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Views from the Choir Loft

Dan Schutte’s “Missa My Little Pony” (2nd Part)

Jeff Ostrowski · August 27, 2014

916 Dan Schutte Mass PDF N FEBRUARY, I asked if anyone else was uncomfortable with Dan Schutte’s “Mass of Christ the Savior” (2010)—which appears to be written in a secular style. 1 Here’s a brief recording showing Schutte’s melody (taken from YouTube) against the My Little Pony theme:

      * *  Missa “My Little Pony” — Mp3 (0:29)

My original article was shared on Facebook 4,000 times, generated a surprising amount of hate mail, and was discussed on several radio shows.

A number of commenters said Schutte’s melody didn’t resemble the Pony theme. This assertion seems to have irritated one of my former students, who recently sent me a recording mixing both melodies:

      * *  Mp3 Audio File — Schutte’s Mass of Christ the Savior mixed w/ Pony Theme

Some might object to mixing the Sacred Mass texts with a secular Pony Song.

I agree … AND THAT IS PRECISELY MY POINT.

Having suffered greatly as a child due to trite & banal Church music, this is a subject I take very, very seriously.

I DO NOT SUPPORT THE USE of secular musical styles during Mass. We’ve discussed this many times on this blog (e.g. here). I’ve also subtly included this in the fourth item of “Five Questions No Liturgist Can Answer” (URL). Leaving aside the question of musical style for a moment, many wonder how this Mass received USCCB approval, since it mangles the official text. My short answer would be: “I haven’t the faintest idea.”

If you’re seeking alternatives to the Schutte Mass, you might want to look at some of these settings, which were composed in a more Sacred style.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The priest who discovered this Schutte/Pony similarity is currently Liturgy Director for a major Archdiocese in the United States. It was sent to me via email “chain letter.” Until I got his email, I had never heard Schutte’s Mass setting.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Dan Schutte Mass of Christ the Savior, Missa My Little Pony Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
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    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
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    We were mentioned in article in an article by “The Times” (United Kingdom), as you can see here.
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“Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another… It teaches that all are to be tolerated, for all are matters of opinion. Revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste; not an objective fact, not miraculous; and it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy. […] Men may go to Protestant Churches and to Catholic, may get good from both and belong to neither.”

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