Monday, February 4, 2013

Haugen and Haas Raking In Just As Much Dough With the "New Mass" As With the Old

The "new mass" is just over a year old here in America. Specifically, about 15 months old.

Lots of Catholics looked forward to it as a turning point for the Novus Ordo mass to be just a bit more holy, reverent, and true to the original Latin translations. Also, there were legions of Catholic bloggers who were waiting with baited breath for the new musical mass arrangements to be released, believing that the days of Haugen/Haas music would be over, given new musical mass setting guidelines that were also handed down.

I'm not seeing much of anything changed. How about you?

I've had these thoughts before, about how the mass still pretty much looks and feels the same to me, but it occurred to me yesterday, at mass, as we again sang (cringe) "Rain Down," that the hopes and dreams of those who wanted big change have been dashed.

 (Catholic Wedding Song? Are they on drugs?!?!)

Listen, I actually really like some Haugen/Haas type stuff. (I say that with complete sincerity, "On Eagles' Wings" lover that I am.) And there's a bunch of music (cough cough "Rain Down") that I think should be destroyed upon the first chords played. Obviously, it's not just Haugen/Haas, there's loads of other musicians who have written the repertoire of music typically heard at the Novus Ordo mass. 

All I'm doing here is simply observing that in the end analysis (is 15 months too early for an end analysis?), the championed changes that make up the "New Mass" haven't made a real difference to me, and I think, not much to anyone else. I am not making this observation in any sarcastic, snarky way either, since I am a Novus Ordo person all the way.

For the record, I can't say I "love" my Novus Ordo, since the more infrequent, overtly holy, traditional Novus Ordo masses are the ones that get my attention and leave me wanting for more. But overall, I'm just fine and happy with the Novus Ordo, occasional stupid music not withstanding.

Philosophically, I agree with the belief that if we say the right words (for example, "consubstantial"), then over time we actually grasp what they mean, and thus have a correct understanding of our faith. However, in the case of (another example) the now repeated use of "and with your Spirit," I just don't think it makes much of a difference. In my opinion, there just isn't enough different to declare the "New Mass" a substantial change that affects people long-term.

Maybe I'm wrong. I admit to being rather simple-minded about all this. What are your thoughts?

22 comments:

  1. Two things:

    1) My personal guilty pleasure is the Gloria from David Haas' "Mass of Light". It doesn't have the same "bang" with the revised translation.

    2) Haugen and Haas have released new settings of their psalm responses using the new Grail translation. No inclusive language. Warmed the cockles of my heart.

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    1. Dave,
      I would offer that even if inclusive language is left out, there are some who would object to the "modernist" musicology of whatever musicians like Haugen/Haas, etc., write. At least that's my guess.

      I seriously believe people thought the "New Mass" would bring in old-time hymns and/or chant in Latin.

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    2. You're right on that. But I enjoyed the fact that they were working within defined boundaries, instead of using clumsy "inclusive" language of their own invention.

      And I think the you will be hearing more chant in the future (both English and Latin). It's going to take time, but it's coming. And I think the Big Three music publishers (GIA, OCP, and WLP) realize this.

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    3. I'll give you a concrete example of one Milwaukee parish which is ahead of the curve: St. Josaphat Basilica. The music director there is doing some good stuff.

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    4. Dave,
      How can I believe it's coming if it hasn't come already? I know publishers need time to get their stuff out there, but just because it exists doesn't mean that "Martha Music Director" is gonna care.

      I admit that I am so not interested in hearing Latin chant at masses. I'm sorry to admit it, too. But it's true. I am a fan of the vernacular, all the way. And I have my reasons. Vernacular CAN be beautiful, holy, and sacred.

      Music is polarizing. The Protestant world is involved in similar struggles, with music dividing entire congregations.

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    5. Most of the Basilica's music is in the vernacular, actually...

      I can go into a long, detailed history of trendiness in Catholic music, but I'd bore you to tears.

      But I still think the more traditional music (Latin and vernacular) will come back. Quite a few music directors will be resistant, but as the newer generation of priests become pastors (such as your former associate pastor), it will become more commonplace.

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  2. I am a church musician. Although I no longer work for a Catholic congregation, somehow I was drafted to be on the implementation committee for our diocese. I quickly figured out that nothing was going to change musically, so I wasn't in a position to be disappointed.

    I do think the changes were important and even substantial, though. I no longer think of the English Mass as the "chatty Cathy" Mass, where I can zone out and still "get" just about everything. Now that the metaphors are back in the Eucharistic Prayers and the Collects are no longer some version of, "Lord, be nice to us and help us be nice to others. We ask this, etc.," it's easier for me to concentrate.

