"On Eagles' Wings will remain a favorite of the "pew peasants" no matter who slings whatever.
You know, it might surprise some folks here given my traditionalist bent, but I think that Eagles' Wings is a lovely song with edifying lyrics. I just don't think it belongs in the Mass.
Realist, don't presume to speak for all pew peasants.
Jon,
"On Eagles' Wings is the theme song for "pew peasants". Sing it or leave the pew 
I agree with T-WB on this one. The lyrics, from Isaiah, are unobjectionable. The tune, if you like guitar-strumming sorts of folksy tunes, is unobjectionable. Whether it's 'fitting' fare for divine worship is another matter. Maybe around a camp fire along with Kumbaya after a weenie roast.
John Michael Talbot has an album in which he sings a lot of the St. Louis Jesuit songs. I like it a lot. There is one song, Holy Darkness, based on St. John of the Cross' "Dark Night of the Soul", that is particularly haunting. It's not Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus" or anything, but beautiful and profound in its own right.
I think what Anthony Esolen is getting at is that the National Anthem is a masculine, heroic piece. It is not sentimental. (On Eagles' Wings, though the text is scriptural, is considered by many to be of a sentimental musical style.) If we want men to sing in church, we must bring more masculine, heroic music back into use (like Faith of Our Fathers), rather than relying solely on the sentimental.
Try singing the Gettysburg Address to one of the latest rap melodies. Try the Emancipation Proclamation to some country music nonsense. Here we have the poorest imitation of what On Eagles' Wings does for the "Scripture" it purports to convey. Musically speaking, no one pretends that beginning on the weakest tone of the scale in an uncomfortable register makes good music for any other music but the swill which poured forth from the pens of Haugen, Haas et Al.
Weenie roast...mmm, weenies...thought i would set up the transition to the discussion of homosexuality.
Good point, Chris. And, for the record, I include myself in the category of people who think that "On Eagles' Wings" is sentimental and third-rate. Some think it will last forever, but its style dictates that it is Zeitbedingt.
I agree that Eagles' Wings is not a classic, is difficult to sing, will not stand the test of time, and does not belong in the Mass. But what's wrong with sentimental?
Thomist,
Perhaps sentimental was not the best word. Maybe "kitsch" would be closer to what I was thinking. But to answer more adequately your question, the problem with songs that are sentimental, or kitsch, is that they are often loved for their emotionally cathartic qualities, rather than objective properties (sound theological texts, solid music construction, etc.). This kind of catharsis really does not harmonize well with the liturgy.
I love it when I'm more reactionary than TWB: http://hymnographyunbound.blogsp...gles-
wings.html
"On Eagles' Wings is the theme song for "pew peasants". Sing it or leave the pew
Such an unprogressive attitude. Is the revolution dead already? I guess I'll have to leave... flying on eagles wings!
"I love it when I'm more reactionary than TWB: http://hymnographyunbound.blogspot:
"But that song makes promises from God--and they aren't the same promises that God makes in the Bible. They are made-up promises. The Bible never says God will 'bear you on the breath of dawn and make you shine like the sun.'"
Well yeah, okay, the Bible never says that. But what about sacred Tradition? ;o)
And what about Isaiah (oops, I mean Second Isaiah.....or is it Third Isaiah? One of those Isaiahs) 58:8--
"Then your light will break out like the dawn,And your recovery will speedily spring forth;And your righteousness will go before you"
And how about Matthew (or the Matthean Community) 13:43--
"Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father"
C'mon. Aren't those close enough save Eagles' Wings? Please? ;o)
From the front page of today's Philadelphia Inquirer-
"Diocese defrocks 3 more priests
One of them was said by last year's Phila. grand jury to have abused countless children."
Added commentary from the newspaper article:
"This does nothing to address the broader issue that they broke the law and they escaped prosecution because the statute of limitations is so short," said John Salveson, a leader of the national advocacy group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and Other Clergy.
Because the crimes cannot be prosecuted, he said, Megan's Law notifications do not apply and, now that the former priests are outside church control, they are free to move about as they please.
"They'll go God knows where," Salveson said. "This is the church washing its hands."
And we worry about proper songs and posturing!!!!!?????
Why can't we be concerned about both issues, RfC?
It is no coincidence, IMHO, that the deconstruction of the liturgy has been accompanied by the systematic desacralization of the priestly ministry -- and the despoiliation of the innocent at the hands of corrupt priests.
C'mon. Aren't those close enough save Eagles' Wings? Please? ;o)
Nope, sorry!
(Actually, you caught me on the second one.)
But being borne on the breath of dawn is a very specific image and it is not biblical. The only time people take the wings of dawn in the Bible is to flee from God. It's not a reward. It is a bad idea.
I think that the Bible speaks in a very tightly woven complex of images. Images reach below the surface, where the didactic word of the preaching can't follow. Paraphrasing must always be very accurate. But even more so, the images must be accurate. God is trying to paint us a picture of a new world in which He alone reigns--and this flying on the dawn gives the wrong impression, as though I'm in charge.
