>A question for all those harper-ists out there who play for
>weddings:would it be ok to play Jewish melodies at non-Jewish weddings?
>I would hesitate to do so at a Catholic wedding, but still might not at
>protestant weddings, either. The pieces are so beautiful and I would
>love to include them in the prelude but would I horrify the congregation
>or would non-Jews even recognize them? I usually play Bach and some
>popular songs.
For a Catholic liturgy, weddings included, the deciding
factors are the original intent of the music and (if
applicable) the words that are normally associated
with it.
As long as the texts don't include specific refutation of
Christian doctrine, Jewish religious music would be
perfectly appropriate at a Catholic wedding--after all,
that's where we got the psalms, which are a major
source of texts for Catholic liturgy.
On the other hand, Jewish secular music is no more
appropriate for a Catholic liturgy than other secular
songs.
As several others have noted, the best policy is to
show your planned repertoire to the music director,
pastor, or celebrating priest, since some parishes
interpret the guidelines more strictly than others.
Bill McJohn
billmc@microsoft.com