    When it comes to the things the congregation says, I'm not quite as satisfied. I love the way that we say "It is right and just" and the priest begins, "It is truly right, just,..." I also like the new Memorial Acclamations. I don't know why we had to say "consubstantial," though, and at least one person mentioned being confused about "consubstantiation" after hearing it. It seems like "of one substance" would have worked just as well.

    Just the perspective of one layperson.

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    1. Alice,

      When the "New Mass" was FIRST implemented in the early months, I heard all kinds of neat, beautiful stuff.

      But something has changed since then. I'm not hearing that stuff anymore. OK - call me a conspiracy theorist - but I'd SWEAR that many, many priests have found a way to get around the new language. It's almost as if - if the people in the pews can be heard saying "And with your Spirit," then we're on-board and doing what we're supposed to be doing. Don't pay attention to that short, watered-down language being recited on the altar.

      Am I wrong? Am I seeing/hearing something that's not really there?

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    2. I wouldn't be surprised if some priests have returned to what they memorized over the years. The two churches I attend frequently have always been liturgically correct and certainly use the current texts. I was pleasantly surprised when I ended up at the "liberal" parish (it would be "conservative" in other dioceses) and the priest used the current prayers with none of the little alterations he used to make.

      That said, I played for a wedding a few months ago where the priest used the old prayers and the people responded with the new. I probably would have assumed that his eyesight was failing (he's very old) if he hadn't referred to God as "Our Father and Mother" and replaced the word "Lord" with "brother" in the collects.

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    3. Charlotte, I so agree with your observation. At my parish, I feel like they have found a way to go back to the old form as much as possible, while still technically using the new missal. In the beginning, they seemed to be trying things and now they've slipped back. It could also be that my ears just got used to the changes though? I don't know.

      Catlady

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    4. Catlady, you are questioning what I am questioning: Am I imagining that everything sounds very like it used to, or not?

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  3. I don't attend the Novus Ordo very often. When I first attended my local parish with the new translation, what I observed was that the actual words of the mass seemed like a different religion from everything else done there; the music, the sermon, the general ambience.

    On the other hand, on Christmas Eve I attended a Novus Ordo celebrated traditionally, ad orientem, and found that the words fit in well. The only jarring note was the lay reader's dramatic reading; I would have preferred chanted readings to go with the chanted mass, or at least to have a deacon or one of the Brothers read them in a more restrained style. There were no EMHC's and communion was kneeling at the altar rail, in both kinds by intinction by the priest, so it could be on the tongue. But anyway, the more sacral language does match a more solemn celebration better. There is some hope that it will exert a pull in that direction....slowly. But I wouldn't feel so hopeful if I had no choice but to attend and hear the banal music. (I am attached to a few bits of it also, just from going to church with it so long...I will never forget you my people, I will hold you in the palm of my hand...was comforting to me in the past. They would be fine songs to sing at Catholic Family Camp, around the campfire, or at the parish picnic-just not for mass. And then there are some which should be put on the index! )

    Meanwhile, I have attended a Byzantine Rite parish for 5 years, and have recently found an Extraordinary Form mass with Gregorian Chant...so that I am torn in both directions and have been trying to attend both. An embarrassment of riches.

    Susan Peterson

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    1. Susan,
      That is an embarrassment of riches. I have to assume that you live in a large metropolitan area to have so many choices.

      Not everyone is that lucky. My husband often (and I mean often) hears me say, "What if we lived in Bumblefrick and had only ONE Catholic church to go to?"

      Even us, who live in the Milwaukee area, don't have as many choices as we would like to believe, and I count ourselves lucky.

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  4. I'm spoiled, because our pastor is reverent during the Mass and is careful about the Eucharistic Prayer and the other prayers (I know, because I have started using a missal--it's so distracting in the choir that if I don't at least try to follow along to the words I sit during the readings thinking about what we have to do next; besides, while I love our priest, he's from India and sometimes his accent is hard for me). I think the prayers are lovely, and are the main change apart from the Canon.

    As for the music, here's what we do in our choir: the Mass setting is the Missa Simplex (Richard Proulx et. al.) during Ordinary Time; we use the English Chant Mass during Lent and Advent, and the William Gokelman Mass of Renewal during Christmas and Easter. The Gokelman is the only one I truly dislike, but even it's not as bad as some of the others out there. The congregation puts up with it, but I swear I heard some sighs of relief when we went back to the Missa Simplex after Christmas this year. :)

    Songs are mixtures of old and new, but our choir director tends to avoid the worst of the new stuff (there are rare exceptions). I get to sing Faure's Pie Jesu as the prelude before Mass this Sunday (yay!). But we've also got "Here I am, Lord" scheduled for Sunday, which I would like to see die a slow musical death, but which is popular with the congregation.

