Great Achievements of Vatican II: Liturgical Music by Brian Cones
It still sounds funny when I say it!
Here's part of the article:
One of the favorite punching bags of those who don't like post-conciliar liturgy is the music. Most recent is this throwaway from Michael Sean Winters on America's blog:
"Much of the music written for the post-conciliar liturgy is unbeautiful and pedestrian in the extreme."
Seriously? Can we dismiss the efforts of our sisters and brothers so flippanty? (sic) I am quite frankly shocked any Catholic would so poorly judge the faith-inspired efforts of so many dedicated Catholics with such an extreme overstatement. Sure, there has been bad music written since Vatican II, and I'm sure everyone has their favorite straw man song. But there was a lot of garbage written well before that, too, it just got consigned to the big a long time ago, and even lyrics that have survived have dubious theological value. (Try the Dies irae.(sic))
What everyone, Winters included, forgets is that music for the "new" liturgy, following the directives of the liturgy constitution, made the "full, conscious, and active participation of the faithful" the first priority. The admittedly beautful (sic) music of the baroque period was never meant to be sung by the assembly; it was music for professionals, written for a liturgy done by "professionals." It's apples and oranges.
I actually agree with Winters on this one, which is saying something. For example - this year during Advent, at the Masses I had attended at one particular parish, the music director had adapted the Memorial Acclamation, the Great Amen and the Lamb of God to the melody of a Christmas carol (I can't for the life of me remember which one - I obviously wanted to forget, and I did!). Even though it was a religious carol and not a secular one, it still sounded...kitschy. Inappropriate and grating.
Which to me describes much of the post-Vat II music. Insipid and uninspiring.
Cones' feigned outrage ("I am quite frankly shocked any Catholic would so poorly judge the faith-inspired efforts of so many dedicated Catholics with such an extreme overstatement.") is a bit overboard. Today's liturgical music production industry is a money-making scheme that will never ever need a government bailout. The fact that some churchgoers get spiritually uplifted from some of the songs is more the exception than the rule. The intention of today's music is to get people involved in a horizontal direction - doing stuff with other people during Mass - and not vertical - lifting one's soul to God and seeking the higher and the better.
To me, a prime example of this are the one or two hymns inflicted during Communion. Quiet, introspective reflection prior to receiving the Eucharist rather than belting out "One Bread, One Body" would seem to lead to greater communion with our Lord. Same thing for after reception - singing a second hymn lends more to joining in with others than deeply uniting oneself with Jesus. Who is within us at that very moment! I'm not saying that music during Communion is wrong or bad - but it ought to be more of the accompaniment variety than the exterior participation type. It ought to help us focus on Jesus Christ and His presence within us at that moment during the liturgy. Singing "I Am The Bread Of Life" (which pretty such sums up the vapidity of most post-Vat II music - Jesus is the Bread of Life, not me or you or anybody else!) pretty much obliterates that focus.
One person left a comment at Cones' post that sums it up rather nicely:
What everyone also forgets is that active participation in the music of the new liturgy doesn't have to mean the congregation singing everything either. One who meditates while listening to a well-prepared, difficult choral piece during Mass participates just as actively as one who attentively listens during the readings. It just takes more work to actively participate this way, and I think that's why many people dislike it: it's easier to sing a setting of the Gloria out of rote and say you've participated than it is to hear the choir sing it by themselves and join your own hearts with theirs.
That's the kind of active participation the Council fathers advocated and intended. I doubt many of them would qualify today's music as a great achievement of Vatican II. Quite the opposite, in my humble opinion.
