Nope, can’t sing that

Larry has found a music professor’s nice explanation of why congregations enjoy singing square old hymns more than newer and rhythmically more complicated compositions.
(via Victor)

6 comments

  3. PLUS – all that stuff is in “Why Catholics Can’t Sing” by Thomas Day.
    To quote the Cranky Professor:
    “Hrmfp!”

  4. Right, John, but the book came out five years (1992) after that article (1987). I think you let me borrow “WCCS” about 9 or 10 years ago — thanks again!

  5. sounds about right; the “Modern” hymns are unsingable because they are not based on the musical experience of those trying to sing.
    reyes rule of a good hymn is: If you hear the drunks singing it, it’s a good hymn…
    the Star spangled banner was a tavern song…and many of Wesley’s greatest hymns were similarly set to songs sung in taverns.
    the “modern” hymns are not based on what we hear on our radios, but written by professional liturgists, not musicians. (shoot Father Deiss and that would be a good start). We need musicians to write hymns: Nor need they need to be “catholics”– vaghn williams was an athiest, Mozart a bad Catholic/mason and Bach a Lutheran, yet all have made lovely hymns…
    Why not ask Elton John or willy nelson to write hymns? Or set holy words to their tunes? At least we could sing them…

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