PANEL decisions

[Eastern Promise]

Isn't it a relief that the Liturgy Office don't adjudicate on matters of good taste? Pheeeww!

[Peter Jones]

http://www.romanmissal.org.uk/Home/Music/Published-Music-Settings

Apart from the addition of some items to the Concept Catalogue and…

Phillip Pennington Harris
Chaconne Mass
Congregation, Cantor, Choir, Keyboard
Lord, have mercy, Gloria, Eucharistic Acclamations, Lamb of God

I don't see much change. following the resumption of panel meetings after the summer. We are aware that NT is stalled at the (lack of) appeal procress. The rumour that KM Publishing is refusing to take part persists. Is the McCrimmon material stuck with ICEL? (I note that McCrimmon are advertising Dom Gregory Murray NPM as a single item, adapted to the new texts, but why are they still advertising settings of texts we have now abandoned? For Anglican use?)

[Nick Baty]

Is the McCrimmon material stuck with ICEL?

The McCrimmons collection is now available. Presumably they have not yet sent voucher copies to the Liturgy Office or have opted not to be included in the list.

[NorthernTenor]

I don't see much change following the resumption of panel meetings after the summer. We are aware that NT is stalled at the (lack of) appeal procress.

Yes, indeed. It is now over 4 months since Martin Foster told me he was going to discuss the matter of appeals with Bishop Hopes in order to work out the when and who; more than 3 months since Bishop Hopes said he would pass the problem on up the line; and about a month and half since Mr. Foster told me he still hadn't really thought about the detail of an appeal process. The latter was also the occasion on which I was promised copies of the Composers' Guide and Process Terms of Reference as orginally authorised, so that I could compare them with how they are now (he did admit to having added some unspecified 'clarifications'). Alas, they are yet to arrive.

Add to this maladministration the contradictions between 'Purpose' and 'Principles' in the Terms of Reference; the lack of accountability of the anonymous Panel; the use of the Process to change the Composers' Guide from inchoate guide to rule book, hedged about by a body of case law to be pored over and interpreted by the Liturgy Office, Panel, composers, publishers and their lawyers: and we have a tragic farce on our hands, that cries out for something simpler, fairer, more predictable and better administered. Who knows - the Liturgy Office may then be able to get back to the job of encouraging and engaging with composers.

[NorthernTenor]

... and to anyone with an interest in this dreary saga, I'm not going away any time soon, and the longer it takes to get a reasonable response (any response!) the further the ratchet wheel will turn. For what it's worth, my impression of ecclesiatical bureaucracy is that the incompetent and maladroit can get away with it to a surprising degree, but only so far.

[Peter Jones]

The McCrimmons collection is now available.

Ah! So it is. Link on the McCrimmons home page of their website.

[Nick Baty]

My copy has just landed. The editor, Catherine Christmas, is not credited although she is acknowledged as the typesetter!

Some strange copyright acknowledgements of the text: some Holys are ICEL 2010 while another is ICET 1970 (alt.). Interesting!

[Southern Comfort]

The McCrimmon supplement was available on Wednesday....

I hear that the Laudate full music supplement, having been out of print, is once again available. It appears to have its own quote of misprints, in the tradition of its "mother book". I suspect that all the publishers have been working in one heck of a hurry, hence the errors (such as the acknowledgements that Nick mentions), because of the massive slowing-down caused by the Panel process (let's get back on topic!).

I have not encountered a single copy of Glory to God anywhere yet.

The Psallite Mass appears to be flying off the shelves, as are the Bakhita Acclamations. Both are available in the McCrimmon supplement, though the full Psallite Mass contains much else apart from what McCrimmon have included.

[Nick Baty]

I hear that the Laudate full music supplement, having been out of print, is once again available.

22 copies here if anyone wants one!

I have not encountered a single copy of Glory to God anywhere yet.

And have two of those left over from recent workshops!

[Peter Jones]

My copy has just landed.

I have ordered mine now.

[Alan]

The McCrimmon supplement was available on Wednesday....

I hear that the Laudate full music supplement, having been out of print, is once again available. It appears to have its own quote of misprints, in the tradition of its "mother book". I suspect that all the publishers have been working in one heck of a hurry, hence the errors (such as the acknowledgements that Nick mentions), because of the massive slowing-down caused by the Panel process (let's get back on topic!).

I have not encountered a single copy of Glory to God anywhere yet.

The Psallite Mass appears to be flying off the shelves, as are the Bakhita Acclamations. Both are available in the McCrimmon supplement, though the full Psallite Mass contains much else apart from what McCrimmon have included.

Despite the Panel process, the publishers have been doing their best to satisfy an ever-increasing demand for new and (to a certain extent) revised settings, as people begin to realise the drastic nature of the changes. The Laudate supplement was out of print, of course, because the first print run sold out. I am sorry that SC hasn't yet encountered 'Glory to God'; that too is probably because the first print run sold out (in one month!) and the reprint continues to sell apace. Places to encounter it include the Decani website, St Paul's Multimedia, and Amazon. Mind you, the only copy of the Psallite Mass that I have seen is the one that Catherine kindly sent me, yet we know, from workshop leaders and publishers, that copies of all this new music are out there in large numbers. Perhaps we could persuade Tesco to stock liturgical music - every little helps.

I, too, have ordered my copies of the McCrimmons supplement. It is good to see some 'new' composers represented, though (and here I am open to correction) I don't think I see any through-settings of the Gloria here, which is a pity.

Finally, it is good to see that the Liturgy Office has hived the new Missal stuff off to a separate website. It is now much easier to find the Composers' Guide and the ever-growing list of approved settings.

[Peter Jones]

Places to encounter it include ......... St Paul's Multimedia......

I think your satnav is out of date there Alan. The Corporation Street emporium closed years ago and the Multimedia title was erased as the brothers took over from the sisters. I think you mean St Paul's Bookshops at SW1P 1EP; YO1 8BH; B4 6ET; LS2 3AG; LS6 2BX.

[Peter Jones]

I don't think I see any through-settings of the Gloria here, which is a pity.

Psallite is through-set but I too am surprised to see that the McCrimmon Supplement has no other through-set Gloria, especially as our Bishops are recommending parishes should have both refrain and through-settings in their repertoires. (Composers' Guide) [I should say that this is not at all a moan that my own through-setting does not appear in this supplement. I did not offer it because firstly, it's already in Laudate and Glory to God and secondly, I thought that Dom AGM's pre-1973 New People's Mass Gloria would (with the very slight adaptations needed for the new text) be included. However, McCrimmons have published that as a separate octavo.]

[Peter Jones]

By the way.... all three publications (Laudate supplement, Celebration supplement and Glory to God) do show that the Panel permission to publish process really is about the texts of the Missal and not about making musical judgements. Yes, the panel is sometimes making observations about music but these are just that, observations. Musical assessments are being made by editors who, in virtue of their office, cannot be members of the panel.

[Nick Baty]

I thought that Dom AGM's pre-1973 New People's Mass Gloria would (with the very slight adaptations needed for the new text) be included.

It is. M27, page 60!