A year on, what are we singing?

[Nick Baty]

We've been singing the new translation for a year. And I'm just wondering which are the most popular settings? What's sticking and what's been ditched?

A straw poll of the northwest shows the most popular to be:

Gloria:
• Psallite (in fact, there's little evidence of anything else)

Eucharistic Acclamations:
• New Celtic (Walker)
• St Chad (Jones)
• Gathering (Inwood)
• Bakhita (Yours Truly )

How's this reflected around the country? I know that, a little way south of us, Phil Jakob's New Wine Mass is proving popular. And I'm quite surprised at the number of people using the Missal chants as I don't think this was the case with the old translation.

And I've noticed that the Liturgy Office's list of published settings hasn't changed in months. Have we reached some sort of plateau?

[Southern Comfort]

I think you might find that most people haven't been singing the new translation for anything like a year yet (although that may not be true for members of this forum, who are enthusiasts like yourself). Some started in May/June, but many did not begin until September (and there was very little UK material approved for use by 4 September, and neither the Laudate supplement nor the McCrimmon supplement had appeared by then). I am still encountering parishes where they are on a phased transition and, while they may be singing a new Sanctus, etc, are still using old Glorias.

Having said that, my list is similar to yours. The most prevalent settings in this part of the world seem to be


Gloria:

The front-runners by far are

* Psallite
* Francis Duffy revised [NB: the McCrimmon supplement version of this seems better than the Laudate supplement version]
* Revised Gathering (now that it is approved and available)

Some way behind, things like Teresa Brown's revised St Luke the Evangelist (Devine Music and the McCrimmon supplement); also Jones Revised Coventry is now coming up strongly. Lots of people have tried St Bernadette (Mike Stanley) but most don't like it and only one parish still uses it.


Eucharistic Acclamations:

* In Pace (Walker)
* New Celtic (Walker)
* Revised Gathering (Inwood)

Psallite started off strongly in September, but has now given way to the other three except at Christmas and Holy Week and in parishes where they use different languages.

Others like Bakhita and the revised Mass of Creation are around but not as much.

People are now starting to explore further afield: Pershore Mass (Alan Smith) has been mentioned for both Gloria and Eucharistic Acclamations.


In both categories there is, surprisingly, quite a bit of unpublished homegrown stuff as well.

Of the supplements, McCrimmon and Laudate are both in use, McCrimmon having overhauled Laudate after a late start, but I have found only one parish using Glory to God.

[HallamPhil]

At St Marie's Cathedral out of residence we have used the following:

Penitential Act: New Wine (Jakob) and Belmont (Walker)
Glory to God: New Wine (Jakob) and New Celtic Gloria (Walker)
Eucharistic Acclams: New Wine (Jakob), Belmont (Walker), Mass of Hope (Farrell), Creation (Haugen), Revised Glastonbury (Walker)
Lamb of God: New Wine (Jakob); Missal tones, Belmont (Walker), Creation (Haugen)

In Hallam I called a meeting of musicians in June to share just this question. So will report more fully then.

Phil

[alan29]

Gloria - a couple of my own
Euchs - revised Gathering and Celtic

We are a guitar-based group of musicians + me on calvinover, all proficient ....... dearth of settings, hence home-grown! Should be fun at the up-coming confirmations as we attempt to persuade our new (and somewhat conservative) bishop to at least tap a toe.

[JW]

At Rainham, we started in September with Mass of St Rita and in October with the Missal tones. We dropped the Missal tones at Christmas and started using the Glendalough Mass, whilst still using St Rita as an alternative, especially as a shorter, simpler setting. We will probably start on other settings once the new Laudate is published and purchased.

[Ros Wood]

At Christ the King, South Chingford

Gloria - Lourdes (with amended words), Belmont

Acclamations - New Christ the King (Wood), Belmont.

Looking at Warrington Gloria and St Clare Acclamations (Baty)

[nazard]

... me on calvinover...

Sounds a bit extreme protestant to me.

We're using the "Mass of Christ the Saviour" by Schutte here, but I've not heard of anyone else using it, and btw, I didn't choose it.

[Nick Baty]

We have five sets of acclamations – all homespun – the oldest of which we started using in March 2011 (1st Sunday of Lent). We use New Celtic (Walker) when the three churches in our parish come together: Christmas, Easter and one or two other occasions.

However, so far we only have one Gloria (through-composed) as we've been concentrating on building up Communion processionals.

The plan is to rotate the acclamations we have, changing every three weeks, until the end of the year, adding a new one for Advent. In the meantime, we have two Glorias planned but, to be honest, I don't really like either of them which is one of the reasons I'm asking around.

