earworm: music transplants

Recently I’ve heard two American tunes pop up in our Roman Catholic Mass as hymns and hearing these “music transplants” make me smile and warm my musical soul.

The Sanctus (Holy, Holy) of our Mass is set to the tune of Go Down Moses. This tickles me to no end because here is an American Spiritual showing up in a small Romanian town as a part of the ordinary of the Mass.  How did that happen?  Somewhere along the line, I plan on asking Father Iulian about it.  But right now, every time I sing it during Mass, I look up at the tiny gold stars painted on the peeling ceiling of the little house where we have the liturgy and think of my dear Spiritual choir friends at Sacred Heart Cathedral.

The other transplant made me giggle and cringe simultaneously.  Jingle Bells was used as the offertory song this past Sunday.  Yes, you read correctly, Jingle Bells.  The words were religious, but the tune was through and through Jingle Bells.  For the entirety of the song I was so hung up on the melody that I didn’t quite comprehend all the words. But I will definitely be hunting for it in the hymnal at Mass this weekend.  How did that happen, though?  Really?  Who’d have thunk it?