Komponist James MacMillan ble spurt om å skrive musikken til den første messen pave Bendikt skulle feire i Storbritannia, i Glasgow. Detr gjorde han med glede, og uten betaling, men han møtte uventet motstand mot sitt arbeid, ikke fra musikere, men fra liturgieksperter. Han skriver om dette på sin blogg på the Telegraph:
Writing music for the recent visit of the Pope to the UK was one of the most exhilarating but strangest experiences of my life. I was initially contacted by Archbishop Mario Conti, on behalf of the Scottish Bishops who had decided they wanted a new setting of the Mass in English for the huge celebration in Bellahouston Park. Also, it was to be the new English translation of the Mass which will be introduced, more generally, in the Catholic anglosphere next year some time. In the wake of this, the Bishops of England and Wales came on board so that the new setting would be used at the Beatification Mass at Cofton Park too.
There was not much time. A meeting was called in Glasgow where a group of clergy in charge of planning the papal visit and liturgical music for Bellahouston spoke with me and outlined the task at hand. I had to start quickly and, more or less, deliver immediately! This I did, after using my church choir as guinea pigs for the first drafts. Then the problems began.
Unknown to me the new setting was taken to a “committee” which has controlled the development of liturgical music in Scotland for some time. Their agenda is to pursue the 1970s Americanised solution to the post-Conciliar vernacular liturgy, to the exclusion of more “traditional” possibilities. They have been known for their hostility to Gregorian chant, for example, but have reluctantly had to get in line since the arrival of Benedict XVI. … ….
Lytt gjerne til messe melodiene og si hva du syns om dem. (Dette er kanskje ikke så spesielt for oss i Norge, fordi vi har mye god liturgisk musikk, men i den engelskspråklige verden er det skralt.)
Kyrie (Missa de angelis) og Gloria (med den nye engelske teksten) – og kollektbønnen.
Prefasjonen og Sanctus og Agnus Dei.