[FrGareth]

Here in Pontypridd, we are currently using all the parts of Schutte's Mass of Christ the Savior (but have only learned one of the three memorial acclamations so far).

Before Christmas we used the tones given in the new Missal, except the Gloria which is too elaborate to manage without accompaniment.

In our primary school, we are using Kathleen Demny's Mass of Joy.

For funerals and other occasions with non-local people, Holy/Acclamation/Amen tends to be a version of Philip Gaisford's Eucharistic Prayer II which I have modified for the new texts, paired (except at funerals) with Matt Maher's Lamb of God and a Taize Kyrie.

We did try Gloria to a two-line psalm tone and then the Psallite setting, but parish found both too "dirgey".

[markyboy]

Interesting conversation. Maybe we're doing better than I thought.

We are currently singing the revised Lourdes Gloria, and struggling with the extra syllables, the Missal Holy Holy, and Missal Acclamation no.2. We've tried the Missal Gloria, and may come back to it.
We tried out one of the Gloria in the Laudate supp., but pp didn't like it. Why are new settings so dull, or set for massive resources? And so few through settings?
Rightly or wrongly I held out against revised Celtic or Gathering that we previously used as I thought this could cause confusion. pp wanted me to rewrite Salazar despite the prohibition on paraphrases!

We sing the Gospel Accl each week (Celtic and simple tone verse), and in Holy Week, Easter VIgil sang all the Psalm verses to simple tones.

I have an aging choir but we are now thinking of winding it up in its formal entity due to age (almost all over 70, 2 over 80, 1 of 89) and illness (not mine). This will make learning new music more difficult, unless I go to the lectern myself just before Mass, something I dislike as it disturbs pre-Mass devotions (and the organ is upstairs at the back!). BTW, pp won't buy copyright licenses. Suggestions, please - thanks in advance, Mark

[Nick Baty]

Hi Marky Mark.
Does PP realise how cheap licenses are?

[markyboy]

Hi Nick
We had them under previous priest; but this guy doesn't believe in inserts or even Funeral and Wedding sheets, so cancelled the licenses. Mindful of Hebrews 5,2 I won't say more; I like him, and the way he says Mass.
Mark

[Nick Baty]

That's a great shame as it limits your choice of music.
Still, if you like him that's a plus.

[Terry Quinn]

I have no evidence to show that the new translation has been taken on board in my part of the north- west. They might be ‘speaking’ the words of the new translation, but singing them, NO.
A year ago I was greatly encouraged by the SSG web site. The knowledge and enthusiasm of its contributors was inspiring and really fired me up. I embraced the changes and took it on-board wholeheartedly. With all the serious noise that was coming from the Bishops Conference and the SSG forums I formed the impression that liturgical music must now conform to the revised translation.
An important factor in all of this is that many parishes do not have the resources and people skills to put these changes into practice. I wonder if PP’s are afraid of insisting on the changes for fear of frightening off their musicians. Up to very recently clergy appeared to have enough problems of their own without having to grasp the music nettle.
I enquired around the area to see what the others have done, intending to compare notes. They have done NOWT!
I can tell you, for a fact, that at least 10 churches within my reach have not changed a thing with regard to their music. The parts of the liturgy that were always sung, e.g. Mem. Acclams. are now being spoken. Gloria and Holy holy are still sung to the old translation and the multi hymn sandwich lives on. Folk groups and missal chant just do not mix. Musicians and singing groups are in many cases being left (nay, ignored) to continue their own sweet way.
From a personal perspective the thought of casting aside all the old and cherished settings caused me to fear for the future of our choir. To address this I have spent the last twelve months drawing a line under the old and changing the music of our sung Mass to the meet the new. I have obtained new settings, revised existing ones, written acclamations and chants, which our choir and clergy have worked hard to meet the challenge.
When I read this forum I feel that I am at least keeping up with the game but is the game truly reflected by what is being displayed on this site. Wherever I look there is a strong smell of the R.C. factor……., ‘RESISTANCE to CHANGE’.

[contrabordun]

Our PP embraced the new with enthusiasm...don't think he was much of a fan of the previous version.

Almost all of our choir sang at the Cofton Mass, so the MacMillan JHN was kind of an obvious place to start, although as a unison setting to support the congregation, most of whom seem to be at least mouthing the words. (Also, the church was consecrated on Newman's feast day so that seemed like another reason to stick with it). We did that solidly from September to Christ the King (by which time everybody was ready for a break), then again in Christmastide and now in Eastertide. We used the Missal setting for Advent and Lent (the composer of the Missal Gloria seems to have had these two seasons specifically in mind for his work) and the Belmont from Christmas to Lent, and we'll revert to it after Trinity. We'll add another one in the autumn: deciding which is a job for the summer.