“It might be a good thing to discard this piece whose popularity is becoming unhealthy,” one early critic wrote.
Music (liturgical)
Posted inFaith, News
Remembering Ray Repp, still calling the church to song
Ray Repp was there during a great transition between the Latin Mass and the early post-Vatican II liturgy. Ray stepped in, not simply to fill a gap, but to call the church to wake up and sing.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
The Greatest Hymns of All Time (as chosen by America readers)
We asked America readers for their 10 favorite hymns of all time, as well as their favorite St. Louis Jesuit hymns, to mark the farewell concert by the St. Louis Jesuits. There was some crossover on both lists.
Posted inDispatches, Faith
The St. Louis Jesuits stage a final performance that brings up the house
“Someone once said to me that the St. Louis Jesuits wrote the spiritual soundtrack to our lives,” said John Limb, former publisher of Oregon Catholic Press, the publisher of the St. Louis Jesuits. “For those of us of a certain age, that was true.”
Posted inFaith, Short Take
How to get more people to sing at Mass: Stop adding new hymns
A supposed need for variety imposes more and more hymns on congregants, but the cost of novelty can be the full, active participation of those in the pews, writes John Zupez, S.J.
Posted inFaith, Music
Advent Playlist: Classic hymns to help you wait in hope
Last year, ‘America’ published “An (unconventional) Advent Playlist.” This is my (much more conventional) Advent playlist.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Is ‘Silent Night’ the greatest Christmas song ever?
On Christmas Eve 1818, in the church of St. Nicholas in Oberndorf near Salzburg, “Stille Nacht” (“Silent Night”) was sung for the first time. Today, the carol has been translated into some 300 languages.
Posted inFaith, Theater
Review: Leonard Bernstein’s liturgy for the world
With his “Mass,” Leonard Bernstein uses liturgy to give voice to political unease.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
“Be Not Afraid”: The song that eases the biggest transitions in—and out of—life
Bob Dufford, S.J., started writing “Be Not Afraid” when he was, well, afraid.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Want to compose new music for Mass? Learn from David Haas’s story.
David Haas gathers 132 songs from among his most widely known pieces, like “Blest Are They,” “We Are Called,” “Now We Remain” and “You Are Mine,” and others not as familiar.