Posted on by Jeffrey Tucker

That Winning NPM Mass Setting

You can see PDFs and hear a rehearsal of the Mass of Renewal here. If you had hopes that the new translation would inspire new ways of thinking about the structure and style liturgical music, you might be disappointed.

12 Replies to “That Winning NPM Mass Setting”

  3. I agree – "what do you expect from NPM"? As an organist, pianist and choir director, I sense the "same-old, same-old" that I have had to play and sing in the past. Just look at the "keyboard" reduction and chord progressions! Plenty of bing, bang, boom here. What's with the love for six-eight time signatures in these liturgitainment spectaculars? And the instruments of choice that were listed? It's the usual motley group of "whatever you played back in high school". I'm sorry, this just isn't what I consider worthy of the Sacred Sacrifice of the Mass. Call me old-fashioned – call me traditional.
    RedCat's Mom

  4. Setting a non-metrical text to a strict metrical music form results in compromise and there really are not that many melodic progressions that work with the acceptable harmonic structures in the NPM world.

    The rocking rhythm of 6/8 is easier to use to fit non-metric texts since word rhythms that are common in English can be pasted in and many times they end up coinciding with the beat pattern. Instant music.

    A Mass that would win with NPM is one that sounds MORE like what they already use than any Mass that sounds different.

    Remember, the 1970's saw trained Catholic musicians being booted out of the loft for guitarists who would work for free. The level of musicianship in the Catholic church always varied with a peak in each diocese at the Cathedral, that peak creating a sort of bell curve when viewed, some parishes being poorly staffed, others having programs that were better than the Cathedral. A very healthy situation.

    Cathedrals today have their own bell curve, with at least one being led by a person who cannot read music.

    To paraphrase a Southern saying about dogs, "That bell won't ring."

  5. And I will re-itrate: What did you really expect from NPPM (and OPCP and GIA?). Did anyone really think they would suddenly become advocates of quality music? They can't sell quality music because quality music LASTS, and they depend on music that we will become tired of and replace as soon as possible. It's really high time that we stop expecting the "liturgical establishment" to do anything other than what it has been doing for 40+ years.

  6. ""Our hope was to write a musical setting of the mass that wouldn’t get in the way of the prayer experience,” said Bill Gokelman."

    FAIL!

    I thought the Council of Trent did away with troped Kyries. And the rhythm of "people of good will" should have led to instant disqualification, unless of course the other settings were even more inept. I must admit that the Memorial Acc is a clever piece of word-painting, proclaiming the Lord's death with a totally lifeless melodic line. That WAS deliberate, wasn't it?

    It's a sad day when liturgical music can be differentiated from advertising jingles by having less musical integrity.

  7. It's a sad day when liturgical music can be differentiated from advertising jingles by having less musical integrity.

    Or, one might say, a sad 40 years…

  8. SENSE OF SACREDNESS FAIL.

    I want to worship God, the king of the universe, and experience awe in his presence, not seem like I'm prancing around in a commercial for allergy medicine.

  9. "Our hope was to write a musical setting of the mass that wouldn’t get in the way of the prayer experience,” said Bill Gokelman."

    What does this even mean? A musical setting of the Mass IS the prayer experience. How can it stay out of its own way? My ears really hurt after listening to the rehearsal in the studio. Couldn't they find decent singers?

  10. Kyrie: Meh.

    Gloria: The main problem I see is that it's got a good beat and I can dance to it.

    Mystery of Faith: Do you really believe a priest is going to allow the Canon to be held up for a good 90 seconds or so to allow this piece to be sung?

    Lamb of God: The troped Kyrie is allowed in the OF as one of the options for the Penitential Rite, but not variant invocations in the Agnus Dei. At least the composers follow the tradition of having "Lamb of God" sung by just the cantor.

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