Bringing the music up to speed for the new missal

By 
  • November 9, 2011

TORONTO - Since the translation of the Roman Missal has changed, the new texts of the people’s parts don’t fit the old music, said Bill Targett, director of the archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Formation for Discipleship.

“So new music had to be written for those parts of the Mass that are normally sung,” he said.

Upon the recommendation of the National Council for Liturgical Music, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned composers Fr. Geoffrey Angeles, John Dawson and M. Michel Guimont to prepare new musical settings for the “ordinary” parts of the Mass.

“In Toronto, parishes are asked to use those musical settings in the first year of implementation as we try to help people in the pews to more easily learn the music with these new settings,” said Targett, who has been conducting workshops with musicians about the changes in the musical settings.

With the approval of Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins, parishes in Toronto were encouraged to start using the new musical settings starting at the end of September, he said.

There will be changes to the texts of the Penitential Act, the Gloria, the Sanctus (Holy, Holy) and the Memorial Acclamations. The Kyrie, Great Amen and the Lamb of God remain unchanged.

The new musical resource designed to help parishes in the implementation of the new Mass texts is called Celebrate in Song.

For more information on the musical changes, see www.archtoronto.org/romanmissal/music.htm.

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