“These choices and options are not liberating; they are oppressive.”
JT on preparing the CMAA Colloquium’s Ordinary-Form Mass:
We’ve found that in preparing the colloquium, the largest share of work goes to one Mass: [Ordinary Form] in English. The complications are endless. It takes forever. These choices and options are not liberating; they are oppressive. The politics are excruciating. It takes too many mornings, days, evenings. I recall the old days when I sang for an [Extraordinary-Form] Mass: one book. It’s all given. You can focus your energies. We were lazy about it and there is much else that could have been done but at least the goal and the task was clear and without all this endless clutter and mess. This is the number one problem that has come about with the OF and the way it has developed – at least from a [Director of Music's] point of view.
One of these days I should write a post about the crises of conscience that I have experienced/experience/will experience in the Ordinary Form. That, and the confusion about “first options” for sung texts and music — forget about second, third, and fourth options, whose texts and music manage to dominate most OF Masses — in said form of the liturgy.
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“These choices and options are not liberating; they are oppressive.” — I couldn’t agree more!
Interesting observation. From an observer’s perspective, the Colloquium OF English Mass was the closest we ever experienced resembling the real thing. This led us to the conclusion that, with a few more adjustments, maybe there is hope for the English OF after all. But now we are beginning to wonder if this was just an illusion.
Yes. I’m not even a director and I agree entirely. Please do write about these crises of conscience; it’s a thought process I return to with some regularity.
I totally agree. I’m not a music director, but I sort of have “an in” some places, and there’s so many choices, so many decisions. As far as I can tell, in the EF, you pick which mass you want to sing, maybe a monet or two, and possibly some nice organ stuff for the procession. That’s it. For the OF, you literally have to pick everything from among thousands of pieces written. And that’s not even getting in to the politics of the whole thing…
I am a composer wanting to take on the task of setting the English translation of The Roman Missal. While some of it is straight forward, some of it is not.
Is there someone who would be interested in working with me to create a new work???
Chip Michael
http://chipmichael.com
What are the chances? I am one of the KODM and former member of the Scola. If it were not on Sunday evenings, I might still be in it. Anyway, I have just become the choral director at St. Al\’s in Sauk and would love to pick your brain regarding it as some point. Perhaps at the next Knight\’s night we could talk for 15 minutes or so. I have sung for years in some pretty good choirs, but never have I been facing the choir. Thank you so much for the blog. I searched up \”Catholic Choir Director help\” and this was number 1. The Lord works in mysterious ways indeed…