I came across an update of recommended songs for Catholic churches in Australia that was put out last year – which shows how I don’t keep up to date on these things anymore – and it raised rather a lot of issues.
This is part of the ongoing deleterious effect on the Church from Liturgium Authenticum from way back in 2001. Whatever the original intent of this document, it became an attempt from Rome to control the English speaking Catholic churches and has done all sorts of terrible things. The main evil was the appalling Latin to English transliteration of the Mass that priests have been attempting to proclaim for the last decade. LA led to decisions that appeared to have been made by people who didn’t speak any English and certainly without any appreciation of Australian English. The recent Plenary in Australia recognised this translation as deficient, when it called for a new one from the Bishop’s Commission for Liturgy.
Another consequence was requirement of Bishop’s conferences to produce a list of suitable songs for review by the CDW (now the the Dicastery for Divine Worship etc etc) and obtain their recognitio. LA was an instrument of control in that it determined that the repertiore should “remain relatively fixed”, once they got rid of anything they found threatening. Of course at a parish level with minimal resources and few musicians, the selection is often fixed for other reasons. Possibly the era the organist knows – maybe the 70s, or from when they could last afford hymn books – Gather Australia or As One Voice. I doubt this is exactly how LA wanted if fixed, as it was not centrally controlled.
This was all occurring in the era of central repression that saw fine people like Bishop Morris taken down at the whim of Rome. I don’t recall any great rush to get this music selection done around the world – I’d be fascinated to know if anyone else bothered – but in Australia the NLMB was formed in 2005 and by 2009 they had created their list for approval by their betters at the Vatican. Under those circumstances it is not surprising that they picked a lot of old tunes that wouldn’t confuse or alarm the CDW.
This list was the bedrock of CWB II which it was largely superceded by, as it was meant to be the hymn book for the Australian Church. There is a very helpful list of songs that got a tick of approval without getting a guernsey in CWBII, but CWB II is now our hymn book that every church is using.
Six years on from publication is it? Should it be? I can’t find what it’s sales are, but the fact that it is print on demand does not suggest a huge demand. I have the paperback “East German Green” edition that is functional as a resource. It’s deficits are well known. It was written by organists, for organists. Few songs have guitar chords – they are even removed in some cases. It might sit on an organ well but defeats most music stands due to its weight and general awkwardness. Not all the songs are covered by OneLicence. The song selection was already dated at publication and had few recent Australian songs. None of this is surprising considering the climate of its long gestation and the influence of cathedral organists on the book.
I wonder how many parishes had the money to buy full music editions for all their musicians and pew books for all their parishioners as they may have done in years past with GA and AOV. A lot of parishes rely on the musicians themselves to pay for sheet music now as there just isn’t a budget. The standard is now projected texts and any new sheet music purchased for download from AOV, GIA and OCP. CWB II was meant to have a digital edition soon after publication but I went looking for it today and cannot find it. Even parishes that sing their traditional repertoire well have little need for it, as public domain hymnals have most of the tunes.
Which brings me to the list of “exemplars” of contemporary music published with the update:
The following list provides some suitable examples of contemporary hymns and songs for use by the assembly that have been published since Catholic Worship Book II or which were included in overseas Catholic collections not considered at the time when CWBII was published. As so much contemporary music continues to be published, it is important to have some suitable examples with which to compare other pieces being considered for inclusion in liturgical celebrations.
They provide ten new songs and ten adaptations of old songs. With one exception, Paul Mason’s “Power of the Spirit”, they are American songs from the OCP/GIA axis. I have blogged all but one of the new songs over the years and I like them, although the Latin stylings of “Go Make a Difference” and “Alleluia! Raise the Gospel” need some adaptation for most parish ensembles and many of the others have P&W and Gospel roots that would function best with a full band. They are not really inculturated for Australian parishes.
However, do the Australian Bishops think that these are best examples for Australian parishes to be looking at for contemporary music? I suppose there must be no contemporary Australian music being written at all these days to use as exemplars. I am uncharitable enough to point out that of course there is, and much is available through Willow Publications and “As One Voice”. Maybe the problem is that AOV even now represents a serious competitor to CWB II. By not acknowledging their work in their list of approvals, it could appear to be an attempt to steer parishes away from the new AOV material in their digital store. Whether it is the intent or not, it doesn’t help a small company like Willow survive. The success of AOV has always been an issue for the Catholic church in Australia, as they were never under the control of the Bishops. The reality remains that for many parishes, AOV was the defacto Australian Catholic Hymn Book and CWB II did not supersede it at all, they just augmented it with new online sheet music purchases.
