Holy, holy, holy Lord
God of power, God of might . . .
The words to composer Marty Haugen’s “Mass of Creation” are so familiar that nearly all Catholics can sing along to them.
But within a few years, those lyrics likely will be obsolete, and so may the popular Mass setting.
The new translation of the Mass text approved by the U.S. bishops in June will change the words of that eucharistic acclamation from “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might” to “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.”
Even more dramatic is the change to the Gloria, which is often sung, rather than recited, in parishes. The new version begins: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will.” The existing version starts: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.”
“It’s a whole different number of syllables,” said Bob Batastini, a longtime senior editor at GIA publications, a leading composer of liturgical music in Chicago. “If you add a note or two to adapt it, the folks in the pews will be totally confused.” [snip] The Catholic Spirit
Editor's Note: I don't know where Batastini goes to Mass, but if he accompanied me, he'd find that the folks in my pew generally miss three or four notes per line of music, anyway. I probably miss twice that many. Methinks "GIA publications" is lobbying for parishes to purchase another 500 hymnals. And I'll be discrete and not mention the "Society for a Moratorium on the Music of Haugen and Haas." Oooops!
And if a certain Pope has his way, I do believe we're all gonna be singing Gregorian Chant, anyway. No royalties on those!
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