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Views from the Choir Loft

Liturgy Gone Wild

Jeff Ostrowski · April 30, 2015

851 Peace Love Music ANY OF MY FRIENDS in college subscribed to the worldview put forward by our secular university, which asserted that: having multiple sexual partners is fine; Humanae Vitae was dead wrong about artificial contraception; getting drunk is perfectly normal; and so forth. I cannot remember anyone in college standing up for morality as taught by the Catholic Church. I often saw a tinge of sadness 1 behind my friends’ eyes. It turns out—when all is said and done—the human heart desires more than that secular worldview can offer. The human heart—it turns out—craves lifelong unity with a loving partner through the Sacrament of Marriage. However, when this assertion is presented to college students at secular universities, the one making it is usually mocked.

I BRING THIS UP BECAUSE I’ve noticed something about progressive liturgists. They are never happy. The liturgy was radically changed in the 1960s, far beyond what was mandated by the Council. Churches everywhere have done as they pleased, disregarding liturgical law—usually through ignorance, not disobedience—even though the post-conciliar laws give tremendous freedom. Yet, progressive liturgists spend all their time demanding more “renewal,” more “freedom for ritual diversity,” and so forth. They denigrate 2 tiny minorities in the Church, such as those who take advantage of the provisions of Summorum Pontificum, and say horrible things about bishops & cardinals who offer Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

846 liturgy dance But when is the last time you read a scholarly article demonstrating that a song by Marty Haugen has greater musical depth than Gregorian chant? When is the last time you saw a serious journal author praising a song by the St. Louis Jesuits and making the case that such music has a richness sacred polyphony lacks? When have you seen some professor of theology writing about how it’s a good thing the Mass propers—which are 1500+ years old and almost exclusively come from Sacred Scripture—are replaced each week by lyrics by folks without any training in Sacred Theology or the field of poetic language? What, then, do they want? What is their end game? Why are they so unhappy? Why aren’t they proud of what they’ve replaced the propers with? Is it truly possible to go further than stuff like this?

For myself, I couldn’t be happier with our liturgy here in Los Angeles; and I look forward to continuing to post new music, new hymns, rehearsal techniques, and so on.

I HAVE OFTEN BEEN ACCUSED of inadequately explaining my analogies. Therefore, let me be clear. I mentioned how there’s an attitude saying “the Catholic Church is wrong about sexual morality; everything is fine as long as nobody gets hurt.” I mentioned how it is difficult to combat this notion in real life; yet the Catholic teachings are what our hearts secretly desire. Similarly, I mentioned how the “progressive” arguments from liturgists seem so powerful:

“The liturgy should be easy to understand; there’s no need for a Lingua Sacra.”

“Church music should be like a campfire sing-along; everyone should take part without any serious effort or training and have a good time singing.”

“Forget about the texts assigned by the Church; let all musicians replace these AT WILL with songs everybody likes.”

It’s hard to stand up against such arguments; I know this as well as anyone. Yet, there seems to be a message in the fact that progressives liturgists are so profoundly unhappy. I’ve never once seen an article by them giving specific examples of music they are proud of. I would suggest that very little written in the last 40 years can hold a candle to the pieces I’ve been sharing on this blog—and will continue to share—by Morales, Palestrina, and so on. I suggest that we reject the notion that the Church “got it wrong” for all those centuries.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Perhaps “emptiness” is a more accurate term.

2   They are, in fact, obsessed with the Extraordinary Form, and can’t stop attacking about it. The EF is on their minds when they wake up each morning and as they fall asleep each night.

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 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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Message from the Vice-President!
    The Vice-President of the Church Music Association of America, Dr. Horst Buchholz (who also serves as Director of Sacred Music for the Archdiocese of Detroit) sent us an email yesterday regarding the harmonizations (PDF) I composed for the Gregorian Chant psalm tones. Dr. Buchholz says: “Those settings are absolutely exquisite, as I'm used to when it comes from you. Bravo! Well done! Now, as a sequel, if you could write something for accompanying psalms in English that would be awesome.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Requesting Our Advent Eucharistic Hymn
    A young lady named Agnes wrote to us: “Dear Mr. Ostrowski, do you have the PDF score for Ave Corpus Domini set to the ADVENT melody? Last year, we sang the hymn tune “Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland” quite a bit using your contrafactum technique. My choir appreciates the Latin hymns and practice videos, especially in the ADVENT and CHRISTMAS seasons. Your recent article on Gregorian Psalm Tones is a great help to my organist brother, and reminds us of attending VESPERS years ago when we lived in California. Thank you so much for all the effort put into providing these wonderful resources!”   Agnes, if you are listening! Yes, the PDF file you desire can be downloaded for free at the Brébeuf Portal via this URL link. Thanks for writing to us!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Seven (7) Hymn Verses for November!
    In the month of November, we remember in a special way the souls in purgatory. The BRÉBEUF HYMNAL often includes text alone versions for its hymns; why is that? The short answer is: flexibility. The “text only” version allows each choirmaster to employ a myriad of melodies. For example, I recently set the English translation of “De Profúndis” with the DAVOST MELODY (PDF). We are singing this before November ends. Indeed, you can hear our volunteer singing this (in real life) if you click here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I have, on the other hand, retained several more or less traditional tunes, absolutely valueless and without merit from a musical point of view, but which seem to have become a necessity if a book is to appeal—as I hope this one will—to the varied needs of various churches.”

— A. Edmonds Tozer (1905)

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