I know many disagree with me about CWB II, and I am very glad it meets the needs of their parish. I am curious if anyone knows what the penetration of CWB II into suburban and country parishes is generally. I also am interested in what people make of the ACBC recommendations – do they guide them and do they influence them to avoid non listed songs like those from Willow? I would welcome having gaps in my knowledge filled by those with different experiences. Australian Catholicism, in the cities and suburbs at least, is nearly congregational these days – if you don’t like the liturgy just try the next suburb, so there are a wide range of Australian Catholic liturgical expressions out there.
To be fair the article does says:
With local and international music publishers (and self-publishing composers) constantly producing new pieces of music it is not possible to provide an exhaustive listing of music which is appropriate for liturgical use. Many of these pieces will meet the criteria for appropriate inclusion within Catholic liturgical celebrations in Australia. The contents of Catholic Worship Book II constitute a benchmark to be met by music being considered for inclusion in Catholic liturgies in Australia.
I have a concern that due to its history CWB II isn’t much of a benchmark for an Australian parish. The latest exemplars being all American means our benchmarks from the Bishops are now OCP/GIA contemporary American and traditional hymnody from Europe. A fine mess for Australian Catholic music.
First some context: I’ve been using Catholic Worship Book II as the sole source of music for the last few months, mostly text/hymn tune style hymns for around five years in my current parish, and previously used As One Voice as a primary source in a different parish for over ten years before that. I’m not a fan of either old style Latin music (puts me to sleep) or the pop / Hillsong style Praise and Worship songs that dominate AOVNG (they don’t lead me to prayer). I look after the music at a Saturday Cathedral Mass that would typically have around 50 in attendance with music played by a pianist and violinist, and three song leaders.
I greatly respect the music ability of Bernard Kirkpatrick (who is mostly responsible for CWB2), and think his Mass of Christ the Redeemer is the best festive organ Mass going. His choice of keys in CWB2 is also excellent, keeping everything at congregation level. Unfortunately, I think far less of him as poet, and think he has disrespected too many texts. This is not about removal of archaic language, but rather unnecessary changes to well-known hymns.
An example from a hymn used last Saturday: #499, God Is Love. The second stanza originally started “God is Love, and love enfolds us, all the world in one embrace” which he changed to “God is love, and gently enfolding all the world in one embrace”, thus adding an extra syllable, and I find it very hard to sing that! #586, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, he replaced the perfectly good second verse with one of what I presume his own doing as I haven’t seen it in any other hymnals.
I actually didn’t realise that these textual changes had been made until we switched from using hymn sheets to the hymnals. I admit to mostly using OCP as the source for the music as they provides chords with just about everything including the traditional hymns; and, particularly where Randall DeBruyn was involved, the arrangements are piano friendly, and the chords straightforward. I would have been perfectly happy to keep on using hymn sheets, particularly as I liked the “hymn of the gospel” that could usually be found in GIA’s Worship, 4th ed., but a change was decreed…
The original hardback copy of the accompaniment books appear to have been produced for their look rather than practical use, as they don’t lie flat, and are too heavy for choir books. The softback edition I purchased last year is much easier to lie flat, but still not great for choirs. I only have the hardback version of the congregation’s edition, and would describe it as cumbersome. Whether its booklets for the choir or hymn sheets for the congregation, they are much easier to handle than CWB2, and only require one hand!
While most of the older hymns are readily obtainable online, there is still a need for a list with appropriate lyrics (since some of the online ones have had lyrics adjusted to match non-Catholic theology). Therefore I am very happy for the inclusion of “Saviour of the Nations, Come” and hymns of its ilk, many of which would not be known by a lot of people: there’s substance and wonderful poetry in many of these hymns.
As stated, there is no digital or projection edition, and far too many hymns are not covered by OneLicense. Even in 2015, when CWB2 was being finalized, it should have been a priority to ensure that parishes were able to obtain a license for these.
Before writing this, I had a look through your reviews of As One Voice: Next Generation and there’s an awful lot of songs which you don’t think much of and /or have no obvious liturgical use! In other words, there’s a lot of material in use that probably shouldn’t be.
Perhaps the solution is to have people with some theological training who both appreciate contemporary Australian music and traditional hymnody, and get them to produce a digital hymnal of material suitable for liturgy that can be readily licensed. From this list, two permanent hymnals could be produced (on demand) for those without projection or hymn sheets that essentially follow what OCP does with its Heritage (traditional) and Choose Christ (contemporary) missals (though as hymnals – not yearly issues!): each containing material that is primarily of a particular style, but also including the most important songs that don’t fit that style. Accompaniments need to be available digitally as well, and include chords. Work with Willow!
