Common Non-Denominator
This video will be interesting to our readers for many reasons, particularly if they hail from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, or sing a lot of funerals. I understand from a close Minnesotan friend and nun that Minnesota funerals generally have a great number of jello dishes at the receptions.
But I digress. What intrigues me personally about the video is something Marty Haugen has to say (beginning at the 1:00 mark) about the consciously denominationally non-specific character of his music:
I have several hundred pieces of published music. It’s used mostly in Roman Catholic and Lutheran circles, although it’s used in other denominations as well. I try and write to those common threads. (Choir sings: “An open hand, a willing heart…) So I say, “What do we share, what can we all sing?”
Haugen’s attitude, while laudably genial, should be of concern to Catholic musicians, whose music accompanies words of faith–words that help congregations to make acts of faith.
Faith is content-rich. What Haugen seems to be saying here is that some of this content–that which is not shared among Catholics and non-Catholic Christians–usually does not make its way into his music.
Thankfully, a lot of the Catholic faith does overlap with that of non-Catholic Christians. But some of it doesn’t, and Calvin and Luther would be (and were) among the first to insist upon this.
Intriguingly, a lot of what does not overlap has to do with sacramental practice. For example, at Mass.
And overlapping with this difference is a marked distinction in soteriological convictions–of how we are saved. And soteriology is central to how we pray.
Personally I am an ecumenist. I strongly believe that the Lord intended for all Christians to be one, and that our divisions are scandalous. But I as equally strongly believe that pretending that our real differences do not exist does not contribute to our ultimate unity. Instead, they make all of us weak in our Christian faith.
It seems to me that some of the academic disciplines have been led by similar concerns that Haugen mentions regarding his own writing, and that these studies have been weakened by them. Perhaps we are witnessing something of a recovery from this, among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. All the better. It seems to me that true dialogue occurs most fruitfully when each speaks out of his/her own convictions, rather than when we avoid messy or difficult subjects.
Our unity, when it comes, should be one of richness, and not reduction.
Bread From Heaven: New Book of English Eucharistic Motets
An announcement from my colleague Heath Morber:
At the behest of (and with the help of) my colleague Ben Yanke, I’ve just released a collection of motets entitled “Bread From Heaven”, drawn from existing works from the Renaissance masters and set with English Eucharistic texts.
These are two- and three-part motets from des Pres, di Lasso, and Palestrina, drawn mostly from excerpts within their Latin Mass settings. Using seven Eucharistic texts (the “Ad Libitum” antiphons in the Roman Gradual), I fitted the English text to the original notes (modifying some rhythms) and transposed each for multiple voice configurations (SA, AT, SAT, ATB, etc.) Each text has a two- and three- part setting and multiple editions for a total of 14 different motets with 49 total settings!
I’ve sung nearly all of these with students here at St. John’s in Champaign, IL and they’ve been perfect for times when I can only round up a talented cantor or two and want something dignified to use for communion.
The collection can be found at lulu.com, direct link here:
Please note the extensive sample (also available here); it gives you a good feel for the flavor of the whole collection.
I do hope that this will be a great resource for your music program!
The Lenten Exercises of the Roman Curia
The Holy Father and his closest co-workers are on retreat this week.
Please remember them in your prayers and sacrifices.
Three Marian hymns by Saint Peter Damian
February 21st is the feast of St. Peter Damian, Doctor of the Church, reformer of the Church–and writer of hymns. Although his feast is not often celebrated in most parishes, when it falls during the privileged season of Lent, he is well worth knowing, particularly as we begin this prayerful season. As the Pope Emeritus said of him:
In study and in the daily meditation of Sacred Scripture, Peter Damian discovered the mystical meaning of the word of God, finding in it nourishment for his spiritual life. In this regard he described the hermit’s cell as the “parlor in which God converses with men”. For him, living as a hermit was the peak of Christian existence, “the loftiest of the states of life” because the monk, now free from the bonds of worldly life and of his own self, receives “a dowry from the Holy Spirit and his happy soul is united with its heavenly Spouse” (Ep 18, 17; cf. Ep 28, 43 ff.). This is important for us today too, even though we are not monks: to know how to make silence within us to listen to God’s voice, to seek, as it were, a “parlor” in which God speaks with us: learning the word of God in prayer and in meditation is the path to life.
The Liber Hymnarius includes nine hymns of Saint Peter Damian, of which two are parts of the same original hymn, the Good Friday hymns for Sext and None: Crux, mundi, and Per crucem. All of the hymns commemorate a special saint or mystery; none is sung throughout the year.
Here are my translations of the three Marian hymns among those in the Liber Hymnarius. One of the special features of St. Peter’s Marian hymns is his idea of Mary’s mediation of Christ, Who came through her. This idea is evident in the first and third hymns below.
***
Just like the morning’s dawning bright
She rises to the heav’nly height,
Maria, splendid as the sun,
Just like the moon, most lovely one.
