WORCESTER The Rev. Donat Lamothe said he doesn’t like much of the music that’s being produced today, but those who disagree with the Roman Catholic priest might want to think twice before picking an argument with him.
After all, he’s spent much of his 50 years at Assumption College teaching undergraduates the beauty and intricacies of the art form.
“I respect the right of people to embrace whatever music appeals to them,” said Rev. Lamothe, a member of the Augustinians of the Assumption, the order that foundedAssumption College. “But much of today’s music is not refined and it has no structure. It’s just loud.”
Given his classical training, it’s no surprise that Rev. Lamothe’s musical preferences trends toward pieces from the Renaissance or Middle Ages, or from the Baroque era whose dramatic and sometimes strained style dominated Europe from the early 17th to mid-18th centuries.
“I really enjoy Gregorian chant and other forms of sacred music,” said the clergyman.
Rev. Lamothe has been a presence on the Assumption campus for five decades.
At 78 years old, the New Hampshire native is in good health.
However, he has decided to cut back on his faculty chores and is now teaching part-time. Students can still draw from his vast knowledge by enrolling in the basic History of Music course.
College officials said they couldn’t recall anyone with longer faculty longevity.
“I love what I do but it’s time to cut back,” said Rev. Lamothe in an interview in his office in Founders Hall, which features a harpsichord that he had built many years ago.
Rev. Lamothe began his music studies as a child taking piano lessons.
He greatly admired his uncle, the Rev. Francis R. Lamothe, a diocesan priest in Manchester, N.H. At the age of 6 or 7, he considered following “Uncle Rudy” into the priesthood, so his parents sent him to Worcester to study at Assumption Preparatory School.
After two years at the school, he entered the the Augustinian novitiate, making his first profession of religious vows in 1956.
He was ordained a priest in April 1962 in Lyons, France, and began teaching philosophy at Assumption College in 1963.
Over the course of his studies, Rev. Lamothe amassed a number of degrees, including a licentiate in philosophy from the University of Ottawa in Canada, a master’s degree in theology from St. John’s University in Minnesota, a master’s degree in musicology from Boston University, and doctorate in musicology from the University of Strasbourg in France.
He has taught music, philosophy and Bible studies at Assumption.
In 1965, Rev. Lamothe, who has mastered the piano, the harpsichord, the recorder, the lute, and the viola, founded and served as music director of the former Salisbury Consort of Early Music, a semi-professional ensemble that utilized instruments from the Medieval and Renaissance periods.
In 1997, he became the director of the Assumption Schola Gregorian, a group of singers who perform the Gregorian chant tradition at various events.
Rev. Lamothe is also the college’s archivist and was given the Presidential Award for Excellence in Contribution to the Mission of Assumption College.
In 1997, after studying for some time with a Russian immigrant, Rev. Lamothe, an Assumption College alumnus, began painting the religious icons of the Eastern Orthodox churches.
“Music and iconography are prayer, and I love them both,” he said.
Assumption College professor says Gregorian chants beat today’s ‘loud’ songs
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I very much agree with Rev. Donat Lamothe when he comments about today's music saying “But much of today's music is not refined and it has no structure. It's just loud.”
Unlike Rev. Donat I started my music career with Pop & Rock about 30 years ago and when you are young the slow, peaceful and wholesome classical music (which is still popularly propagated) seems boaring as there is not much of audiance participation. It is loud as electronics has replaced acoustic. Also creativity means doing something different even if it is disturbs you internally what matters is the impact on the outside world.
Todays music show the character of our generation. it shows a restless world searching for the best formula. I has to be loud so that it attracts a crowd that is looking for temporal pleasure. It shows total lack of vision or future. thats the reason many songs hit the charts one day and are not heard of another day.
I wish the world realised that music was supposed to calm the soul. How true is the saying that every good thing or invention always has many adverse ways to be used.
Today after knowing how hollow the world of Rock & Pop is I propagate and teach classical music which when you get into it you realise that it is so rich and fulfilling. the control of sound by different instruments and singers in orchestras and choirs is amazing. can you imagine an orchestra of 100 people playing a piece of music in ppp the control, the magically sizilling sound it creates, just lifts your soul to the heavens.
And bottom line all of us long for peace in our lives. the music of today highlights the lack of peace in our lives.
All is not lost it is still found in classical music.