I was hunting for some critiques of Bernadette Farrell’s Mass of Hope, and ran across this discussion forum, which seem to be British, of liturgical music. This thread might be of interest to some here: the question that starts it concerns Mass settings in plainsong chant. What I would give….

And, as always, check out the "Sacred Music" blog of the Church Music Association of America which has a link to an interesting article on San Antonio seminarians who have formed a schola

Gregorian chant is the oldest Christian music for which written notes still exist, McDaniel said. It predates its sixth-century namesake, Pope Gregory the Great, who codified it. Some scholars believe it’s based on the synagogue music of Jesus’ day.

But after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the use of Gregorian chant in parish liturgical life was largely scrapped in favor of more contemporary music sung in the vernacular.

McDaniel, who grew up Baptist and first heard chant music in Anglican churches while in graduate school in England, said it started him on his journey toward Catholicism and the priesthood. But when he became a Catholic in 1995, he was surprised to discover how little it was used.

Now, after two years performing with the Schola Cantorum, he’s gratified to see how enthusiastically people respond to it, particularly young people who haven’t grown up with it.

"The response has really been quite amazing. This music speaks to many 25- and 30-year-olds. They’ve found it very beautiful and uplifting," McDaniel said.

Finally, there has been some discussion around the blogs, beginning with this post from Argent on the Tiber, about a USCCB committee entrusted with the task of evaluating music used in Catholic Masses and setting up some criteria:

The two main concerns:

*Individual songs should be consonant with Catholic teaching and free from theological error

*The repertoire of liturgical songs in any given setting should not manifest a collective bias against Catholic theological elements.

I find that last statement rather striking. Well, yeah. I guess it shouldn’t.

Whapping has a bit of commentary. LIke many, I am glad to see this, but I also agree with the commentor at some blog somewhere who highlighted a potential hazard: Because of pressure, a spare vote here or there, marginal songs getting the "okay" and from that point until eternity getting waved in our faces with the justifaction that it now has the bishop’s seal of approval. 

The work needs to be done, frankly, at the level of the hymnal publishers. There are not that many of them, and there needs to be a sit-down. I could see it actually working in a way similar to that which has happened with catechetical textbooks which must now be declared "in compliance" with the Catechism in order to be approved for use. The specific matters that bring a text out of compliance are not made public, but are between the bishops and the publishers. A similar process could happen with hymnals and misallettes: all hymnals used in Catholic churches must be "in compliance" with whatever norms they come up with. If it’s not, it may not be used in a Catholic church. If a hymnal contains music that’s not in compliance, that is between publishers and the bishops – this avoids any potential martyrdom scenarios from offended composers as well.

Oh, and the critique of the Lamb of God setting by Farrell I was looking for is below the jump:

(Arch)bishop Kelly shared the objection to the refrain of this song – in his time (as Bp of Salford) we sang "through the bread and cup we share". The objection isn’t that "it’s more than bread and wine" – the term bread in particular is entirely appropriate here, because Our Lord uses it of himself repeatedly in John 6, and this is reflected in liturgical texts and an enormous repertoire of sacred music.

The problem is with wine, isn’t it? There isn’t a parallel with the way Our Lord uses bread – no "I am the wine of life", "I am the true wine that comes from heaven", etc. (Instead in John 6 we get four references to drinking of Our Lord’s blood).

The asymmetry between the way the two words are used is curious – there’s nothing evidently different in the two eucharistic species that would make one term appropriate and the other inappropriate. But Bernadette Farrell’s refrain jars because of the improvised use of wine that doesn’t have a biblical antecedent.

Another objection I’ve heard (from a fellow member of the composers’ group) is that the refrain calls attention to us ("May we be your sign of peace") at a point in the liturgy where the focus should chiefly be on Our Lord present among us.

I’m trying to think of other liturgical texts or sacred songs that use the word ‘wine’ in connection with Our Lord’s presence in the Eucharistic species. I can’t think of any – any suggestions?

The other problem is that the text strays so far from the rite…The thread in question.