Are ALL the Novus Ordo Hymns THAT Bad?

[TheReturnofLive]

The most sober and dignified rendering of the celtic alleluia I could find:

I think this is fairly close to the standards of sacred music, though it's not as profound as most Gregorian or Byzantine chant.

True, but I think that what "Sacred Music" is can be rather broad and not just in the fixed perimeters of Byzantine or Gregorian as gold standards. I mean, we know what it isn't (music which denies the experience of God via the "Nous" through forced emotion is not Sacred, and music that involves flesh-based physical reaction isn't Sacred), but what about Ethiopian chant?



Or Armenian chant?

[Philip G.]

Everything is backwards in Taize.  Instruments in prayer are to be at the service the human voice, and the human voice is to be at the service of the words uttered in the prayer.  The words/prayer is the pinnacle, the human voice is next, and lastly the instruments play a role.  There is a proper hierarchy in Catholicism.  With Taize, the words are few and repetitive, only there to serve the as a backdrop for the musical capability of the human voice, which in turn serves as a backdrop for the musical capability of instruments like the flute and the classical guitar.  The musical instruments are the emphasis/idol.  It is the resounding flute and resounding guitar, no different from the resounding gong that St. Paul spoke of.  In the beginning was was Word.

[Prayerful]

This hymn is beautiful.

The use of Latin makes that an outlier for NOM hymns.

Taizé seems about the only reliable source of good to adequate hymns for the V2 liturgy, but often only because it works from sources which are scriptural or traditional, and Latin is often used. No real borrowing from Protestants. The shame is that Taizé is utterly syncretic in its intent and origins.