tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203221072024-03-14T02:17:58.758-07:00Optima Musica Dei DonumA hopefully reasonable, literate and charitable place for Catholic musicians and others involved in the Church's liturgical practices to exchange and share personal perspectives of liturgical philosophy, law, and performance. And the occasional left turn might pop up in the headlights.Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-20540415882284151322016-07-07T12:48:00.003-07:002016-07-07T12:49:38.869-07:00
They Paved Paradise, but Look at This Beautiful Parking Lot!
This is the second part of an examination (fisking, actually) of an article authored by Michael Clayton in the July 5 2016 edition of "The New Liturgical Movement" about sacred music composition.
Benedict
XVI’s book, A New Song for the Lord; Faith and Christ
and Liturgy Today,
(tells) us that it is the mark of true creativity that Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-83116098522895411792016-07-05T15:18:00.002-07:002016-07-05T16:59:24.705-07:00It's My Birthday and I'll Ply if I Want to-
Part the First
After forty-five
years in the biz (so to speak), I believe there’s only one certain conclusion I’ve
reached regarding the sacred/liturgical/pastoral music wars: there will never
be a substantial, empirical treatise defending or excoriating the “state of
church music,” whether in the Roman Church or denominations. This article in
the Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-45999788096684056742016-06-27T08:10:00.004-07:002016-06-27T08:14:47.615-07:00Reviewing Hymnals, One Version
There has been much discussion in various internet forums of late regarding aspects of the publication and efficacy of many hymnals, notably the St.
Michael Hymnal and GIA’ Worship (4th edition.) One CMAA Forum thread
examined editorial issues involving both Worship and the (outmoded) RitualSong
hymnals.advertisement.
I’ve long held some reservations concerningMr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-58348821108479637182015-06-11T11:59:00.000-07:002015-06-11T11:59:01.173-07:00What exactly is it that we want?Initially I intended to frame this article from the perspective of “being in the twilight” of my career as a church musician. Typically myopic, I’d forgotten about mentors such as Professor Mahrt, Maestros Salamunovich and Wagner, and Msgr. Schuler. Careers span multiple generations. And I wonder if our mentors had a slight sociological advantage in the formation of fundamental values necessary Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-41119558199331045942014-09-05T11:34:00.002-07:002014-09-05T11:34:54.123-07:00The A TeamThis is a list of hymns and songs culled from a spreadsheet I made years ago from OCP. This is in response to a Chant Cafe post by Kathleen Pluth regarding what we think are "songs that everyone knows" or "should know" in the average American/Anglophone parish.
When
John Baptized By Jordan's River
Rendez
a dieu
Out
Into the Wilderness
Hurd
Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-28851775061709583802014-08-13T09:35:00.000-07:002014-08-13T09:35:03.975-07:00For Bill O'Reilly and the Fisher King
It boils down to “say what you mean, mean what you say,”
doesn’t it? On O’Reilly’s show, the Factor, upon delivering the “news”
of Robin William’s death, O’Reilly prefaced his remarks by saying “We won’t
speculate at this point upon the circumstances of William’s death.” But not
five minutes later, O’Reilly couldn’t help himself and muttered “When I first
heard of it I immediately thoughtMr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-52370623608845358792014-08-08T09:08:00.001-07:002014-08-08T09:08:25.389-07:00"God IS Not Dead." "Chant is NOT dead" either.Over at MSF I've reported that our parish quietly heard its first EF (Low) Mass via a funeral request. That was effected by a former vicar who's now the pastor of a parish in a neighboring town who offers the EF every Thursday evening. I went to join a friend in the loft for the chanted hymns for the second time last evening. I'll revist how this figures into the article in a while.
After Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-43249571184062154962014-05-28T14:13:00.001-07:002014-05-28T14:55:58.011-07:00Dear Charlie, Sacred Music Advice Column for the Love Lorn MassesI thought I'd share portions of an ongoing series of liturgical catechesis articles that I contribute to the parish monthly newspaper. I asked staffers and musicians alike to ask one particular question about sacred/liturgical music via email, and then like Dear Abby
®
, I could answer them with a particular emphasis on local considerations. Enjoy.