Today, the queen of all the earth—
Who to that Son has given birth
Who is, before the daystar shone—
Ascends unto her glorious throne.
Assumed above the angels, higher
Than every heav’nly angel choir
This single woman has outrun
The merits all the saints have won.
The One Whom in her lap she fed
And laid within a manger bed.
She sees as Lord of everything,
Now in His Father’s glory, King.
Virgin of virgins, intercede,
And with your Son with fervor plead.
He took up what is ours through you.
May what is His come through you, too.
Praise to the Father and the Son
And Paraclete, forever one,
Who in the saints’ and angels’ sight
Have clothed you in their glorious light.
***
O Theotokos, Mary blest,
Our human nature’s shining crest,
Through you we have our liberty,
Free children of the light to be.
O Virgin, Queen of heav’n and earth,
Though of King David’s stock by birth,
Your royal dignity has come
Not from your fathers, but your Son.
Remove us from the ancient root.
Graft us in Him, the newborn shoot.
Through you may we become by grace,
A royal, priestly, human race.
O offer holy prayers to win
Release from all our bonds of sin.
We praise your merits to the skies:
May we in heaven share your prize.
Exemplar of virginity,
Give glory to the Trinity,
Whose endless treasure-stores of gifts
Through you our human nature lifts.
***
Joy of creation, new star in the heavens,
Moth’ring the Sun, and parenting your Maker,
Stretch forth your hand to lift the weak and fallen,
O virgin Mother.
You were created as a living ladder
By which the Most High reaches us, the lowly.
Give us God’s ladder. Let us climb, returning
To the high heavens.
All of the chorus of the blessed angels,
Orders of prophets and the blest apostles
Claim you in honor as their only sov’reign
After the Godhead.
Praise to the highest Trinity eternal,
Who crowned you, Virgin, honoring you greatly,
And whose provision gave you as our Mother,
And Queen forever. Amen.
Don’t Forget: Early Registration for the Colloquium Ends in TEN DAYS
Have you been to the Colloquium before? Never been, but always wanted to? If you want to come this year, now is the time to get ready! For all the information you could need, visit the CMAA’s site here. In order to make deadline for the early bird registration, you must have your registration in by March 1, 2015, and you can save $50 from your registration fee. I’m currently working on my arrangements to be there, and I hope to see you there!
Check out all the old Chant Cafe posts on the colloquium here, including some videos I created last year, including the one below:
“Dad, that song’s weird.”
(An imaginary conversation.)
“What do you mean?”
“At my school. Every year they sing this song about ashes. It’s so weird.”
“Oh. Do you mean the one that goes ‘We rise again from ashes…’?”
“Exactly. Why do they have to sing it? It’s not good.”
“No, I don’t think so either. Sit down for a minute and I’ll show you what I think is wrong with it. Now let me write down the first verse:
We rise again from ashes, from the good we’ve failed to do.
We rise again from ashes, to create ourselves anew.
If all our world is ashes, then must our lives be true
An offering of ashes, an offering to you.
And here is the last verse:
Praise be to the Father, who made us like himself.
Praise be to the Son, who saved us by his death.
Praise be to the Spirit who creates our world anew
From an offering of ashes, an offering to you.
Okay, when you look at those two verses, which is worse?”
“Well, the last one isn’t too bad. But the first one is terrible.”
“I agree. Can you say exactly what is wrong with it?”
“Well, for one thing, it makes us look terrible. I mean, I know we’re sinners and all that, but if you say ‘all our world is ashes’ it just sounds too strict.”
“I agree. If we thought that being sinners made us totally depraved, well, that might be okay to say. But as Catholics we believe that there is a lot of good in the world. And in us.”
“The other thing I don’t like is it reminds me of a phoenix. I mean, phoenixes are cool, but is that right to sing about in church?”
“I don’t think so. Hmm, I wonder if phoenixes ever were Christian symbols? Could be, I’ll google it later. But I would at least say that I’m not crazy about that image, because if I remember right, phoenixes rise out of their ashes as their exact same selves. But the New Testament is clear about the fact that when we rise, we shall be changed. We’ll be ourselves, but different. But anyways there’s something else that I think is a real problem with that verse.”
“What?”
“Look at the last two lines of the last verse. Who is doing the action?”
“The Spirit. I guess they mean the Holy Spirit.”
“Right. And who is doing the action in the first verse?”
“We are. That’s it, that’s what I don’t like.”
“Exactly. When was the last time I created something? Never. I make things, and I have children, which is as close as I come to creating anything. But I’ve never created something from nothing. I’ve never caused something to rise from the dead. The last verse gets it right. The first verse, I think, is completely wrong. It’s misleading and it’s wrong. I won’t even go into the second verse.”
“Okay, that makes sense. I mean, that it’s God’s job to change us, even if we try to do what we can. I mean, I try, but I can’t do it all.
Anyways, I hope they don’t sing it next year.”