"Singing the Mass", not "singing at Mass" - 2
Included in the second tier of importance of things to be sung at Mass are the Entrance Procession, Gloria, Psalm, Communion Procession and post-Communion.
The Gloria is the great hymn of praise of the Triune God and, personally, I am a little disappointed that it only makes the second tier. That said, it is still considered more important than singing during the Preparation of the Gifts (Offertory) and the Recessional - and it is a daring parish liturgist that would miss out those! There would be revolts in the pews!!
Not so long ago, before the New (English) Translation of the Missal, it was permissible to sing a setting of the Gloria (and, indeed, all the Mass parts) that paraphrased what was actually in the Missal; the Peruvian Gloria, for example, proved popular with many. That is no longer the case, as I found out myself when I submitted my first Mass setting (High Peak Mass) for permission to be used outside of my own parish; permission was at first withheld for the Gloria because I had omitted a comma! I duly inserted it and permission was granted JUST in time for St David's in Mold to start (legitmately) using it - if memory serves, with two days to spare!!
Finding Glorias - for you do need more than one - that work for your situation is not easy and requires patience and research. At the risk of insulting your intelligence......there are responsorial settings (where the first line is sung as a response/refrain, usually by the congregation), through settings and settings to be sung in choir/alternating lines between cantor(s) and congregation (Mass VII - Missa de Angeles works well this way).
One Gloria that I like very much, with a good balance between joyful acclamation and dignity, is from the Revised Mass of Angels and Saints by Steven R Janco. It is a responsorial Gloria with the verses sung by the choir, sometimes in harmony. It is also just about the only setting that I have heard that was successfully revised from the old translation of the Missal to the new; to my ears, the vast majority of revised settings simply do not work - they sound forced or, as someone once observed, you can see the joins. As a rule of thumb, avoid reworked settings of the Mass!
I am sure that one of the reasons that many parishes do not sing the Responsorial Psalm is due to there being no one that is involved in the music and liturgy ministry who is willing to stand up front and take on the roll of cantor. Maybe there is a genuine concern that they are not good enough. Maybe it's shyness. Maybe it's a concern about what people will say.
As for what people will say.....in every parish you will (sadly) get those who are grateful and rejoice in what you do and those who look for any excuse to criticise. As for the quality of the singing.....we are not auditioning for La Scala! Some years back I went on a private retreat to a monastery of nuns. It was an ageing community, with mostly frail voices, and they will never record a CD; but their singing of the Office was beautiful simply because it was sincere and prayerful. God wants nothing more than that! We are deceiving ourselves if we think that God demands and accepts only professional-level performances. And, if we are not trying to impress Him, then who?
Whatever the reasons, we need to encourage and form those in our communities with the potential of taking on the roll of Cantor or Psalmist. It is a precious charism in the Church.
The Gloria is the great hymn of praise of the Triune God and, personally, I am a little disappointed that it only makes the second tier. That said, it is still considered more important than singing during the Preparation of the Gifts (Offertory) and the Recessional - and it is a daring parish liturgist that would miss out those! There would be revolts in the pews!!
Not so long ago, before the New (English) Translation of the Missal, it was permissible to sing a setting of the Gloria (and, indeed, all the Mass parts) that paraphrased what was actually in the Missal; the Peruvian Gloria, for example, proved popular with many. That is no longer the case, as I found out myself when I submitted my first Mass setting (High Peak Mass) for permission to be used outside of my own parish; permission was at first withheld for the Gloria because I had omitted a comma! I duly inserted it and permission was granted JUST in time for St David's in Mold to start (legitmately) using it - if memory serves, with two days to spare!!
Finding Glorias - for you do need more than one - that work for your situation is not easy and requires patience and research. At the risk of insulting your intelligence......there are responsorial settings (where the first line is sung as a response/refrain, usually by the congregation), through settings and settings to be sung in choir/alternating lines between cantor(s) and congregation (Mass VII - Missa de Angeles works well this way).
One Gloria that I like very much, with a good balance between joyful acclamation and dignity, is from the Revised Mass of Angels and Saints by Steven R Janco. It is a responsorial Gloria with the verses sung by the choir, sometimes in harmony. It is also just about the only setting that I have heard that was successfully revised from the old translation of the Missal to the new; to my ears, the vast majority of revised settings simply do not work - they sound forced or, as someone once observed, you can see the joins. As a rule of thumb, avoid reworked settings of the Mass!
I am sure that one of the reasons that many parishes do not sing the Responsorial Psalm is due to there being no one that is involved in the music and liturgy ministry who is willing to stand up front and take on the roll of cantor. Maybe there is a genuine concern that they are not good enough. Maybe it's shyness. Maybe it's a concern about what people will say.
As for what people will say.....in every parish you will (sadly) get those who are grateful and rejoice in what you do and those who look for any excuse to criticise. As for the quality of the singing.....we are not auditioning for La Scala! Some years back I went on a private retreat to a monastery of nuns. It was an ageing community, with mostly frail voices, and they will never record a CD; but their singing of the Office was beautiful simply because it was sincere and prayerful. God wants nothing more than that! We are deceiving ourselves if we think that God demands and accepts only professional-level performances. And, if we are not trying to impress Him, then who?
Whatever the reasons, we need to encourage and form those in our communities with the potential of taking on the roll of Cantor or Psalmist. It is a precious charism in the Church.
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