Music is information. Music is not paper. Information moves at the speed of light.

The Church of Jesus Christ is not short on people seeking after power.
The Church of Jesus Christ is short on servants.

Finally, the long awaited conclusion to my series of reviews of new settings of the new translations of the Ordinary from the “Big Three” publishers…
Unknowingly, I saved the best for last.

There are a lot of real strong opinions all over the Internet (shocking!) about what other people should do with their work, their money, their time. I think making declarations about what is the good or right way to do these things is arrogant at best. I can offer only some suggestions, gleened from my observations in the Sacred Music world and my experience in the Secular world of internet business and marketing.

It is not a copy of some earlier, falsely venerated style. But it’s not new for the sake of new, either. Here we have a very gifted composer (who should be more famous, by the way) marrying his craft to the needs of the liturgy and, more, to what I can only assume is his very deeply held personal faith.

I’m not done with the whole setting, but I think I may be soon, so I thought I’d let people see and hear the Sanctus from my Missa Sakanala.

This is, by far, the best new setting of the Ordinary I have heard or seen since the new translations were announced.

The second in a series that started with reviews of GIA’s new Mass settings. Some hits and misses here, but OCP’s line up seems a bit better than GIA’s.

Prepare then well, and swiftly too,
For swifter still is God’s own grace.
Prepare your heart to be made new,
Prepare your eyes to see His face.

Advent 2010 is half-over, which means that Advent 2011 is less than a year away. If you’re a choir director at a Catholic Parish, you probably are trying to figure out what new Mass settings to start using. I highly recommend the ICEL chants to start with.
All the publishers, of course, want you to sing their settings (or at least purchase them), and they are offering previews of their works online. I have listened to almost all of them.
Folks, it ain’t pretty out there.