CNP Feedback - Glory & Praise (Part 2)

3. The musical style must be noble and sacred.

Pope John Paul II, from Chirograph on Sacred Music

#3. On various occasions I too have recalled the precious role and great importance of music and song for a more active and intense participation in liturgical celebrations. I have also stressed the need to "purify worship from ugliness of style, from distasteful forms of expression, from uninspired musical texts which are not worthy of the great act that is being celebrated," to guarantee dignity and excellence to liturgical compositions.

What significance does this Catholic understanding of liturgy have for church music? The Council's reform was aimed at counteracting modern individualism and the moralism connected with it, so that the dimension of mystery in liturgy could reappear, its cosmic character which embraces heaven and earth (p. 135; cf. SC 8). For Christians, the Logos orients our worship towards the historical origin of faith, preserved for us in Scripture and Tradition. Church music should not be a performance on the occasion of worship, but is to be liturgy itself, "a harmonizing with the choir of the angels and saints." Gregorian chant and classic polyphonic music are ordered to the mystery in liturgy and to its Logos-character, as well as to its bond to the historical world. They furnish us with a norm which does not exclude new musical forms, but which guides us more surely toward what lies on the horizon.

Likewise, music in the liturgy must rise above the banal, above radical forms of subjectivism, which has led to destructionism. The answer is to find real beauty again, a beauty grounded in the Logos-Word, a beauty which issues in that excellence which overcomes the unbounded inflation of subjectivity and to recognize once more the that a relationship with the Logos, who was at the beginning, brings salvation to the subject, that is to the person. Thus all cheap notions of subjectivity must be redeemed, transformed by Christ through conversion, leading us beyond banality and kitsch to the Beautiful again.

In the past folk music was the expression of a clearly defined community held together by language, history and a way of life. Springing from fundamental human experience, it conveyed a truth, however naive the form may have been. Pop music, in contrast, is a standardized product of mass society, a function of supply and demand. The 20th-century composer Paul Hindemith called the constant presence of such noise "brainwashing," and Calvin M. Johansson claims that hearing it gradually makes us incapable of listening attentively: "we become musically comatose ... This medium kills the message."

#5. Another principle, affirmed by Saint Pius X in the Motu proprio Tra le sollecitudini and which is closely connected with the previous one, is that of sound form. There can be no music composed for the celebration of sacred rites which is not first of all "true art" or which does not have that efficacy "which the Church aims at obtaining in admitting into her Liturgy the art of musical sounds."

4. The use of private music and the future of public music.

No one, not priests or musicians, not liturgists or bishops, not us at CanticaNOVA Publications, not even popes, want to deprive you of the music that brings you personally closer to God. Hold on to this music that touches your heart — play it and sing it over and over again, to strengthen your faith. Listen to it at home, in your car, at prayer meetings — but know that it is not liturgical music, music destined for corporate worship. It is, rather, private or devotional music. The Church has absolute authority to regulate corporate, liturgical music. The Church will never discourage your use of aids to personal growth in holiness.

Here's what the future holds for music in the Catholic Church:

• In his General Audience of February 26, 2003, Pope John Paul II reminds us that "one must pray to God not only with theologically precise formulas, but also in a beautiful and dignified way." For this reason, he said, "the Christian community must make an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy." [Pope John Paul II, General Audience 2/26/03]
   
• #12. ...Renewed and deeper thought about the principles that must be the basis of the formation and dissemination of a high-quality repertoire is therefore required. Only in this way will musical expression be granted to serve appropriately its ultimate aim, which is "the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful."
  #13. In the light of the experience gained in recent years, the better to assure the fulfilment of the important task of regulating and promoting the sacred Liturgy, I ask the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to increase its attention, in accordance with its institutional aims, in the sector of sacred liturgical music, availing itself of the competencies of the various commissions and institutions specialized in this field as well as of the contribution of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music. Indeed, it is important that the musical compositions used for liturgical celebrations correspond to the criteria appropriately set down by Saint Pius X and wisely developed by both the Second Vatican Council and the subsequent Magisterium of the Church. In this perspective, I am confident that the Bishops' Conferences will carefully examine texts destined for liturgical chant and will devote special attention to evaluating and encouraging melodies that are truly suited to sacred use. [Pope John Paul II, Chirograph on Sacred Music]
   
• Faith must not be trivialized in the name of inculturating it. Today we do not have to limit church music so strictly to chanting of the psalms, because we have an infinitely larger trove of good liturgical music to draw on. But to hold the line against the onslaught of misguided attempts to import "modern" musical forms into the liturgy requires the courage of asceticism, the courage to contradict. Only from such courage can new creativity arise. [Pope Benedict XVI, A New Song for the Lord]

The Magisterium of the Church provides us with a rich source of wisdom and guidance on the subject of sacred music in general, its various types, their varying suitability for the divine liturgy, and the qualities contemporary music composed for the Roman rite ought to possess if it is to be worthy of its exalted function.

