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Thursday, December 08, 2005

Top 25
A disclaimer from the start: even on issues where it counts, I don't have much use for a top-anything list. At best, it's like a poor attempt at impressionism: from a distance, you can get a vague overall picture, but when looking closely, it's a mess. Fr Jeff posted the link to NPM's survey results. While I agree with his sentiments about poorly composed songs, he's added to vocabulary erosion by equating the word "heresy" with "something I don't like." One of these days, we might actually need that word, and who's going to listen when it's variously applied to sentimentality or whatever our personal bugaboo is. Sorry, I don't buy the negative proof-texting on "Let There Be Peace On Earth." Sure it's sentimental and somewhat simplistic, but because it presumes a conversion experience rather than describes it, I don't have a doctrinal problem with a song that suggests "peace begin(s) with me." By that definition, some seven-year-olds can come up with big whoppers of "heresy," but we don't call them names about it. Adults nod, appreciate the sentiment, and chalk it up as something juvenile--to be corrected with the passing of time and the gaining of maturity. It is interesting to note the text source of the top 25:
  1. On Eagle's Wings (242) (Psalm 91)
  2. Here I Am, Lord (152) (Isaiah 6)
  3. Be Not Afraid (146) (Isaiah 43)
  4. You Are Mine (138) (Isaiah 43, the same)
  5. How Great Thou Art (76) (composed hymn)
  6. Holy God, We Praise Thy Name (70) (the Te Deum, ancient hymn)
  7. Amazing Grace (69) (composed hymn)
  8. All Are Welcome (58) (composed hymn)
  9. Prayer of St. Francis (43) (composed hymn)
  10. Ave Maria (42) (Luke 1, plus an a prayer invocation)
  11. We Are Called (38) (Micah 6)
  12. Let There Be Peace on Earth (36) (composed hymn)
  13. I Am the Bread of Life (30) (John 6)
  14. The Summons (30) (composed hymn)
  15. Panis Angelicus (29) (composed hymn)
  16. The Servant Song—Gillard (29) (composed hymn)
  17. Pescador de Hombres (28) (composed hymn)
  18. Servant Song—McCargill (28) (composed hymn)
  19. Shepherd Me, O God (27) (Psalm 23)
  20. Ave Verum Corpus (26) (composed hymn)
  21. Lord of the Dance (24) (composed hymn)
  22. One Bread, One Body (24) (Galatians, and something else ...)
  23. Tantum Ergo (24) (composed hymn)
  24. Hosea (23) (composed hymn sort of but suggested by Hosea, the book)
  25. Pange Lingua (23) (composed hymn)
My comments: Only two psalm settings and not quite 40% of this list is based directly on Scripture. Of course, most of these songs have an allusion to Scripture somewhere in them. Of the seven songs written since 1980, four are based on Scripture. That's a promising development, I'd say. It's interesting that no preconciliar texts based on Scripture made it to the list except the Ave Maria. These songs are all done frequently; I wonder if meaningfulness is related to something well-practiced. And lastly, I'm glad to see the attempts in the Blogosphere to jam the ballot box doesn't seem to have altered the landscape on the top end too much.
# posted by Todd @ 12/08/2005 09:14:00 AM

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