Please correct me if I'm wrong ...

[johnquinn39]

Is it true that young people do not like the organ and choral music

Is it true that young people do not like (the music of) The Thomas More Group, Marty Haugen, David Haas and Bernadette Farrell

Is it true that truth decays

Is it true that there is plenty of time

????

[festivaltrumpet]

Is it true that young people do not like the organ and choral music

Is it true that young people do not like (the music of) The Thomas More Group, Marty Haugen, David Haas and Bernadette Farrell

It is undoubtedly true that one cannot define "young people" collectively as a homogeneous grouping with identical tastes. Why does this reoccur as a topic whereas we rarely if ever hear that "old people do not like style X" or "middle aged people like style Y"?

If one wishes to get a feel for the type of music which may be appreciated, one has to ask individuals. Prior to that however, those individuals must have been exposed to a variety of types of music which have been well executed. If a "young person" has never heard Tallis (or Haas, Farrell, Chant, Kendrick...) sung well, how does he or she know whether he or she likes it?

[johnquinn39]

If one wishes to get a feel for the type of music which may be appreciated, one has to ask individuals. Prior to that however, those individuals must have been exposed to a variety of types of music which have been well executed. If a "young person" has never heard Tallis (or Haas, Farrell, Chant, Kendrick...) sung well, how does he or she know whether he or she likes it?

Quite. But if young people have been told that they 'do not like' the above, is there a danger that they might believe it?

[Nick Baty]

Sounds as though you have an itch to scratch!

You can usually tell what they like by the looks on their faces and the gusto (or lack of) with which they sing.

The youngsters in our parish are exposed to Farrell, Inwood, Haugen, Tamblyn, Walsh, Huijbers, Walker, Bach, Mozart and far too much Baty. There's no discernible change in attitude from one composer/style/genre to another although you can see them become enthusiastic about particular items.

But aren't we all like that? I'll happily sing Missa Cum Jubilo but groan inwardly when Missa de Angelis is wheeled our again. And I'd love someone to attempt an analysis of me from my iTunes and Spotify play lists.

[johnquinn39]

[quote="Nick Baty"]Sounds as though you have an itch to scratch!

You can usually tell what they like by the looks on their faces and the gusto (or lack of) with which they sing.

The youngsters in our parish are exposed to Farrell, Inwood, Haugen, Tamblyn, Walsh, Huijbers, Walker, Bach, Mozart and far too much Baty. There's no discernible change in attitude from one composer/style/genre to another although you can see them become enthusiastic about particular items.

OK - let's scratch the itch. The yougsters in my archdiocese, in my view - and again - please correct me if I am wrong - are ignorant of the above, and (as far as I know) have been exposed to only one genre - CCM / happy clappy (I have nothing against this genre). They do not really sing, although they sometimes join in with the hand claps.

How can they become enthusiastic about what they have never heard?

I am not being ageist - but why are RC 'young people' so bloody old?

[lesley wright]

Our young people specifically asked for, in their Confirmation service:
Marty Haugen's 'All are welcome'
Paul Wellicome's 'Send forth your Spirit, Lord'
Paul Inwood's 'Gathering Mass'
and sang all of these things with great gusto. But equally they will sing 'Now thank we all our God' and 'All people that on earth do dwell' with gusto. We haven't the resources to do Motets but my feeling is that the tastes of young people aren't that different from the tastes of senior citizens like myself - whatever it is, provided it's (a) appropriate and (b) sufficiently well performed, some people will love it and others will simply tolerate it. Provided there isn't a large percentage who think what we do is dreadful, I don't see that we can hope for better.
And as for time . . . well, isn't that God's business?

[johnquinn39]

Our young people specifically asked for, in their Confirmation service:
Marty Haugen's 'All are welcome'
Paul Wellicome's 'Send forth your Spirit, Lord'
Paul Inwood's 'Gathering Mass'
and sang all of these things with great gusto. But equally they will sing 'Now thank we all our God' and 'All people that on earth do dwell' with gusto. We haven't the resources to do Motets but my feeling is that the tastes of young people aren't that different from the tastes of senior citizens like myself - whatever it is, provided it's (a) appropriate and (b) sufficiently well performed, some people will love it and others will simply tolerate it. Provided there isn't a large percentage who think what we do is dreadful, I don't see that we can hope for better.
And as for time . . . well, isn't that God's business?

-This is good to hear. But if young poeple have not heard the above, they are hardly going to ask for it.

[festivaltrumpet]

But if young people have been told that they 'do not like' the above, is there a danger that they might believe it?

There is, but it is the nature of young people to rebel, telling them that they 'do not like it' might in fact persuade some to investigate it purely to be contrary!

[Nick Baty]

The yougsters in my archdiocese, in my view - and again - please correct me if I am wrong - are ignorant of the above...

OK, it's possible but I suspect you're still itching. Surely you couldn't make a statement like this unless you'd surveyed every parish in your archdiocese.

[johnquinn39]

The yougsters in my archdiocese, in my view - and again - please correct me if I am wrong - are ignorant of the above...

OK, it's possible but I suspect you're still itching. Surely you couldn't make a statement like this unless you'd surveyed every parish in your archdiocese.

You're quite right Nick. I sit corrected.
I'll say nothing else on this matter.

John

[Nick Baty]

Well I wasn't trying to silence you.

I'm just saying that all we can do is what we do in our parishes and hope it catches – if it's good it will. (Although I'll admit that Colours of Day caught on like a particularly virulent strain of syphilis!).

I've been involved with organising workshops for musicians in our diocese over the last five years. All we could ever do is offer what we had. We couldn't ensure that parishes took on board anything we offered them. We just hoped they might start thinking about what they sang and, most importantly, why.