BTW, I also think there is something wrong with the music, sorry! http://hymnographyunbound.blogsp...be-left-
up.html
Dave,
I am assuming you mean that only after the liturgical changes "man"dated by Vatican II did the problem of abuse of children by priests begin. The data indicate otherwise as the problem started long before 1965. Ireland's records show problems from 1940 to the present.
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/
1...ry_18707_1.html
And the Vatican is not an innocent by-stander.
"The confidential Vatican document, obtained by CBS News, lays out a church policy that calls for absolute secrecy when it comes to sexual abuse by priests - anyone who speaks out could be thrown out of the church.
The policy was written in 1962 by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/
2...ain566978.shtml
No, I'm suggesting that the hubristic impulse to treat the liturgy as a creative sandbox is not unrelated to the desacralization of the priestly ministry, which has had the effect of making an existing problem (bad priests) even worse.
Secrecy and cover up is a separate issue. Part of the dark side of the pre-Vatican II Church. Not everything preconciliar was good, not everything postconciliar is bad. Openness and accountability is a good thing.
Dave,
"Openness and accountability is a good thing." Amen to that!!!!
I think that Christopher is right on critiquing the current music. And I'd put the verbal content right behind--it needs improvement.
People hum these songs in the car on the way home from Mass.
We should have our minds filled with the truth at Mass. Sunday Mass is supposed to be the highpoint that brings our spiritual lives together and propels them forward. Everything spoken or sung should be deeply true.
RtC, do you really think that pew peasant folk ought to choose Church music? Don't you think that some theological acumen is required?
(Sorry-RfC!)
A parishioner once said to me that I thought far too much about the music I chose for the parish to sing. What was wrong with doing things that people liked? Well, nothing, if their taste is for good things. Similarly, if your child likes healthy food, by all means cater to his likes. But if his idea of a health-food meal is a twinkie and a whopper, you have an obligation to provide him a better option. If that comment sounds like the justification of the wreckovators, it has this difference: some things are objectively, intrinsically good, while others are intrinsically evil. No amount of good intention can make abortion good, and similarly, no amount of good intention can make music out of this stuff which Cardinal Arinze has referred to as "organized noise".
Take Realist's point for a second. When did Mass attendance start to drop? When did the decline in priestly and religious vocations begin? When did the abuse of children begin? When our music went bad. Yes, I think that some of this can be pegged to music before the Council, the difference is that then it was the exception and now, increasingly, we are supposed to justify such behavior! Fr. Shandley belonged to (and I believe FOUNDED) the Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) to make legal precisely the oonduct of which he stands convicted.
Kathy,
You noted: "Don't you think that some theological acumen is required?"
I believe the current music selection is chosen for us pew peasants by the USCBB. Have you contacted them lately about their lack of theological acumen?
Oops, the last commentary was from the Realist.
Oops, the last commentary was from the Realist.
I guessed!
Actually, to my understanding, right at this moment there is no formal structure in place for the review of liturgical music. The bishop of the diocese where the music is published can order that certain music not be published in his diocese. I don't know for certain but I think this is not a commonly exercised discipline.
I have the sense that it is likely that everything will be reordered soon.
My own theory is that the plague of rotten music in the Church today is allowed by God's permissive will in order to balance out the spiritually dangerous deemphasis on purgatory and indulgences that also currently afflicts the Church. Now, Deo gratias, we can have our purgatory in this life just by going to Mass, and can even merit a plenary indulgence if the music at Mass is schlocky enough.
Jordan,
Wow, Sunday Mass is your idea of Purgatory!! Maybe you should video tape it and send a copy to the USCCB and/or the Vatican. Or better yet feature it on the Web so we can suffer together.
How about releasing doves during/after each Mass to reduce/eliminate the "Eagle" effect?
I can't resist -- I am responsible for the pun, "On Turkey's Wings". It's a pretty bad song for congregational use -- try being a baritone or (worse) a bass, and finding your note in that thing. Its rhythm is not folk, and not classical, and not plainsong; it's that of an off-Broadway showtune. It might do all right, with decent lyrics, for The Fantasticks -- except that The Fantasticks had music that was kind of cute, and easy to catch. Maybe a better match would be a countertenor Kermit singing "The Rainbow Connection." In any case, good or bad, it's meant for a soloist.
