Great film of Church Music Colloquium



Thanks to Jeffrey Tucker at NLM for letting us know of the film of the recent Colloquium of the Church Music Association of America. See Jeffrey's post Colloquium, The Movie for an introduction.

Ordinarily I wouldn't take time to watch a film that is nearly an hour long, but the other evening I decided to set some space aside later on, to relax and watch the whole thing. I am glad that I did. The film is professionally put together, enjoyable and encouraging. The interviews and narrative are accompanied throughout with superbly sung Gregorian chant and polyphony.

If you are battling away somewhere to renew and revive sacred music in the Liturgy in your parish (or Cathedral) and feeling that it is an uphill struggle, this film will cheer you up and probably set you thinking about whether you can save up enough money to go to America for the next Colloquium. For those who follow news of liturgy and music, it is also a welcome opportunity to see people like Jeffrey Tucker and Scott Turkington speaking when we normally see only their writing.

The emphasis is entirely positive. There is little mention of what is wrong with the music in many parishes, only positive encouragement for musicians and singers of all levels of expertise (or none) to get on and try some sacred music. Included in the film are shots of Masses in both the older and newer forms. As is becoming more common nowadays at various conferences that are doing good in the Church, this is simply taken for granted and not even commented upon.

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