The St. Louis Jesuits, a group of Catholic composers who popularized a contemporary style of church music through their compositions and recordings in the 1970s and 1980s. The group, made up of Jesuit seminarians at St. Louis University, originally used acoustic guitars and pop-style melodies and rhythms to set biblical and other religious texts to music sung in English in response to the liturgical reforms of Vatican II.
Without intent, a groundswell of popularity took place when students, seminarians and women religious took stenciled mimeographed copies of their new music back to their communities where it became known as music by "The St. Louis Jesuits".
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Before finishing their studies and leaving St. Louis University, the seminarians decided to collect and make a recording of their music so it would be available to others. Some of the music was recorded in the basement of Fusz Memorial Chapel, the rest at a local studio. This first collection of 58 songs, some dating back as early as 1964, was called, Neither Silver nor Gold. Later, this recording was issued as a four-cassette/LP set in 1974 by North American Liturgy Resources. It has since been remastered into a two CD set by OCP Publications.
Over time, Bob Dufford, S.J., John Foley, S.J., Tim Manion, Roc O'Connor, S.J., and Dan Schutte, and their music became known as the St. Louis Jesuits. At the time, all were members of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit order) pursuing different vocations and graduate studies. Between 1975 and 1985 they recorded five collections of music that were published by North American Liturgy Resources. As they continued their studies and time permitted, they presented numerous workshops and presentations about liturgy and liturgical music at conferences throughout the United States and Canada. (Tim Manion later left the Jesuits but continued to collaborate until 1984.)
Their second recording, Earthen Vessels sold over one million albums.[1] Their music became standard repertoire in Catholic parishes beginning with hymnals such as Glory and Praise. By the 1980s the music of the St. Louis Jesuits began to be widely used throughout English speaking Catholic parishes. Today, many of their more popular hymns continue to have wide use, finding their way into most Catholic and Protestant hymnal publications. Some hymns have eventually been translated into Chinese, French, German, Korean, Polish, Spanish and Vietnamese.[2]
In 1980, all five members moved to Seattle, where they continued to study and compose new music under the direction of Kevin Waters, S.J. at Seattle University. Tim Manion left the group in 1984, to pursue other interests but later released a solo collection, There is a River. After their fifth album, The Steadfast Love, was recorded in 1985, the members began to release solo collections as the demands of their Jesuit vocations took them to different parts of the world. Dan Schutte left the Jesuit order in 1986, but like the others, continued to compose and publish solo collections of music.
In 2000, Dufford, Foley, O'Connor, and Schutte made a surprise appearance at the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. This spurred them to write and record a collection of new music to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of their collaboration. This recording entitled Morning Light was released in 2005 along with an anniversary coffee table book titled, "The St. Louis Jesuits: Thirty Years" Oregon Catholic Press 2006. Tim Manion, who no longer is writing liturgical music, sang on the anniversary collection.
All five continue to make rare performances in conjunction with faith based charity events. Currently, they have no plans to record together.[3] John Foley, S.J. is the Founder and Director of the Stroble Center for Liturgy at Saint Louis University.[4] Dan Schutte continues to publish new music through Oregon Catholic Press and is Composer-in-Residence at the University of San Francisco.
Following the movement that began with the St. Louis Jesuits in the 1970s and 1980s, Marty Haugen, a Protestant, together with David Haas, became some of the most prolific composers of contemporary Catholic liturgical music. This outgrowth of the Saint Louis Jesuits is now both widely-used in the U.S. but not without dissent from traditionalists of all ages. One of the main criticisms is that the musical style is similar to that used for children's musicals, thus trivializing the reverence of the Holy Mass, as well as relying on already-dated folk-stylings of the 1970s and '80s, once popular with the baby-boomer generation, some of which is now nearing retirement.
This list includes honors received as a group. Individual members of the group have also received numerous honors and awards independently.[6]
Many of the St. Louis Jesuits' compositions have become part of the standard repertoire for Catholics throughout the English speaking world. For many baby boomers, the St. Louis Jesuits' music was and continues to be a part of their journey of faith.[7]
Today, they are among many musicians who compose Contemporary Catholic liturgical music and many attribute their use of scripture and accessible melodies as the beginnings of this style of music. Dan Schutte continues to write new music that finds itself in many of the newer edition hynmals.[8]