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Views from the Choir Loft

The Anglican can dress anything up?

Andrew Leung · July 29, 2015

CTL Anglican can dress anything up ECENTLY, I came across a video on Facebook. The person who shared the video made his comment saying that “Anglican can dress anything up”. To be honest, I have a great appreciation for Anglican church music and I really enjoy listening to their boys’ choir. The video is a recording of the Choir of Hexham Abbey and the congregation singing Dan Schutte’s Here I am Lord, a song that I heard a lot growing up. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to be mean the our Anglican brothers and sisters nor to discredit their music. But can the Anglicans really dress anything up? And is it possible that one can change the nature of a song by “dressing them” up?

Let me make it clear: I have nothing against composer himself, so please don’t leave a bunch of negative comments about the composer!


First, I have to admit that the Anglicans did a great job “dressing up” the song. The boys’ choir sounded pretty good and blended, and the descant was just beautiful! The instrumentation is also very noble, none of that guitar and piano stuff. I am very impressed with that congregational singing. I don’t know if they sing like that every Sunday, but I don’t usually hear strong singing like that in Catholic churches. It almost sounds like a different piece from this when it is decorated. But still, the decorations don’t change the nature of this piece.

The text is the soul of a piece of choral music, or a song. The text is the first thing that determine whether a hymn or song is appropriate for the Liturgy. The text is the nature of a song. In the case of Liturgical Music, the texts should govern the musical settings. A decorated Here I am Lord will still have the problem of “Voice of God” as Jeff Ostrowski explained. The refrain of the song is still not poetic and going to be focusing on “me”, instead of God.

Yes, Anglicans might be able to dress anything up, but they can’t change the nature of the song. It can sound very dignified, but still not appropriate for the Mass.

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 Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    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!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

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“I am of the opinion, to be sure, that the old rite should be granted much more generously to all those who desire it. It’s impossible to see what could be dangerous or unacceptable about that. A community is calling its very being into question when it suddenly declares that what until now was its holiest and highest possession is strictly forbidden and when it makes the longing for it seem downright indecent.”

— Cardinal Ratzinger, 1997

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