Why Catholics Can't Sing
Weakland, Rembert G.
presumed similarity, at least in the author's mind, to the architectural works of Walter OFF KEY & OFF THE MARK Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and WHY CATHOLICS CAN'T SING The Culture of...
...Extraordinarily original, provoca- tive, and humorous," are Sidney Callahan's adjectives...
...Perhaps it is just "beguiling...
...But the church running out of priests and nuns...
...I wonder how Buckley meant it in this context...
...I also marvel at the beauty of some of the Polish hymns that have sur- vived here in Milwaukee, especially at funerals...
...Brilliant, funny, insightful, and very much on target," Justus George Lawler asserts...
...We did not notice it so much when, before the Second Vatican Council, our demands were fewer...
...It would seem today that fewer and fewer have had the experience in school of singing in a chorus or in a choir...
...The author sedulously presents his 'method of inquiry' and then four THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, chapters: on language and concepts...
...My experience here in the Midwest is that the quality of music and the satisfaction of the congre- gation is commensurate with the amount invested by the parish in getting the services of professional musicians who are well trained in the needs and demands of liturgy...
...My own hunch is that proofs for these and other such "brilliant" Catholics slice off a third of their donation observations...
...The current unspoken consensus among many Catholics is that men contaminated the church's musical life for a millennium and a half...
...in Religious Studies .9Theological Ethics .9Theology and Society .9Systematic Theology FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE .9Tuition Scholarships .9Teaching/Research Assistantships For information write or call: Marquette University Department of Theology Milwaukee, WI 53233 (414) 288-7170 25January1991:67...
...Our voices get lost at once...
...Have we ever done a study of the acous- tical surroundings and congregational singing...
...I need not enter into the whole question of our individualism and its cultural impli- cations that also affect worship and com- munal singing...
...As a young- ster we all knew many others that today have been forgotten, especially those by Stephen Foster...
...Other "cultural Although the central themes of the book connections" that the reader might find are never explicitly pulled together, the fol- "beguiling"--or just absurd--are also lowing statements sum up Professor Day's affirmed...
...H. Odera Oruka, Chairman The Philosophical Association of Kenya ON PROOF FOR "a laborious study.., produced a scholarly work" THE EXISTENCE "The author [in] this...followed Sri Ramakrishna --~m Maharaj s advice: 'If a single dive into the sea OF GOD, does not bring to you the pearl, do not conclude ~2" AND OTHER that the sea is without pearls...
...on logic and math- ematics...
...Unless one is Jewish, the only reply is "Happy Birthday...
...When budgets have to be tight- ened, music is the first to suffer, then comes the library, finally sports...
...What is the relationship between taste and congregational singing...
...Other churches seem to lend themselves to good singing...
...Let me cite some "beguiling" statements from the book...
...African-Americans still seem to know many songs that are part of their culture...
...That might be true but is not a convincing response, since people will sing other pieces if they like them, even if the range is almost impossible...
...He rightly complains that such weather...
...On a subcon- our past musical church culture here in the scious level, the music says that there is U.S.----observations valid at least on the nothing special or distinctive or 'heroic' East Coast...
...Music (and at times litur- gy) in church has become the domain of amateurs...
...One often says it is because of the high range of the second part of the piece...
...It is sad that he does not recognize assumption by Professor Day: "Why is the this same fault in his own writing...
...Other denominations seemed to have been able to do this in the past even without schools of their own...
...10101 25 January 1991:65 it sounds as if they are in a Catholic church...
...The writer has D used his.., prowess and training in producing C a book [that] will be a great addition to any m BY PAUL VJECSNER library and serve as a reference book for any ITI Oo serious student in the pursuit of his academic career" Dharma, Kuala Lumpur 264 pages, 85 diagrams, index, cloth bound, $20.00 ISBN 0-9619519-0-7 Send order for"Reflective Inquiries"to PENDEN, P.O...
...So, for example, the musical position as far as I am able to judge...
...Brilliant," Andrew Greeley calls it...
...Countless are REFLECTIVE Z INQUIRIES the pearls hidden in the sea...
...is more circumspect: "(Day) asks important ques- tions, and gives beguiling answers...
...Thus, I am convinced that the book telling us why Catholics don't sing has yet to be written...
...Most of these songs are also restricted to Christmas themes...
...What songs does one sing at home for special occasions...
...We do not have the repertoire that everyone learns as a child, songs that go with impor- tant ritual events of the year...
...style of the St...
...William E Buckley, Jr...
...Rembert G. Weakland he blurbs on the jacket of this book are meant to prepare one for the extraordinary contents it will hold...
...Certain pieces, too, should be restricted to the season for which they were written...
...Why are there no standard hymns that all Catholic children must learn from the cra- dle on...
