In my parishes we are currently in the process of examining / choosing a Mass setting that we’ll use for the newly translated Roman Missal.
Anyone have any suggestions of good settings that they’ve come across?
Here are ones that I’ve looked at so far.
Revised Mass Settings
– Mass of Creation by Marty Haugen
– Mass of Light by David Haas
– Heritage Mass by Owen Alstott
– Mass of God’s Promise by Dan Schutte
– Missa Ubi Caritas by Bob Hurd
New Mass Settings
– CCCB Mass Setting A by Fr. Geoffrey Angeles
– CCCB Mass Setting B by John Dawson
– CCCB Mass Setting C by Michel Guimont
– Belmont Mass by Christopher Walker
In no particular order, here are a few observations:
– The revised settings are familiar and thus easier to learn (theoretically)
– The revised settings are familiar and thus easier to get confused with the older versions (theoretically)
– It seems to be really hard to compose a good setting for the new Gloria translation. The new words don’t seem to be quite as musical as they were in the older version.
– I’m tending toward preferring a refrain/verse structure for the Gloria in order to make it easier for the people to sing, at least initially.
– The Mass of Creation is easier to sing than the Mass of Light, but I find the Mass of Light easier to play. (I improvise with the guitar chords, though. The actual piano music for the Mass of Light can be challenging for some pianists.) I do love the priest parts for those two settings!
– I like the Heritage Mass.
– The Mass of God’s Promise seems ok, too, though it does add a word into the Gloria (“‘Give’ glory to God. . .”). I’d really like to stick to the translation we’ve been given as close as possible.
– Bob Hurd’s Missa Ubi Caritas is beautiful. I’m a big fan… but I’m not sure how many other people think the same way about the Latin/English hybrid nature of it.
– I really like the new setting by Fr. Angeles… and it’s not just because I studied with him in seminary. :-) I do note that it can be a bit challenging for people (especially the pianist) to learn, however. Also, two of my parishes do not have a piano.
– I really like the Belmont Mass Gloria, which has more of a chant style. It seems easy to learn and sing and has a noble simplicity to it.
What are your thoughts?
I appreciate that the new Canadian settings care available as MP3s from the CCCB Publications page you linked to. That’s really handy.
And I say Geoffrey’s is best, because he’s nice. I don’t know the others, so therefore they must be jerks. I don’t support jerks. ;-)
That’s my full review. Feel free to quote me. Or don’t, and then I might not get fired. (PS: Fr David is my hero. He’s even nicer than Geoffrey.)
I have just discovered the Mass of Christ the Saviour – Dan Schutte – this is a beautiful melody and the Gloria is the best I have found. All the mass parts of this setting are musical and don’t have any strange notes which make it hard for singers to pick up and they have not tried to fit too many words in. Try this one.
I’ve been a liturgical guitarist for more than 45 years. I’ve been through lots of Mass settings. Stick with the Mass of Creation. It’s familiar, it’s easy, and it’s beautiful.