List of Roman Catholic Church musicians

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of Roman Catholic Church musicians is a list of people who perform or compose Catholic music, a branch of Christian music. Names should be limited to those whose Catholicism affected their music and should preferably only include those musicians whose works have been performed liturgically in a Catholic service, or who perform specifically in a Catholic religious context.

Contents

[edit] Traditional and hymnal

[edit] Classical composers who composed Catholic sacred music

Note: The term classical music has been used broadly to describe many eras which do not fit the label. Initially the term specifically meant 1730-1820 (the Classical period), but for this list the period from the Baroque period to the modern era will be included in this section. This is because Renaissance and especially Medieval music tends to be dominated, in the West, by Catholic religious music.

[edit] Roman School

The Roman School is a group of composers strongly linked to the Vatican and the Council of Trent. Many of them were, or became, priests. Although much of their work is too early to be mentioned here it did survive into the early Baroque. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is generally seen as the most famous member. As a list of members is in the article on the subject, repetition of names in it should be normally avoided. Although Palestrina is notable enough to be in both.

[edit] 21st Century Classical School

There is a small but growing school of church composers, favoring a return to Catholic music that can be called "classical," writing original organ, choral, and vocal music that is often based on Gregorian chant. Leonardo Ciampa has composed three organ symphonies and numerous Masses based on Gregorian chant, somewhat in the style of the above-mentioned Perosi.

[edit] Twentieth century and contemporary music

[edit] Popular composers and artists

Contemporary Catholic music takes many forms, from rock to folk. The genre of music, although not as popular as evangelical Christian music, is continuing to grow.

Contemporary Catholic musicians tend toward two main forms of expression: liturgical and non-liturgical. In a liturgical context, music is performed in a manner intended to heighten the spiritual atmosphere of a liturgical service, such as during Sunday mass, Eucharistic adoration or Stations of the Cross. The non-liturgical context, though very much worshipful, usually takes the form of a concert without the presence of a liturgical service. Non-liturgical settings are mainly focused on building Christian fellowship within Catholic communities. Non-liturgical artists find the opportunity to uniquely share their faith through their personal lyrics, and directly to audiences between songs. Though Catholic musicians tend toward one expression over the other, many will minister within both expressions with the appropriate music styles.

The following popular composers and performers are of note:

[edit] Liturgical Artists

[edit] Non-liturgical Artists

Note: The Unity Awards began in 2001 with the intent of being a Catholic specific equivalent to the GMA Dove Awards.[12] In certain cases the following mentions winners of this award.

  • Michael Zabrocki - Catholic Recording Artist, Composer Vocalist
  • Ceili Rain - Celtic/Pop-Rock with Catholic themes, heavily honored by the Unity Awards[13][14]
  • Cheer Up Charlie - Catholic industrial rock/rap (Florida). They won a Unity Award for Modern Rock / Alternative Album of the Year[15][16]
  • CRISPIN - Catholic/Christian funk (Texas).[17]
  • Critical Mass - Critically acclaimed Canadian rock band, winners of numerous awards, including two Canadian Gospel Music Association Awards for Best Rock Album. Performed for Pope John Paul II in Toronto in 2002.
  • Dana - "Songwriter of the Year" and "Female Vocalist of the Year" at the Unity Awards in 2004.[18][19]
  • Stan Fortuna - Catholic jazz and hip hop
  • Fred-D - Catholic "underground" rap (California)[20]
  • Matt Maher
  • James MacMillan - contemporary Scottish Composer
  • manuel3 - Catholic soul/funk (Ill.) [21]
  • Tony Meléndez - An armless Christian guitarist who was Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2004 Unity Awards[22] and performed for Pope John Paul II.
  • Aaron Neville - Praise & Worship Album of the Year by the Catholic Unity Awards (2006.[23]
  • Oaks of Justice - Catholic/Christian fusion rock (California)[24]
  • Oremus Catholic Rock[25]
  • Outer Fringe - Catholic punk rock[26]
  • Pierced - Catholic hard rock (Louisianna)[27]
  • Point 5 Covenant - Catholic hip-hop (Texas)[28]
  • Katrina Rae - Evangelist, for Catholicism, and a founding member of the Catholic Association of Music[29]
  • Remnant - Catholic hard rock (Texas)[30]
  • Seán Ó Riada - composed several Irish language Masses
  • Righteous-B - Catholic hip-hop (Texas), won several Unity Awards.[31]
  • Rise - Catholic rock[32]
  • Padre Marcelo Rossi
  • Dana Scallon - devoutly Catholic Northern Irish singer currently based in USA
  • Seven Sorrows - Catholic hard rock/heavy metal (California)[33]
  • John Michael Talbot - Contemporary Catholic musician who won acclaim inContemporary Christian music circles.
  • Mary Lou Williams - Catholic jazz in the 1970s
  • Notker Wolf - Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation played for a Christian rock group.
  • Joe Tritz - Catholic Rock

[edit] Liturgical music

Main article: Contemporary Catholic liturgical music

Many composers have contributed to the distinct sound of contemporary Catholic liturgical music, including Marty Haugen, Dan Schutte, and the St. Louis Jesuits. For more details, see Contemporary Catholic liturgical music. The trend has turned to pieces based on Gregorian chant, and liturgical projects like the Chabanel Psalms have now come to the forefront.

[edit] See also

[edit] Web sources

[edit] External links