Tainted by Protestantism. . .

This phrase came to me via a post by a Roman Catholic commenting upon the great English composers (the three T's of Taverner, Tallis, and Tye).  I am pretty certain it probably is descriptive of the way he would approach all the great English composers after the Reformation.  How interesting.  According to this author, the primary consideration of these composers seems to hinge on whether or not they were Roman Catholic and not so much on the music itself.  Tainted implies that at minimum the quality is impinged by the circumstances of the world around them -- even when their subject matter was universal or even Biblical!  What a strange way of viewing a composer's work!

It would seem that his views do not limit themselves to the composers of the English Reformation but also to those who are born of the Great Reformation.  By his own admission some composers—such as J.S. Bach—whom I’ve studied for hours each week going back to the 1990s, yet many of Bach’s compositions still remain a closed book to me (pardon the pun).  How utterly strange it is to me that the obscure often celebrated by such purists ranks above the obvious genius of someone like Bach -- whose music was used to portray the eloquence and erudition of humanity on a spacecraft designed to engage other life forms that might be out there somewhere.

I will admit a great affection for the three T's even though I have little patience for the English Reformation.  Indeed, one can hardly admit to knowing church music without having an acquaintance and an appreciation for the greats (of whom the three T's are but the tip of the mountain of treasures).  Furthermore, the English tradition of Psalm singing remains so profound that it encapsulates the marriage of text and form so well that neither detracts from the other -- think here Luther's dictum of music being the second highest in importance after the Word of God.   For that matter, I have great affection for the great Roman Catholic composers and their output in service to the Church for the glory of the Lord and yet, as this blog clearly shows, am not so affectionate for Roman Catholicism.  Genius is genius no matter where it is found and when the text and music serve the greater purpose of the adoration of God and the singing of His Holy Word, how is there room to criticize the composers and their output as tainted.  Really?

Furthermore, this is by a Roman Catholic who is, in some ways, criticizing the way we used to say: the pot calling the kettle black.  The state of music used in Roman Catholic worship is dismal on the parish level -- better on the cathedral or monastic level but pretty sad for the average Roman Catholic parishioner.  The banal, trite, trivial, and downright suspect texts are matched perfectly by the music of modern Roman Catholic composers -- music drawn from cartoon style and TV commercials.  It is played by praise bands made up of people who had a garage band in the 1960s and 1970s that never took off and this is their last claim to fame.  It is presided over by aging priests who delight in making personal by sentiment what is personal by the more profound nature of sin and redemption, confession and forgiveness, and the unworthy who receive God's gift of favor without cost.  Whenever I think things are bleak in Missouri, I just spend some time on the internet viewing the latest train wreck of a mass and suddenly I feel a little better. 

In the end it is pretty sad when a musicologist finds some of the greatest treasures of choral music and music for the Church tainted by Protestantism or the Reformation when they are expressing with the most reverential awe and dignity the very Word and truth of Scripture.  In the end, this is the only real definition of catholic composers that matters and the three T's and Bach epitomize this genius given for the sake of Christ and for the prospering of His Word among us -- with help from hundreds and hundreds of others in every generation since who do the same!