    My on-the-ground opinion from the choir: if the Mass setting is decent and reverent, the songs, even the odd modern treacly bits here and there, become less important. Would I like to see more improvement? Yes. Do I think our small choir of volunteers most of whom (myself included) can barely read music could easily start chanting the Entrance Antiphons in a way that wouldn't be unintentionally comic, or learn Gregorian Chant notation in a weekend seminar well enough to throw it in on occasion? Not really. So the bottom line for me is this: if sacred music is a real priority for the parish, professional musicians will be hired and the volunteers will shrink to people with actual musical skill (they may even have to audition). But this would cost real money, and would have to be ordered by the pastor. So long as choirs are made up of volunteers doing the best they can, there's not going to be a huge shift in the music.

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    1. I dunno...you'd be surprised by what could be taught a small group of volunteers. I also think we set the bar too low. If you use modern notation, chant is easy to pick up. Check out the stuff from http://www.ccwatershed.org for examples.

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    2. Very interesting comment. We have paid professional musicians who come with high acclaim and the music is terrible. Sounds like a jazz bar or a Charlie Brown movie. I'm thinking a volunteer choir would be better!

      Catlady

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  5. Greetings from Bumblefrick (pop. 10,000), Canada! We have one Catholic church in my town and luckily our pastor is faithful to the Magisterium and embraced the 'new' Mass. However, his taste in music is lousy and he loves the sappy H & H stuff, etc. But - if that's the worst thing he does while preaching against abortion and contraception while extolling the Holy Father's latest book it's a tradeoff I can live with (even as I realize I have no choice as our parish is the only game in town).

    We listen to a lot of protestant hymns in our parish. The old ones like Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art are fine (though rarely heard). At least the newer stuff is more about God and less about the 'other trinity' of me, myself and I. I won't sing the songs (I won't call it a hymn) if every other line contains "we, I, me, my" etc. and unfortunately the so-called Catholic ones are usually guilty of that. We get a fair bit of Matt Maher who sounds like a protestant but is actually a Catholic and I like a few of his songs. But are they appropriate for Mass or an evening of 'praise and worship'? Probably more the latter.

    Anyway...thanks for adding Bumblefrick to my vocabulary lol!
    Angela M.

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  6. I really like the new Confiteor, the "through my fault,through my fault, my most grievous fault." For some reason, I really do call to mind my sins when I have to repeat it 3 times. I am very fortunate to live in a parish that uses the St. Michael Hymnal. It's all old school Catholic songs, I know how lucky we are to live here.

    My parents live in Bumblefrick,AZ. It is a rural parish, and they have suffered for 30 years. For awhile they had a priest who had evangelical style "altar calls" during the consecration. That is one example. But the next closest parish is over an hour's drive, and the priest now is a missionary from Central America, who has to drive 150 miles round trip every weekend to offer Mass in remote locales. So yeah, things could always be worse.
    ZBarZona

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    1. Zbar,
      I like the "new" Confiteor too. Although I have noted many, many times when priests use a different form in situation where it would have been fine and expected. In my suspicious mind, I keep thinking it's because they don't want to beat their breast or something, as if it's way too old-school or something. Who knows.

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    2. Don't laugh, but another reason I like the new Confiteor is.....old movies. Yep, I would watch old movies where they portrayed Mass, with the actor beating their breast 3 times. I felt cheated because in the movies it seemed so "Catholic." Now I'm just like Ingrid Bergman in Bells of St. Mary's. ;)
      ZBarZona

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  7. I like the words in the New Mass, including the responses. However, the music in my parish got worse.

    But yeah, overall, I'd say not a big difference.

    Catlady

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  8. Charlotte- Binghamton NY is not a big metropolitan area, but it was where lots of Eastern European immigrants came to work at EJ's Shoes which is why we have Eastern rite parishes. As for the Latin mass, there has been a stable group here for quite a while, pushed fromchurch to church but never giving up, maybe since the 80's 'indult' masses? There was an old priest here, Fr. Mickalunas who said mass for them for a long time, pretty much a pre VII quick low mass with a strong exhortative sermon. He was transferred away from here and next thing I knew, the Franciscan Fathers of the Immaculate who live about 40 minutes away, were saying the old mass.

    Red Cardigan, I personally am having trouble learning chant but I think I wouldn't have if I had started with this group and grown with it. All they had is one music teacher who took it upon herself to learn chant, and she has taught a group of mostly high school girls to chant, not perfectly, but quite beautifully. They have a sung mass every other week, as it takes them two weeks to learn all the propers. They already know all the ordinary parts quite well. With the right teaching, I don't think it is impossible. But not in one weekend.

    Which reminds me I have to get back to work so I can go home at a reasonable time and practice so I won't be ashamed to go to practice!
    Susan

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