As for the lyrics, I think if you look at the stirring finale to Isaiah 40, you'll see why some people detest the song so much. "But they that trust in the Lord will mount, as on wings of eagles: they shall run, and not grow weary; they shall walk, and not grow faint." Now look at what's done to it. "And I will raise you up on eagle's wings" -- nothing wrong there, except note that it's grown passive, hasn't it? The Scripture passage is bursting with youth and vigor: they who trust in the Lord will be weary soldiers no more. They will mount, as on wings of eagles -- they are not carried on the eagles' backs, but are themselves as eagles, in the power of the Lord. Next line: "bear you on the breath of dawn." Now I haven't the faintest idea what that even means. Am I a little puffball that God blows toward the east? What is "the breath of dawn" anyway? How can one be borne on it? Unless we are simply gliding in the air, carried by those wings? The passivity of the first line seems here to have degenerated into the flaccid. "Make you to shine like the sun" -- what is that? The music for that line is an echo of the old Lemon Pledge commercial, and I swear I can't hear it without thinking of furniture polish. "And hold you in the palm of my hand." Yes, that's Scriptural, sort of -- but it isn't Isaiah 40, not even close.
A question for the lovers of Turkey's Wings, and I don't intend to sound huffy, I really don't. But have you ever sung, in congregation, all the verses -- I mean the unexpurgated verses -- of For All the Saints (to name a more or less "masculine" hymn), or all the verses -- again, unexpurgated verses -- of Abide With Me (to name a more or less "feminine" hymn)? For many years now, sacred music has been, in my church and in my house, Thine Is the Glory and Wondrous Love and How Firm a Foundation and O Salutaris Hostia and Come Down, O Love Divine and Veni Creator Spiritus and O Sacred Head Surrounded and Be Thou My Vision; all kinds of music, from all kinds of places and times, but all reverent, and intended for many voices, and chastely scriptural.... So it's really painful for my family to have to listen to sappy songs, or to songs that require us to sing in persona Dei Patris, or to songs that glorify the congregation rather than God (On Turkey's Wings does not do that, but many other such song
Tony, I only wish I could think of a little puffball when I hear "bear you on the breath of dawn."
Instead I think of this: http://www.veritaserum.com/media...-
hippogriff.jpg
Mr. Esolen,
You honor these pages. Thank you.
(Sorry about the dead link to the hippogriff.)
Thomist, can you tell me which John Michael Talbot album contains the song you found haunting and beautiful? I'm in the market for new religious-music CDs right now. And although I'm traditionally oriented, I have a soft spot for JMT. His "Veni Sancte Spiritus" gives me goosebumps.
Thanks in advance!
BTW, re the St. Louis Jesuits: You can keep the rest of 'em, but Father Foley rocks! At least he can compose a melodious tune. I love "One Bread One Body," "The Cry of the Poor," "Earthen Vessels," and "Take Lord, Receive" (the prayer of St. Ignatius).
Blessings,
Diane Kamer
I once had the privilege? of serving as musician in the Episcopal Church where one of his former classmates now served. He claimed that Fr. Foley was the deep thinker of the group.
Nevertheless, trash for music is still trash.
Diane, I used to think that The Regathering was a good album by Talbot.
Used to? What changed your mind?
Haven't heard it in a while is all. But I listened to bits again on Amazon and still like it. The songs have shape and vigor, and are all about renewal.
Can't speak for the service music, as I never really listened to it.
"Upon your walls, Jerusalem, I have set my watchmen. Never by the day or night shall they be silent." I wrote a hymn based on that text, in part because of my happy memory of Talbot's treatment. Mine's more suitable for common worship, but his is very good.
IMHO, a lot of music that is used for liturgy would be fine and even laudable for private devotion. It's when entire congregations are subjected to the "creativity" of liturgists that things go wrong.
Repeat after me: Only God creates.
Kathy:
True, only God creates, at least in the absolute sense.
So that must make the work of Joncas, Haugen and Haas something other than creative or good?
Chris, I would say that all truly liturgical artists must be careful to be highly derivative, in the best sense. There is no original revelation, just further or subjective reflections upon the one revealed Truth. And yet the expressions of the subjectively tasted realities must be in such deep continuity with what has come before in the tradition--if they are to be used as liturgical art--that there seems nothing particularly new or fashionable about them. It should be just the same thing, told a little differently this time, but in almost exactly the same way as well.
I think that being in the Church is an art in itself: being one with each other and at the same time being persons with redeemed dignity. It's like congregational singing: not louder than the others, not faster or slower, but still one's own voice.
Liturgical artistry should have that same sense of seamless joining in that one hymn of praise around the throne. So composers--you and me, if I may say so with my heart's deep gratitude--should be singing congregationally with the Church of the centuries.
OK, Isn't "On Eagle's Wings" based on Psalm 91? If so, why is this conversation going to Isaiah?
I've used On Eagles Wings in my liturgy planning for as long as i can remember and find that it resonnates with people on a profound level. People have mourned their parents, rejoiced in the Baptism of their children and have prayed most devoutly while singing On Eagles Wings. Just because you think it is badly written, hard to sing etc....does not necessarily make it so. Thank God I am privileged to be the music minister in a parish where we can appreciate a latin mass followed by a contemporary guitar mass just one hour later. If we stop using inclusive language and remembering we are a Universal Church...I'm outta here and so are alot of other good folks.
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