Why do the violinists at both
St, Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-34997048098024154792014-02-09T23:10:00.000-08:002014-02-09T23:10:17.384-08:00Another Gaudete Sunday, in a Yellow Submarine?
Music. God's. Greatest. Gift. Someone of my disposition could never have imagined that a transformative event fifty years ago, same day, same date save for the half-century, would elicit the earily identical existential feelings, thoughts and cosmic synchronicity a SECOND TIME in one's life, propelled by the congealed charisms and talent of four of God's greatest evangelists in all of history. Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-18563072495573745942013-12-20T18:05:00.000-08:002013-12-20T18:05:19.074-08:00Merry Almost Christmas, dear stalker/perpI know you're like the gift that keeps on giving.
I know that you think and will still think that your little love notes left on the chairs to me must be having an effect, otherwise why would I be composing this brief response?
I know you must believe in your heart, such as it is, that you're accomplishing something by your behaviors and tactics such as the above.
And I wish I could make your Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-65027467048537153202013-12-16T20:48:00.001-08:002013-12-16T20:49:35.898-08:00Now that we're "sharing"....forgive the fast forward.I thought I might illuminate a few instances of my youthful memories, out of sequence as is my perogative as bloghost, in order to point out that most of us have some fairly unpleasant and extremely formative events that shape who we become, whether from childhood or from our adult experiences.
As I might or not have made clear, my dad, after having a vessel sunk underneath him and surviving, Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-10335445804951992582013-12-15T21:08:00.002-08:002013-12-15T21:23:47.515-08:00WHAT SWEETER MUSIC, what bitter ironyOur Schola performed Mark Hayes' WHAT SWEETER MUSIC for our annual Nativity Concert this afternoon. We also added some single pieces prior. This has been a quite taxing year and fall/winter. Happily, this cantata, as all of Mark Haye's work is demanding but not esoterically demanding.
The audience that came was beyond expectation, even after 21 years of concertizing for both paschal and Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-59548566243663810482013-12-14T17:58:00.000-08:002013-12-15T12:57:35.562-08:00Oh yeah, where was I? 1951-
I sequentially resume my exploration of "me" with my earliest memories. It is difficult to ascertain whether they are actual or anecdotal, but who cares?
Mom told me I was born at around 4:30am at Kaweah Delta (what it must've been like then!) on the Fifth of July in year of our Lord 1951 Christian calendar. I have no idea whether Dad was in the USA or "in country" undersea off the Korean Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-15726659987543108192013-12-14T09:48:00.001-08:002013-12-14T09:52:48.952-08:00These are a few of my least favorite things.....
Florid, pedantic, ephemeral essays that are really kissing cousins, metaphorically, to snake oil pitches extoling the virtues of the traditional Mass as Pius X as he intended it to be reformed after 500 years.
In other words, "elephant talk."
People that are totally unaware of the truth in the cliche that "Half of life means just showing up!"
Clerical princesses.
Carey Landry songs in Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-60710253408140275442013-12-12T23:05:00.000-08:002013-12-13T11:07:15.570-08:00I'm skipping to THE Christmas Tree
Sorry for the "time warp" jump, but it's after the BIG MASS for Our Lady of Guadalupe, I'm exhausted and my mind wanders. Being a card-carrying child of the SIXTIES, I have very specific memories of my teenage years. Somewhere around '62 aluminum Christmas trees became a rage. One easily supposes that some forward thinking genuis pushed the environmental envelope way passed the ability of silk Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-21441933226506527192013-12-08T22:35:00.001-08:002013-12-08T22:35:22.006-08:00The pilgrimage of my soul and self, and music's influence.
Who am I, really, some of you may be curious to know? I’ll tell you what I remember and know as far as I can keep this autobiography moving towards the moment I can type no more. I was born to two misfit souls. Both of them beleaguered by pressures and expectations neither seemed to know how to cope with or fulfill. My dad was part of a huge clan of nuclear and expansive relatives in Cumberland Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-8250644009542203762013-10-03T09:36:00.000-07:002013-10-03T09:36:06.112-07:00I love my choir! Kidney stones? No so much.