I suspect users of CWB2 will be traditionally minded, but like me, not particularly happy with the hymnal. AOV isn’t suited, GA is well past its use-by date, and none of the overseas hymnals meets our needs, so there’s no other option. Our non-Catholic brothers and sisters have given up on hymnals and not replaced Together in Song, so there’s no simple answer! If we had a list of approved licensable songs in various styles that were singable by a congregation, with lyrics that conformed to Catholic doctrine, and had some poetic standard, I think we’d all be in a happier place.
Thanks for your insights, Chris. I wonder what happened to the planned digital CWB II?
I think the decision not to replace the wonderful TIS made sense and revealed CWB II as too late to be relevant. I saw Paul Mason talk about his set up years ago where everything is digital on large Ipads for the musicians and projected for the assembly. I thought it too expensive but as an alternative to hymnbooks for the whole assembly maybe not.
A lot of AOV NG was for outside mass situations and I prefer their P&W to Hillsong, but quite a lot of their newer on line material now is very liturgical – Peter Grant, Patricia Smith etc. They also have picked up singwriters like Leo Watt and Brian Boniwell.
Maybe you can find us a new James Macauley to work on texts!
thanks again
Geoff
James McAuley was one of a kind! I’d argue that metered hymn texts with liturgical focus typically have universal application (excepting summer/winter imagery, of course), so its never bothered me that outside of McAuley/Connolly and Herry, most texts and tunes originate outside of Australia. Apart from “Song of Cosmic Praise” with its references to Australian flora and fauna, all of McAuley’s hymn texts could be sung quite happily overseas without raising eyebrows. They’re not, but that’s their loss!
I know projected hymns are the go these days, and indeed that was what I used for many years in a previous parish, but I still think hymn sheets are less obtrusive, and as long as the paper is recycled, not an environmental problem. Yes, people are supposed to sing processing to communion, and projection makes that easier, but I’ve never been anywhere where the congregation actually does that. Playing from tablets is becoming more common as prices have dropped, and with almost all accompaniments are available in digital form these days, so a practical option. We had a young organist for a few years that did that.
My thoughts from an American perspective…
It’s interesting to me that CWB2 was seemingly meant to be an all-encompassing hymnal for every parish in the entire country. Considering the wide variety of options available in the U.S., the idea that every parish would have the same hymnal is very strange. Was that the intent? For everyone to use the same hymnal?
I know at least one diocese in America created its own diocesan hymnal and is requiring all parishes to use only that hymnal. They’re also requiring all parishes learn and use chant mass parts (English and Latin). No idea how that’s working out. Here’s a little about it. https://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2016/01/27/massive-music-reforms-mandated-in-marquette/
Another diocese apparently wanted to create its own hymnal, but didn’t do it because of copyright issues. They’ve just implemented some guidelines requiring a few common Mass settings along with singing the antiphons. http://catholicmissourianonline.com/stories/fr-merz-fostering-unity-and-diversity-through-music-at-mass,3283
On a national scale, the bishops released a guide to evaluate lyrics, giving specific examples of songs not to use. Probably the most “famous” songs they specifically mentioned that don’t fit their criteria are All Are Welcome, Now in This Banquet, and Canticle of the Sun (not Marty Haugen fans apparently). Ironically, most of the songs they mentioned are continuing to be approved for newly published hymnals and missals so I don’t know what kind of impact this document has had. https://www.usccb.org/resources/Catholic%20Hymnody%20at%20the%20Service%20of%20the%20Church_0.pdf
It’s interesting that you mentioned that Australian Catholicism seems congregational. I feel that way here, too, at least in the areas I’ve lived. I know a lot of people (including me) “church shop” when they move to a new place, looking for the church that fits their liturgical preferences. With one hymnal as the only option, the variety of expressions is definitely limited. Maybe that’s what they want, but is it what the people want?
Thanks, Ryan
Now that I’ve moved to a small country town, I’m appreciative that there is still a mass here every week.
I think a lot of the directives from the archdiocese in Australia are recommendations that are locally ignored when pastoral considerations arise. Our hard pressed priests are either old or from other parts of the world and struggle with Australian attitudes. They have no money, worse since covid, dwindling flocks and, outside the cities, have to do a lot of driving to cover their area.
The other issue is a lot of our Bishops are really quite mediocre and terrified of the real power in Australian Catholicism – Catholic education – our schools are full and our churches are empty.
No-one would dare mandate chant. One young priest posted to rural Tasmania tried to replace most of the masses with Latin a few years ago and the locals all but tarred and feathered him. He had to be rescued.
While we do have some diversity in the Australian church from recent immigrants from Africa and the Pacific, we are still mainly an amalgam of Irish and Italian Catholic traditions. If we had the large Spanish/Latin American influence that you have in the US a single hymnal would make no sense even to our Bishops.
cheers
Geoff