Where's the Good Church Music?

I've had a category here on the blog for Bad Church Music, for the times when the dreckky songs sung at church made me run away screaming.  OK, I'm exaggerating, I never screamed, but I did leave Mass twice when the music was especially bad.  Once, when I noticed that every single song of the four songs at the Mass was written in the 1980's.  This, from a church with an unmatched legacy of 2,000 years of the most beautiful music!  The second time was when a group of aging hippies took out their guitars to strum and sing up next to the altar.  Exit stage left.  I'm not doing penance at Mass.  But now, after a memorable and  transcendent week at the Sacred Music Colloquium in Chicago, I'm inspired to seek out and publicize where the great Catholic music and worship services are in the Boston area or on TV. 

Here's the scoop:

Friday, June 27
Concert of Sacred Music, Boston -- Mission Church, the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, will host a concert of sacred music at 7:30 p.m. There will be performances by Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, a youth choir from Montreal, of works by Mauduit, Viadana, Victoria, Gabrieli, Verdi, Busto and Patenaude. The Youth Pro Musica choir will join in singing Franck's Psalm 150. The suggested donation is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and free for children under 12. For more information, call 617-666-6087.

VESPERS (Evening Prayers) FOR THE START OF THE PAULINE YEAR, on EWTN
From the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Wall, Pope Benedict XVI leads Vespers at the beginning of the Pauline Year.   90 minutes.
Sat 6/28/08 12:00 PM ET &  9 AM PT
Sat 6/28/08 4:30 PM ET &  1:30 PM PT

Friday, June 27 and Sunday, 29
Closing Events, Boston -- Holy Trinity German Church invites everyone to the final weekend of events. There will be a holy hour with silent adoration and group prayers with Father John Connolly, administrator of the parish, June 27 from 7-9 p.m. The final Masses will be held on June 29 with the Latin Mass at 9 a.m. and bilingual English and German Mass at 11 a.m., followed by adoration and a reception. For more information, call 617-426-6142 or visit www.holytrinitygerman.org.  Very sad that this church is closing.  Latin masses are becoming more common across the country, thanks to Pope Benedict, but Boston is closing the only church in the city which offers the Latin mass.  The Boston Globe wrote about the church closing a few weeks ago here.

Sunday, June 29
Solemn Evensong and Benediction, West Roxbury -- The Congregation of Saint Athanasius (Anglican use) will offer solemn evensong and Benediction on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul at Saint Theresa of Avila Parish at 5 p.m.

More events are listed here,  You can sign up for a weekly e-mail from Cardinal Sean O'Malley here.

Oh, and that transcendent music from last week?  You can hear some of it here. Breath-taking stuff.  Enjoy!

Comments

[michael Iwanowicz]

The Latin Mass (AKA - Tridentine Liturgy) is offered weekly at Mary Immaculata in Newton. And, St. Adelaide's in West Peabody begins a weekly 'latin Mass ' on June 29th.

Other parishes in Boston are looking at provding the 'Latin Mas.'

Mike

[miss kelly]

Thanks, Deacon Mike, for the info!

Last week we had both ordinary form and extraordinary form. I found that the Latin Mass is a bit rich for me for a regular diet. But the ordinary Masses were more formal and "worshipful" than the average church Mass. I prefer an ordinary Mass with more decorum, no EMs, some prayers in Latin prayer and/or Gregorian chant. And music from the choir loft or back of the church, not next to the altar.

[Ken]

Amen to this thread! I don't know why "we" "prefer" to sing the kind of things that we do - I long to have our music director choose "Holy Holy Holy" for the entrance hymn (if we can't have a proper Introit). Unfortunately, it's probably about time for the choir to drag out the tambourine for a rousing rendition of "We shall gather at the River" (and usually as a post-Communion "meditation" hymn! I never really considered the tambourine to be very meditational.) Any votes for "Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All!" ???

Thanks for keeping the faith!