Ew....what an disjunct, incongruous title. So, just the sort of impetus to resume the push/pull perils of personal blogging! A dear friend of mine from CMAA has just started her own liturgical music blog as a way of chronicling the trajectory of her increasing duties as choirmaster at her parish. And that reminded me that I haven't checked in here for quite a spell. We've all come a long way Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-62620420557923599442013-05-23T12:37:00.002-07:002013-05-23T12:44:00.303-07:00Requiem for all races, creeds and freedom
When you read your newspaper, magazine, blog or watch your FOX, CNN or MSNBC news "delivery" programs, please note that regarding the barbaric murder of British Army drummer Lee Rigby yesterday near London you will likely not see his image as a prominent feature in the reporting.
Already the video of one of his slayers circled the globe faster than the earth rotates on its axis and will Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-28388870570992128312013-04-02T17:41:00.001-07:002013-04-02T17:41:37.723-07:00Abp. Sample, meet Portland. Portland, Abp. Sample. A "melo" blow by blow.
The following is a play by play description of the progress of the installation of Archbishop Sample's Installation Mass as of 2pm PST. Imagine I sound like Vin Scully mixed with the late great Chick Hearn. Only then will it make sense. It took a while for the web live-stream to kick in, so.....
The first musical impression I have is that the tempo of Jesus Christ is Ris’n…lacked forward Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-31359347010304500662013-03-22T21:11:00.001-07:002013-03-22T21:11:08.176-07:00The Ritual- Portraits down, portraits up?
One of the lesser mentioned effects of the abdication/inauguaration equation was the "ceremonial" aspect of removing the likeness of the reigning Holy Father from institutional buildings (parish centers, rectories, schools, etc.) and installing some sort of "official" portrait of the new pontiff in that place upon the ASAP principle and availibility of same.
In one's own house, well.....mine, Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-74833552198832808922013-03-21T15:00:00.000-07:002013-03-22T08:31:19.675-07:00Ad ReorientemShark feeding frenzy. Indiscriminate, look for any opening, any spot, any open wound, bite anything that resists, including one of your own kind.....keep it going as long as possible until?
This serves, for me, an apt description of blogdom's and the various media's approach to covering the stop-motion, every choreographed move of His Holiness, Francis just this week, not to mention Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-37679476508541953762013-02-11T07:54:00.003-08:002013-02-11T07:54:39.554-08:00Benediction
Ave Joseph Ratzinger, Papa Benedict XVI, my heart is full of love and aching gratefulness for the gift of God you have been and shared with all the world.
With every breath you’ve taken you have let the Holy Spirit in-dwell within your soul. With every word and deed strengthened by that wind you have taught all who’ve known you close and from afar, the world and the very universe your Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-70540924684021570262013-02-02T20:31:00.000-08:002013-02-02T20:37:13.226-08:00OCP, the Not So Hidden Hand behind AmChurch Music
The “reform the reform” is not utterly foreign to OCP.
Thus alloweth Jeffrey Tucker in his erstwhile revisionist apologetic towards his own primal murmurs about the appointment of Bishop Sample to Portland and the "mark this day" ecstatics that resulted. Then the switchboards pulled a nutty (as I've been want to do over time), causing my friend Todd Flowerday all sorts of consternation that Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-70623855326411023982012-12-28T10:58:00.000-08:002012-12-28T10:58:02.797-08:00Midnight Mass 2012 at the Mother parishThis year's preparations for music at service were challenging and, at times, daunting. I suffered two weeks of being laid out (that hasn't happened since the Swine flu around '73) which took me out for two solid weeks. In the midst of that will power muscled up to get through Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe and the School Christmas Pageant (2 performances.) All went well. By the Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20322107.post-39252058652629337452012-12-26T11:21:00.000-08:002012-12-26T11:21:19.590-08:0036...Nice number, but who are you folks, anyway?I got phished over the holiday. The upshot, email contacts hacked, no major blowback yet, knock on wood. But in the amazing arcane process of trying to recover stuff, change stuff, make it all better, I, along with my ATT-Uverse, Internet Explorer, Google and Java pals human and borg, eventually got around to discovering I couldn't sign into my blog account. So, I randomly tried thinking Mr. Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09649237173680633611noreply@blogger.com0