Don’t shoot the composers; they were doing their best « The Recovering Choir Director

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Don’t shoot the composers; they were doing their best

In following up the response to this article, Jeffrey Tucker makes a this noteworthy comment on Amy Welborn’s site regarding contemporary composers’ ignorance of the chant:

In our writing on this topic, we have received several very nice letters from big-name contemporary Catholic composers who have confessed that they know essentially nothing about chant–do not know even once-popular chant hymns such as Ave Maris, Ave Maria, Ubi, O Salutaris–and have been embarassed to admit it. This kind of humility is a great first step!

Could fostering an awareness of the chant amongst these composers assist in hastening its re-acceptance? Could perhaps newer compositions from these sources take the chant as a foundation or point of departure?

Posted 05.10.2005
by Aristotle Esguerra
1 comment.
Filed under: Gregorian Chant.

One Comment

It is also notable to point out that Marty Haugen recorded an arrangement of Conditor Alme Siderum almost twenty years ago. Ray Repp recorded an album of plainsong-influenced music back in 1978. Tom Conry also used chant in a few of his own recordings. In my own experiences, I’ve seen significant adaptations of plainsong presented well by parish musicians who might otherwise be considered “modern.”

Todd
05.12.2005 @ 11:14 pm #

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