Posted on by Jeffrey Tucker

Free downloads of mainstream Mass settings

I’m not endorsing the music here but I do think it is a great thing that OCP is providing full downloads of most of its Mass settings for the new text, and is even offering some as online exclusives. For some peculiar reason, many Catholic musicians – ok many musicians – are resisting the inevitable here, namely the digitization of all music. It’s good to see OCP recognizing reality here.

11 Replies to “Free downloads of mainstream Mass settings”

  1. I just listened to all of the samples, and I'm more depressed than I've been in a long time. Once again, OCP has outdone itself in placing the very epitome of mediocre "church" music in the spotlight. I think many of us deluded ourselves into thinking that a new translation with more elevated, sacred language would somehow usher in an age of truly liturgical music that is both more refined and more restrained in its adherence to the paradigm of modern off-Broadway musical repertoire. How wrong we were!

    Despite the progressive nature of OCP's release of digitized music, I dare say it might be best to avoid digitization of these nominally "Catholic" Mass settings until such time as the mainstream of Catholic musicians has a better grasp of the nature of sacred music, lest we disseminate them with the same reckless abandon that guides the general flow of digital content these days, and thus enter into a brand new period of liturgics fraught with the same flawed and fallacious principles that have guided the composition of what has seemed to pass for liturgical music over the past 40 years.

    "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

  2. "Reprints must include title, composer's name and full copyright notice as it appears on this document. Copies must be destroyed after this date or a reprint license must be purchased at LicenSingOnline.org."

  4. Aristotle raises the main point. This is not really what it first appears. They are only giving free access during a time period when access is relatively useless. It is only useful for rehearsing and "trying out" the pieces, but for actual use in the liturgy, the titles must be destroyed. I do not at all see this as embracing the digitization of music, and still less do I see it as embracing anything close to the Creative Commons. Rather, this is nothing more than an attempt to get people to become interested in these settings to rope them in to eventually paying hefty royalty fees. Perhaps it is a "first step" … I can't really say. Call me a pessimist, but I think this is nothing more than a marketing gimmick rather than a true change in philosophy.

  5. Dude.

    What did I just listen to? Gah!

    Jeffrey-
    I demand you post a link to good music as soon as possible, so that I can wash my ears out.

  6. Here are three videos that are less annoying than the Mass setting presented here. For anyone who needs to cleanse their ears. You should listen to them before moving on to actual good music, as the shock might be too much.

  7. While it is true that OCP shows the possibilities of digital dissemination, it is even truer that this is another of OCP's marketing ploys, which, one must admit, they have refined to a high level. The sadness lies in the material they are disseminating, with a few exceptions, notably the Trinitas Publications, which by the way, OCP bought from its founders a few years ago. Alas, the musical doggerel persists and sadly seems to promote itself to many parishes and even more church musicians. However, having said all of that, digital distribution, through this site and CMAA, of liturgical music fitting and supportive of the liturgy rather than "off-broadway" clap-trap, is a good and joyful thing. The difficulty lies in convincing all involved with liturgy and sacred music that their are superior (dare I use that word?) and attainable resources to be had through such projects as Adam Bartlett's.
    Thank you to Jeffrey for the Chant Cafe and to all who are toiling in the vineyard of the Lord to raise standards, both musical and liturgical.

  8. If I'm going to comment, I should at least be grammatically correct. "Their" in the last sentence of the first paragraph should be "there". Mea culpa!

  9. Myron,
    "Superior" is a perfect word. Synonyms (for this situation) would include:

    -"Catholic"
    -"Liturgical" ("valid" may be combined with this word as well)
    -"Prayerful"

    None of these terms apply to OCP's music.

  10. I find it amusing that the two sole examples that have any pragmatic worth both aspire to a quasi-Kings College choral ethos, and ironically Christopher Walker's excerpt is not to be found among those two. Is it just me, or is it just possible that whatever has eminated from his pen around the time of the inception of the "Celtic (HA! Fintan's spinning….) Mass" is literally unsingable? As far as the other "new" examples, feh. One that doesn't even aspire to "gebrauchsmusick" but has a BRAND NAME high Q rating composer; another that is a cross between "A Mighty Wind" and "Up with People;" and the ubiquitous emo and syncopation have met and embraced one another for our gothic youth Mass.
    Now, for any lurkers out there, yes, you might think I'm being snarky with those mini-stereotypes. I'm not. Give me Bob Hurd's Eucharistic Acclamations from "Roll Down the Ages" or "Ubi caritas" revised. Give me Richard Proulx's "Responsorial Mass" or "Missa Oecumenica" revised. Give me John Schiavone's "Holy Family Mass" revised. OCP's biggest obstacle to serving the Church's liturgy has always been its own negligence towards pushing the lesser-known artists' ordinaries out front in the product lineup and letting them live in BB/MI for longer than a year or two before replacing them with some pentatonic/diatonic dreck from a former SLJ or STM alumnus.
    This really is a non-starter for me. Just pushes the idea of a homegrown setting, and/or using the ICEL chants and others (like Olbash's)in the CC.

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