...in Theology AREAS OF STUDY .9 Biblical Theology .9 Historical Theology .9Ph.D...
...What should those religious reper- toires look like and how do we keep them alive...
...Have we become a pas- sive people when we are together, even in church, and expect others to provide for us...
...What standard repertoire is taught----or should be taught in our Catholic schools...
...We will gather, however, around the piano and sing old favorites if the occasion is right...
...And on the scarcity of vocations overamplified bellowing by cantors is pre- to the priesthood and religious life, all cisely what happens during so many litur- vocation directors should take note of this gies...
...After reflecting on the numer- ous unsubstantiated observations in Professor Day's book and after pondering why so many obvious questions and factors are omitted, I believe, in honesty, I would have to call his attempt, not humorous, but insulting, not brilliant, but biased...
...Our vast cavernous churches do not lend themselves to communal singing...
...Some comes to music, all too often the semi- good practical suggestions are given there...
...about the religious life...
...On college campuses, one finds that no one sings the college anthem either...
...And I am fascinated" Prof...
...presumed similarity, at least in the author's mind, to the architectural works of Walter OFF KEY & OFF THE MARK Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and WHY CATHOLICS CAN'T SING The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste Thomas Day Crossroad, $19.95, 183 pp...
...Do we come to church to be entertained as if we were home in front of the screen...
...It is not good to sing the Paschal "Alleluia" every day, when it should be the high point of the Easter Vigil liturgy...
...i 7 THEOLOGY UNIVERSITY For more than 25 years, Marquette University has provided a tradition of excellence in graduate theology for lay men and women, clergy and religious...
...Finally, the quality of church music, both in what is sung and how it is sung, will depend on our willingness to pay profes- sionals to lead us...
...I still cannot believe that Professor Day expects these remarks to be taken seriously, but these are but samples of a whole book full of non sequiturs...
...I sense that we, as congregations, are being fed far too much new music, more than we can pos- sibly learn...
...Box 464, New York, N.Y...
...whenever the priest begins Mass with Throughout the book Professor Day 'Good morning,' and two-thirds if he screams at the reader at the highest decibel begins with jokes and remarks about the possible...
...But what are the old favorites for the present younger generation...
...and finally on the existence of God" REFLECTIVE INQUIRIES "exercises of erudition, acumen, and reasoning skill" Thought, Fordham University PAUL VJECSNER "wonderful book" "1 have.., read much in Chap- ter IV dealing with God...
...Could not the choir part vary but that of the congregation stay the same for each Sunday...
...Why, for example, do we have to change the antiphon that accompanies the respon- sorial psalm every Sunday in Lent or in Advent...
...Committed to scholarship and dialogue within American Catholic theology, Marquette offers a diverse faculty nationally recognized in theological research...
...How often can a repertory change to be effectively learned...
...When it worthwhile advice in the appendix...
...One hears oneself but also is sustained by one's neighbor...
...We note, for example, that the quality of music sung by charismatic prayer groups is worse than that sung at official services in our churches, but these people do sing, regardless of how we might judge the qual- ity of the music...
...Louis Jesuits, the Dameans, First, he rebels against the theory that and the Weston monks is pejoratively there is a relationship between participation labeled the "Bauhaus" style becase of its of the faithful in song and the building up ON PROOF FOR "a painstaking effort...
...PROGRAMS .9M.A...
...This is a dif- ficult question for which there is no easy answer without deeper study and research...
...The first definition in my Webster for "beguil- ing" is"deceiving...
...naries, convents, and monasteries take At the beginning, too, there are some useful careful aim and then deliberately shoot observations about the Irish influence in themselves in the foot...
...The bad music that has infiltrated the Catholic church in our day, he states, is a feminist takeover: "If parishes want to send strong signals about the 'new' importance of women, they frequently think they have to do it by avoiding music which originated in the days when men controlled worship...
...Greeley and William McManus (see Catholic Contributions, Thomas More Press) will be delighted to know that Professor Day---in an incredibly naive pas- sage for which no proof is available--has found the cause behind the drop in Catholic giving in these last decades: "It is entirely possible that a significant number of Catholic laypeople are dropping pennies into the collection basket, instead of dollars, Le Corbusier...
...One of the lessons we have all learned from Andrew Greeley is the need to sub- stantiate our hunches by solid statistical and holding back on their singing because information, if they are to be taken seri- they resent being treated like tiny tots when ously...
...reader who is willing to wear earplugs and There are hundreds of reasons and a small persevere till the end will find a morsel of but significant one is music...
...The range there poses no problem...
...on self, AND OTHER mind, and external reality...
...How much have we in our culture been influenced by TV...
...Professor Day does not offer any they attend Mass...
Vol. 118 • January 1991 • No. 2
