The Mass Settings of Seán and Peadar Ó Riada

This book is not only a fascinating discussion of the music itself but of the whole tradition of liturgical music. It gives an excellent account of the difficulties faced by church musicians post-Vatican II facing the contradictory demands of honoring the chant tradition while composing in the vernacular. Strongly recommended. ~kevin O connell

An excellent new book of scholarship on the sacred musical and vernacular chants of the father-and-son composers Sean and Peadar Ó Riada, has valuable insights into their craft. John O'Keeffe brings a lifetime of musicality. He is a skilled musician, composer, ethnomusicologist, and is an expert in liturgical music and chant, notably from 25 years as director of sacred music at St Patrick's College Maynooth. The result is a work of rare and outstanding scholarship, which gives us invaluable insights into the inner landscapes and workings of the music of the two Ó Riada composers, father, Sean, and son, Peadar. John O'Keeffe's monumental work is a watershed in the developing story of vernacular song. It deserves to be a shelf companion, not only for experts --musicians, composers, musicologists -- but for anybody concerned with sustaining a worthy vernacular music for the liturgy. ~Father Pat Ahern, Irish Examiner