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Category Archives: Music
Hamilton On The Stream
My wife thought it was going to be a film, but instead disney+ presents a streaming collage of a number of performances from the Hamilton original cast captured in mid-2016, when the excitement and hype over Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical was at … Continue reading
Posted in Music, television
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The Armchair Liturgist: Pandemic Gloria
Looking to a return to Mass in public, we are getting the first guidance for parish worship from our bishops in Washington state. I dreamed last night that people in the hundreds crashed our “private” livestream recording. It was tense. … Continue reading
Posted in Liturgy, Music, The Armchair Liturgist
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A Man For This Season
If I were a movie producer, one project upon which I would embark is a remake of a film acknowledged to be dreadful. I was deeply moved to see a community theatre production of this many years ago. Only recently … Continue reading
Posted in Music
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The Empty Church Sessions
For the moment, I’ll hold off on the political posts on my fb page and let some music stay at the top of the heap. If you happen to be on fb, then you can sign on and check out … Continue reading
Posted in Music
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Picky
One of my musicians shared a few of his picks with me a few years ago. As we guitarists get older, it can be a handful to hold on to them while playing. In this time of pandemic, my fingertips … Continue reading
Posted in Music
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On One World
I caught part of the second half of the tv fundraiser One World: Together at Home this past weekend. I read that over a hundred million was raised for virus relief. That’s a good thing. The young miss was disappointed … Continue reading
Posted in Music, television
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The Role of the Choir
Fr Anthony Ruff posts a comment-worthy essay at PrayTell here. I offered a few brief comments there. But the whole piece sparked some personal reflection on my part. My parish’s music ministry has hit the winter doldrums. It could be … Continue reading
Posted in Liturgy, Music
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Singing The Last Song
A parishioner approached me Saturday night, upset. Some preaching was needed from the pulpit, I was told. The message? People should stay to sing all of the last song. My friend said the departure of people should coincide with the … Continue reading
Animators
Pope Francis speaking to the Third International Meeting of Choirs this past Saturday: You are the musical animators of the whole congregation. Don’t take its place, depriving the people of God of the chance to sing with you and bear … Continue reading
La Guadalupana
One of my favorite story songs for this week’s feast. Plus, “Arrest and Separation” by Arturo Cambron:
Posted in Art, Music
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Scramble For Christmas Programming
I don’t usually gossip about current parishes. But it’s going to be an interesting one this year, halfway through construction with lots of distractions on the side. It’s hard to believe that tomorrow night will be the second-last full rehearsal … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Liturgy, Music, Parish Life
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Choir Road Trip
My singers like to hit the road for musical events. The archdiocesan NPM chapter hosted parishes at a Seattle parish last week. Our two pieces are here. Hopefully the social media link is working. One of my people pointed out … Continue reading
Ang Katawan Ni Kristo
Thanksgiving programming is often fun for a music director. One trap missalette publishers and the USCCB fall into is their same set of readings year after year. Over a decade ago, I promoted cycling through a different set of readings … Continue reading
Posted in Liturgy, Music
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Singing The Mass: What Does It Mean?
In the good ol’ days (the 1980s), singing the Mass was something of a movement. Church musicians were encouraged to look beyond our pre-conciliar inheritance, the four-hymn sandwich. More parishes were singing the Psalm after the first reading. Mass settings … Continue reading
Posted in Liturgy, Music
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Derision
One of the last music reading sessions I attended a couple seated next to me punctuated sight-singing with comments of ridicule and not-so-stifled laughter. Most octavos had “NIMP” scribbled in big letters. In two hours, I found one or two … Continue reading →