So where are we now

[Hare]

On a practical level, what are people planning to do in their own parishes?

Apart from the Macmillan I have not seen any other settings yet.

I am thinking of introducing the "Missal Tones" initially.

[docmattc]

Apart from the Macmillan I have not seen any other settings yet.

Have a look at some of the links on this thread Hare

[Nick Baty]

On a practical parish level, Hare, I've just put together a schedule for the next couple of years of what we're introducing and when so that we should have five well-known sets of acclamations within 18 months. For example, in Lent 2012 we're using a set of acclamations which will sound suitably "Lenten" but can have brass and choir added for the Vigil – normally I'd have used something bigger and bolder for the greater feasts.

Anything else must be put aside for now: Plans to expand the repertoire in other ways between now and September have been ditched. And perhaps that's not a bad thing. It also means that, for a while, there'll be much less for our small choir to rehearse so perhaps we'll spend the time learning more harmonies and descants for the existing repertoire. We'll see.

I'm still looking for simple acclamations for weekday Masses as the PP usually has to lead these without accompaniment. And – presuming he's not the only one – there's a gap which will need plugging if any composers are reading this.

I'm not sure how I'll approach the bereaved and wedding couples who ask for particular settings – they don't know them by name but can usually hum the Holy. A little pastoral sensitivity, perhaps.

According to the Guide for Composers, "It is expected that music may be published from 6 months prior to the first permitted use of the texts". That means that UK publishers are probably queueing as we speak for copyright clearanve – I expect we'll see quite a few things by the end of March.

[docmattc]

Were I still involved in planning music, I would introduce the new Gloria in September as a first thing. This would give it time to settle before its Advent break and be familiar enough to be remembered for Christmas. New sanctus and/or memorial acclamation could come later in the year, possibly even into advent.

There's every chance that with a new musical setting, folk won't notice that the words have changed.

[Nick Baty]

There's every chance that with a new musical setting, folk won't notice that the words have changed.

Spot on there. The music will carry the words.

But the Gloria would be way down my list as that's only sung on Sundays.
Eucharistic accs would have to come first.

[MaryR]

On a practical parish level, Hare, I've just put together a schedule for the next couple of years.....

Blimey, Nick! Do you have a life?

[Nick Baty]

But if you don't do such things, how do you get from A to B? Any teachers reading will recognise this as a scheme of work.

Like every other parish in the country, we're about to throw away most of our music. And we need to get back up to strength as soon as we can. Say we need six sets of acclamations to get through a liturgical year (yes, I know that isn't many for some, but we have fairly limited resources) we need a plan of how we're going to build these up, how we're going to hit that target.

But I thought everyone worked like this. If you fancy a new sprinkling song for the Easter Vigil 2012, you need to think about it now so you can look for places to introduce it in the later months of 2011. And Christmas 2010 was planned by looking to Christmas 2011 – if we do X now we can build up to Y next year. And so on, and so forth!

I'm a Virgo. You should see the way I store the cat food!

[Southern Comfort]

Does anyone know if the responses given by GIA are to be international or are they just for the US? And how have they managed to produce (2 Advent A) a verse which reads "In his days shall justice flourish, and great peace till the moon is no more" followed by a refrain which mangles it to "Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever"?

They are the ICEL responses, currently in use in the US. Received wisdom says that eventually these will be replaced by responses that use the actual psalm text (i.e. like the ones we have in the UK).

[Southern Comfort]

When do we have to ditch all our responsorial psalms?

Not yet. Should have those for another 3 years

Not necessarily. If Grail IV is approved for liturgical use, then it will be usable immediately, even if liturgical books containing it are not yet published. This is already the case in the US, where the bishops have approved the text but their Lectionary does not yet contain it.

[docmattc]

When do we have to ditch all our responsorial psalms?

Not yet. Should have those for another 3 years

Not necessarily. If Grail IV is approved for liturgical use, then it will be usable immediately,

Does "usable immediately" mean that current versions must no longer be used? in this case alan29 will have to ditch his psalms once Grail IV is approved. Or does "usable immediately" mean as a licit alternative option which can run in parellel with the current lectionary until the new version is published? In which case alan has another 3 years before current settings must be ditched.

[Southern Comfort]

Does "usable immediately" mean that current versions must no longer be used? in this case alan29 will have to ditch his psalms once Grail IV is approved. Or does "usable immediately" mean as a licit alternative option which can run in parellel with the current lectionary until the new version is published? In which case alan has another 3 years before current settings must be ditched.

If it happens, I think this would be concurrent for a while (but the three-year figure could be different), given that Grail IV is something like 65-70% unchanged from Grail I. It's not quite the same case as the US, where they currently have NAB for psalm verses and want to move to a different and better translation.

In the UK, composers will naturally want to use the newer texts as soon as possible so that their settings do not have built-in obsolesence, and I imagine that in many cases the adaptation to Grail IV will be quite easily accomplished.