Universalis, your very own breviary in pixels...

Monday 20 October 2008

No Staunchy Chords!

This is an assurance (or at least an implication,) given of a new product advertised in a catalogue I have just received from one of the "Big Three" in Catholic music publishing.
A satisfied customer endorsement of said product reads: the harmonies aren't staunchy... they are written in a nice pop style that makes sense!
Of course, at least we have that implicit acknowledgment that some pop styles aren't "nice," that some pop styles fail to "make sense."
The words, I have just noticed, are from a toiler in the musical vineyard of the only parish where I have ever spent most of Mass with my hands over my ears.
Mis-use, or even correct but out of character use of slang smacks of middle-aged desperation. (And I say this as a desperately middle-aged and terminally out-of-the-loop individual.)
An afterthought -- that Mozart Te Deum, weren't those harmonies "staunchy"?
You know, bad, in the sense of ... well, as far from bad as possible.
I speak as one who is tending toward fat but in no way phat, you understand...

1 comment:

Mary Jane Ballou said...

What the heck is a "staunchy chord"? Occasionally, I succumb to the temptation to read the GIA catalog. I'm getting better at resisting because it's not worth the 12 hours of plunging depression that follows.