sector (para. 3) before the local Ordinary can approve their publication and use. Para. 5 goes on to suggest that even usage ad experimentum of not-yet-approved compositions in the liturgy is not permitted, that any "testing" must be done privately outside the liturgy.

    (And of course, that presumes that you can even get in touch with anyone from the chancery office in the first place. At least in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, that's easier said than done. Is it any wonder that people don't bother going through channels and just do what they want?)
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  • Andrew_Malton
    Posts: 1,272
    Me, in about 2010. Things have changed since then. But somewhere I have the letter of approval from the Music Commission.
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  • AbbysmumAbbysmum
    Posts: 224
    If you haven't read the link norvusgordo provides, it's worth a read.

    I've gotten verbal approval from my pastor to create psalm settings for in-house use; I adhere strictly to the texts in the lectionary when doing it. I'm primarily composing for weekday Masses for the school, keeping them very simple. Our priest knows me well and knows I would be meticulous about the text. Our local bishop is unlikely to care, based on his response to other queries we've made about liturgical matters. I've tried making some soft enquiries and not really gotten a response either way, so we've just gone ahead.

    I have thought of someday gathering them all together and doing a Creative Common publication someday. I would seek more formal approval upstream if that was the case.

  • Having a lot of familiarity with the older liturgy I always find these guideline documents bizarre. Some statements (like "it is the nature of the communion chant to be sung by the entire assembly" from a different guideline) are so ahistorical as to seem like willful fabrications.

    @Andrew_Malton Care to regale us with the story?
  • Andrew_Malton
    Posts: 1,272
    In 2009 there was a general invitation to make Responsorial Psalm settings for the new lectionary. I bethought myself to participate but quite quickly decided instead to make a “full set”, adapting melodies and pieces of melody from the chant repertoire into something like CBW style responsorial psalms. I thought someone might like them; I thought I might be able to use them myself sometimes; and I thought it good for myself to learn any commonalities between the Novus psalmody at Mass and that of the Roman tradition.

    Well eventually I completed such a set, as planned, and with two versions for the cantor of each psalm (a solemn and a simple) with a single response. I know someone who at that time was on the Committee, and I wanted permission expressly as the General Instruction implies, so I sent the books in to them, and some while later I got a letter.

    Permission to use and permission to publish aren't the same, so although I was given permission to use, and a suitable copyright notice which I included in the books, I have been very cautious about how I've distributed them. Furthermore the letter expressed doubt about how useful they would be (hmm chant...) and in fact only a very few places and people have made any use of them.

    Nevertheless you can look, at http://malton.name/Books and DM me for authorization if you want to.
  • Well Andrew, that sounds like exactly what I looked for, couldn't find, and had started to think about producing myself. It's not that I need everything to be chant, but the CBW music sounds silly to me. Unfortunately your site is asking me for a sign-in.
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  • Andrew_Malton
    Posts: 1,272
    I find that most (not all) of the CBW III psalms are good, if done carefully, and especially if the verses are done in parts, as intended by the editors but rarely done in practice.

    My books are intended to be sung unaccompanied (or with very minimal improvised organ) because they are based on Gregorian chants.

    I sent @Chant_Supremacist the username/password and will happily send it to anyone else who asks. By doing this I think I am not publishing them but only sharing them with a few colleagues, which I believe I may do according to the copyright rules. (Sigh.)
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