Most of us on here would argue that there shouldn't be a Mass with no music because there are some items which, of their nature, will always be sung.
Weekday Mass?
Only one reading, no Gloria but there is still the psalm and Gospel preceeded by the Alleluia. If I am reading then I sing the simple Easter Alleluia - not because I don't know any other setting but because I expect everyone else to know it. However, I have never sung the psalm. It has taken 6, 7 or 8 years but I was delighted when another reader also started singing the simple setting.
Can't speak for other parishes, but our weekday Masses always have Alleluia and Eucharistic Acclamations. But, no, the psalm is not sung. It's not planned – PP simply pipes up with which ever Holy comes to mind. Still – that's Column 1 of Singing the Mass covered.
Nick Baty wrote:Can't speak for other parishes, but our weekday Masses always have Alleluia and Eucharistic Acclamations. But, no, the psalm is not sung. It's not planned – PP simply pipes up with which ever Holy comes to mind. Still – that's Column 1 of Singing the Mass covered.
We always have a sung Gospel Acclamation on weekdays - usually the simple plainsong (is it tone vi...?) either led by PP or the reader. In Lent, we always use on Sundays the setting in the Mayhew book of Gospel Acclamations, with through-composed verses. PP and most readers know the response and sing it on weekdays, but either with a spoken verse, or one or two readers use a simple psalm tone.
On greater feast days, if I am available, I play at daily mass and we sing a congregational Ordinary.
For the last four years we have taken four Sundays off for August, -came back on 31st last year. I don't like having no music, but I bowed to pressure from choir and musicians. But I always appreciate the music in other parishes if we are away and I believe we should keep something going, so... this year, encouraged not least by discussions on this board, I took a gamble and decided that we would sing the parts of the Mass we usually sing, but with no accompaniment and no hymns.
We sang the Lecot Lourdes Gloria:' Gloria in excelsis Deo' refrain plus straight words chant 'verses' and the congregation sang out and three of us sang the refrain descant. We sang the psalm, Easter plainchant Gospel Acc, Celtic Holy (straight words again), Amen, and my own melody for Lamb of God, so that all the words were in the Mass booklets. We may add a Communion chant and a verse of something like Seek ye first as an entrance antiphon next week. I think it worked. Everyone was singing. We will have the full works for the Assumption, but it gives us a couple of Sundays effectively 'off' from choosing hymns, providing lists and sheets, carrying and tuning instruments, putting up and taking down numbers, distributing hymnbooks etc. Most of all, it's all catechesis, as our old PP, who is filling in next week, frequently said. People see and hear that singing the Mass is the important thing.
One thing that always worries me about not singing some things at holiday times is that someone may say "why do we need to sing that the rest of the time then?" and a carefully built-up tradition will be lost.......
Then keep singing them. VML has continued with all the most important bits, plus a few more!
I ended up being forced to take last Sunday off - first since the end of October – because of the dreaded fluey, lurgy, black death thing. A few last minute alterations had to be made but all the vital bits still went ahead.