1. The primary purpose of sacred music is to evoke God's majesty and to honor it; the secondary purpose is to affirm in a solemn way the most genuine nobility of the human person, namely, the activity of prayer. To accomplish this two-fold purpose, it must have grandeur, simplicity, solemnity, and majesty; it must have the least possible unworthiness of the absolute transcendence of God to whom the music is directed, and of the human spirit which music is meant to express. It should have an excellence, sobriety, and gravity which make it in no way unworthy of the liturgical functions. Seeking to stimulate prayer and express the mystery of Christ, it should breathe a spirit of prayer, dignity, and beauty. Accordingly, it should always keep to its subordinate place as a servant of divine worship, contributing to the splendor of the sacred ceremonies by its sanctity and goodness of form, lifting the mind to higher things and fostering true devotion of soul. If it is good music, it sheds the splendor of God's countenance upon the congregation and raises the heart to the cleansing and sanctifying encounter with the luminous reality of the sacred; it disposes the heart to celebrate the mystery of salvation and to share deeply in its effects.
    
2. Sacred music thus possesses an intrinsic connection to the liturgy: it is to be considered more holy to the extent that it is more closely connected with the liturgical actions themselves, whether by making prayer more pleasing, promoting unity of minds, or conferring greater solemnity upon the sacred rites. (Thus, there should not be merely "singing at Mass," but the Mass itself should be sung, in the chants which are authorized for the liturgical texts.) It will be most suited to the liturgical action precisely when it has the qualities of holiness, good form, and universality, and does not in any way impede the participation, rightly understood, of the whole congregation — namely, when it directs the attention of mind and heart to the mystery which is being celebrated upon the altar. It should have a special power to lift the minds of the faithful up to God, making the liturgical prayer of the Christian community more vital and fervent so that everyone can praise and beseech God more powerfully, more intently, and more effectively. Good liturgical music intensifies the spirit of devotion and disposes the faithful to receive the fruits of grace belonging to the celebration of the most holy mysteries; indeed, it should so raise the mind to God that it provides a foretaste of the liturgy of heaven.
    
3. Good music and good liturgy thus possess fundamentally the same qualities; that is to say, sacred music at its height has the very qualities proper to the liturgy itself: in particular, holiness, good form or beauty, and universality. For music to be holy, it must exclude all profanity not only in itself, but in the manner in which it is presented by those who execute it. Since holiness is its sine qua non, sacred music must never allow within itself anything that savors of or suggests the worldly; indeed, even in their external forms, pieces intended for use in the liturgy should not be fashioned after the style of profane pieces. Good liturgical music ought to be essentially good art as well — of solid artistic merit and good taste simply from a musical point of view, not lacking in or offending against the dignity and nobility appropriate to worship, in continuity with and worthy of the magnificent and revered tradition of Western sacred music, endowing liturgical ceremonies with sublimity and beauty. It should be characterized by lovely melodies and a splendor which contribute to the decorum of the ecclesiastical ceremonies, beautifying and embellishing the voices of all who are gathered to praise the Sovereign God. Finally, sacred music must be universal, meaning that, although every nation may admit into its compositions elements from its truly native music, still the adaptation of these elements is always to be subordinated to the general characteristics of sacred music already described, so that nobody of any nation may receive a bad impression.
    
4. Because it is gloriously outstanding for the qualities of holiness, artistic worth, and universality, Gregorian chant is the supreme model of all sacred music a patrimony of inestimable value. It is the sacred music proper to the Roman Church and specially suited to the Roman liturgy, deserving pride of place in liturgical services. The more closely new compositions approach Gregorian chant in rhythm, feeling, and savor, the more sacred and liturgical they become; and the more out of harmony they are with that supreme model, the less worthy they are of use in church. Chant, with its pleasing and reverent melodies, enriches the splendor of the rites, fosters the congregation's unity of spirit, and disposes the faithful to praise God more perfectly. It nourishes men's faith and fosters their piety; it makes it easier for Christians to achieve unity and spiritual harmony with their brothers and with the living tradition of the past. It is a bond that forms the members of many nations into a single people, gathered together in Christ's name with one heart, one mind, and one voice.
    
5. All music that is not at once marked by that spirit of prayer, dignity, and beauty so striking in Gregorian chant and classic polyphony must be banished from entrance into the world of the sacred. Music with worldly characteristics "an agitated or intrusive style that interferes with the serenity of the service and is incompatible with its spiritual, sanctifying purpose, the use of popular contemporary idioms at variance with the sacred services and the dignity of church, or plain poor taste that contributes to the desacralization of the liturgy" are to be wholly excluded from liturgical ceremonies. Musical instruments other than the pipe organ may be used only when they are suitable for worship, that is, when they accord with the dignity of the temple of God and contribute to the edification of the faithful. Instruments generally associated with modern secular music are to be barred from liturgical services and devotions.

The long and short of it is: be comforted and nourished by the music that personally uplifts you. For advice on sacred liturgical music, though, turn to the Church, which holds different styles and traditions as exemplary.

Gary Penkala
CanticaNOVA Publications