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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Emotional Baggage and Changing Demographics

Richard J. Clark · December 20, 2013

E ALL HAVE EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE when it comes to liturgy. I have it. Despite it, my experiences growing up shaped and formed my faith very positively. But liturgical music is where most of my emotional baggage lies. Born in 1969, I’m part of an interesting generation. Yes, I can attest that liturgical music in the 1970s was just as bad as you have read about.

I have often told the story that as a boy of eight or nine, I was exasperated with the music at mass. (This was independent of style and pertained to the issue of competence.) I remember like it was yesterday saying to myself that “to be a church musician had to be the lowest musical aspiration possible.” Of course, such irony that has unfolded since! I told this very story to Dr. William Mahrt and he responded immediately with his wonderful smile, “It is the HIGHEST!” Dr. Mahrt is right.

So, here I confess my emotional baggage: the embarrassment that surrounded Roman Catholic liturgical music. Yet this embarrassment (my personal issue) has been catalyst to a career in Roman Catholic Sacred Music. As a child who was studying piano and clarinet, played classical music but also loved pop and rock music (my apologies to Dr. Kwasniewski), I was well aware of the utter incompetence I was hearing on Sundays, regardless of style, as it varied. As you can tell, I am still pretty upset about it. (I still seem to be carrying this baggage around. Perhaps, I should let it go.)

UT AS A CHILD, I also had no frame of reference. I was blissfully unaware of the historic and sometimes traumatic changes the Church was going through. I was ignorant of the parish’s particular resources during an uncertain time. I was ignorant of the great effort and spirit put forth by the very musicians who were stretched terribly thin to cover a dozen liturgies on a Sunday, several in a gymnasium. But my intuition and my ears told me something was greatly amiss for mass! Luckily, I was surrounded by great priests and wonderful Ursuline Nuns who guided my formation. This was not to be taken for granted, but it also guided my sense that something was lacking in our sacred song.

But here is where I must be mindful. My personal experiences and my emotional baggage is not the same as others. In fact many make this very mistake: that what we think and we feel about liturgy is shared and understood by others. I assure you, it is not.

(I beg your patience as here is more of my emotional personal baggage on display: I hate the terms “contemporary” and “traditional” as they are applied to sacred music and liturgy. Ironically, “contemporary” music is no longer contemporary. Many forget the prevailing popular music in the last two decades has been hip-hop. As a guy who “rocked out” in the 1980s, I am a dinosaur. Yet, this is the musical style that is called “contemporary” in the Catholic Church. It ceases to be with each passing year. Furthermore, there is traditional music of all styles. This is not a critique of musical style, but of language. )

O AS TIME MOVES ON, SO DO THE GENERATIONS. I have come to terms that I am thoroughly middle-aged, like it or not. But it gives me an interesting vantage point. I’m slightly younger than those who came of age in the 1960s while old enough to be connected with many who grew up in the pre-conciliar world. I am also young enough to appreciate a new generation reclaiming our traditions and join their cause!

And why should Millennials not reclaim the traditions? Previous generations forfeited them (Oops, there goes my emotional baggage again.) What a middle-aged man like myself and the Millennial generation share in common is a starvation for the spiritual substance of our lost traditions because this starvation spanned fifty years and continues today in most parishes. (This is not to say that other spiritual needs are not being met.) Perhaps for Millennials, a lack of proximity to the older generation allows them greater freedom to decide for themselves whether or not to seek reverence, transcendence, and tradition. I can’t speak for them, but with distance perhaps comes greater clarity.

Furthermore, as a musician who ministers to a great number of college students in various settings, I find it relatively more difficult now to get young congregations to sing “contemporary” music (of the 1980s and 1990s) than perhaps a decade ago. (Remember, I’m a Berklee graduate and very comfortable playing and directing various styles.) But regardless of their musical or liturgical preferences, college students are incontrovertibly the most reverent demographic that I observe. Why is this? I don’t know, and I find its implications fascinating.

HE GOOD NEWS is there are a lot of young people attending mass. Most are not interested one bit in the “liturgy wars.” But they are interested in prayer. Very interested. For those of us responsible in ministering to them, we should be mindful and loving when sharing our faith with them. As they make their own way in the world—let us have them remember how much we love our God, each other, and our faith. Likewise, we are fortified by their faith. This will shape our young people as best as possible. They will decide for themselves.

Meanwhile, I pray my personal biases and baggage won’t get in the way, even if I keep writing about them.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Latin Liturgy Association
    We note with pleasure that Mrs. Regina Morris, president of the Latin Liturgy Association, has featured—on page 4 of Volume CXXIX of their official newsletter—the three (3) terrific versions of the Stations of the Cross found in the Brébeuf Hymnal. One of the main authors for the blog of the Church Music Association of America said (6/10/2019) about this pew book: “It is such a fantastic hymnal that it deserves to be in the pews of every Catholic church.”
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Music List” • 28th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 12 October 2025, which is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the dazzling feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Offertory” for this Sunday
    This coming Sunday, 12 October 2025, is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). Its OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (PDF) is gorgeous, and comes from the book of Esther, as did the ENTRANCE CHANT last Sunday. Depending on a variety of factors, various hand-missals (all with Imprimatur) translate this passage differently. For instance, “príncipis” can be rendered: King; Prince; Lion; or Fierce lord. None is “more correct” than another. It depends on which source text is chosen and what each translator wants to emphasize. All these pieces of plainsong are conveniently stored at the blue-ribbon feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

St Ambrose had to be “corrected” by Pope Urban VIII. The ‘Iste confessor’ was greatly altered and the hymn for the Dedication of a Church—which no one ought to have touched—was in fact completely recast in a new meter. Singular demand, made by the taste of that particular epoch!

— Re: The hymn revisions of Pope Urban VIII (d. 1644)

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