Tuesday, January 17, 2012

A Singable Gloria at Last

I surprised myself in the shower this morning by spontaneously singing Paul Taylor's setting of the Gloria in excelsis  (the new translation of course) from his Mass of St Francis – unlike all the unmemorable settings of the old ICEL paraphrase thereof (I recall my old parish priest saying that he'd never found an appealing one), this one is singable and tuneful.  I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, however, as in my parish we began singing Taylor's setting each Sunday back in January 2011, and the congregation sings it out with gusto.  The days seem so long ago when dreadful responsorial settings of the Gloria in excelsis were what passed for Catholic music at Mass.

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