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| Musical Musings: Liturgy | Page 2 |
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Bells and Whistles, Guitars and Tambourines (cont.)What about Guitars?In my own parish, a guitarist is hired for one of the weekend Masses. He sits in the sanctuary and plays his guitar as he sings. The gentleman has a nice singing voice, but the congregation, usually a good singing congregation, muffles itself when he performs. They try not to out-sing the soloist, or drown out the guitar.The guitar can be a beautiful solo instrument. It can blend nicely into an accompaniment ensemble behind a soloist or choir. But it is not a good instrument for leading congregational singing, as most musicians observe: "What is it with you Catholics and guitars?" an Episcopalian friend asked. And a Methodist colleague added, "we only bring in the guitar for the children's group. It just doesn't work for a congregation". Indeed! Lest I be accused of being anti-guitar, I have a large collection of recordings of Paco Peña, Carlos Montoya, Andrés Segovia. To me, this is guitar. But most people who play the guitar in our churches today are not well trained musicians. So we get nothing but a rhythmic strum-strum-strum (and not always in tune). When the untrained lead the untrained, how can we present the best to God? How can we give God – the source of all truth, beauty, and goodness – music that is true, beautiful, and good?
Musical StylesForty years ago, the Constitution on the Liturgy stressed that Catholic music is "a treasure of inestimable value":The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn Liturgy. (SC 112)Greater than any other art! Integral part of the solemn Liturgy! And more so, "The treasury of sacred music is to be preserved and cultivated with great care" (SC 114). Yet in many parishes, one will find little music written before 1960. This may be good for the music publishers, but it eliminates the treasure of music that the Council told us we were to keep and continue. If we are not using traditional music of the Catholic Church, and only buying the hot-off-the-press hymn-of-the-month-club stuff, then we are not obeying the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. The phrases in Chapter VI of Sacrosanctum Concilium are very telling: "sacred music is more holy," "conferring greater solemnity." The word solemn appears many times in connection with music that is suited to the Mass. It is hard to equate the rock bands found in many parishes with "solemnity." The Council Fathers wrote, "The Church recognizes Gregorian chant as being specially suited to the Roman Liturgy. Therefore ... it should be given pride of place in liturgical services" (SC 116). This is reaffirmed in the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM): Gregorian chant holds pride of place because it is proper to the Roman Liturgy. Other types of music, in particular polyphony, are in no way excluded, provided that they correspond to the spirit of the liturgical action. Since faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently, it is fitting that they know how to sing together parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. (GIRM 41)If chant and the traditional music of the Church, Latin-chanted Credo and Pater Noster, are to hold "pride of place" in our Roman rite, then the instruments used must be suitable for that music. Clearly this would immediately eliminate much of what we find in parishes today. Pope Saint Pius X wrote in his Instruction on music one hundred years ago that nothing should "diminish the piety ... give scandal ... offend the decorum and sanctity of the sacred functions." He wrote, "It must be holy, and must therefore, exclude all profanity not only in itself, but in the manner in which it is presented by those who execute it" ( TLS 2). The word profanity here means non-sacred; i.e., music that is secular in nature. Pius X was quite specific about instruments: "the employment of the piano is forbidden in church, as is also that of noisy or frivolous instruments such as drums, cymbals, bells, and the like" (TLS 19). The preference for Gregorian chant, polyphony, Latin, and the pipe organ appear both in Sacrosanctum Concilium and Musicam Sacram (1967 Instruction on Music in the Liturgy), and are repeated in in the 2002 GIRM. In the GIRM (US version), we still read, "While the organ is to be accorded pride of place, other wind, stringed, or percussion instruments may be used in liturgical services in the dioceses of the United States of America, according to longstanding local usage, provided they are truly apt for sacred use or can be rendered apt" (393). So there it is, folks. Sacred. Dignified. Decorum. Piety. Traditional. Suitable. Not profane or secular. While some liturgists may try to tell us that music becomes sacred by being used for worship, the notion that function (or use) creates form (or meaning) is hardly self-evident. Most musicians, musicologists and music therapists would strongly disagree – not to mention Cardinal Ratzinger, the popes, and Vatican directives! The nature of the thing will determine its use, not vice versa. So what does this mean? If it sounds like a Broadway ballad, it belongs on Broadway, not the altar. If it sounds like a "golden oldie," sing it at home. If it stirs feelings of a non-sacred nature, it does not belong in a sacred place. If sounds like a rock group or a mariachi band, then it may be fine for entertainment at the parish picnic or in the gym, but not at Mass, and not in the temple wherein the Sacrifice of Calvary is re-presented. If the instruments used to accompany congregational singing do not lead the faithful into fuller participation in the Sacrifice of the Mass, or a deeper sense of the sacred; if instead they entertain us, or bring our hearts and minds into the world – the mundane, secular, and sensual – then how can they be suitable (or "made apt") for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? Exactly a century ago, Pope Saint Pius X's Instruction on liturgical music observed that "there is a general tendency to deviate from the right rule" that erodes a sense of the sacred at Mass. He succinctly described his objective concerning Church music: We deem it necessary to provide before anything else for the sanctity and dignity of the temple, in which the faithful assemble for no other object than that of acquiring this spirit from its foremost and indispensable fount, which is the active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church ( TLS Introduction).In our churches in 2003, no less than in 1903, we need to banish whatever is unsuitable – whether instruments, or styles – and work to restore the sacred sound of music in our churches, so that we may experience the full truth and beauty of the sacred Liturgy. The series, Musicians in Catholic Worship, by Lucy E. Carroll
Lucy E. Carroll, D.M.A., is organist and music director at the public chapel of the Carmelite monastery in Philadelphia, and is adjunct associate professor at Westminster Choir College, Princeton. Her Churchmouse Squeaks cartoons appear regularly in the Adoremus Bulletin. Copyright © 2003 Adoremus: Society for the Renewal of the Sacred Liturgy. See also CNP's Index of Music for Organ & Instruments |
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