Letter on Sacred Music in the Liturgy

to the parishioners of
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church
Lake Ridge, Virginia (Part 3)

III. Toward an Authentic Parish Renewal

An authentic renewal must not only point out problems of the past but also move toward the future. Now we will discuss the foundation for a renewal of sacred music in our parish.

The priceless heritage

There is a great treasury of music from which we may draw. It reaches back to the earliest centuries of the Church and extends even to the present day. This music comes from many different eras, places, and styles, but all of it has the potential to lift us out of the ordinary and draw us into the presence of God. Authentic, enduring sacred music points not to itself but to the mysteries of the Liturgy, and in particular the mystery of the Eucharist.

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 preeminence is that, as sacred song closely bound to the text, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn Liturgy.³⁵

The various moments in the Liturgy require a musical expression of their own. From time to time this must fittingly bring out the nature proper to a specific rite, now proclaiming God's marvels, now expressing praise, supplication or even sorrow for the experience of human suffering which, however, faith opens to the prospect of Christian hope.³⁶

Thus, our parish, like many others, will begin to draw more and more from this diverse treasury, which includes Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony along with the many polyphonic styles that descended from it, and new compositions.

1. Gregorian chant

In the early Church, there were many genres of liturgical chant. Major liturgical centers, such as Rome, Milan, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Constantinople, had their own collections of liturgical chant. With the creation of the Holy Roman Empire in the ninth century came a great consolidation of western Liturgy and chant, holding up Rome as the supreme model. This new consolidation was named Gregorian after Pope Saint Gregory the Great — who carried out liturgical reforms three centuries earlier — and it became the official music of the Roman Catholic Church. In its teaching on sacred music, the Second Vatican Council reminds us that "the Church recognizes Gregorian Chant as being specially suited to the Roman Liturgy. Therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place [some translate this principal place] in the liturgical services." ³⁷ With this in mind, Pope John Paul II explains the primacy of Gregorian chant in the Church's tradition of liturgical music:

Saint Pius X pointed out that the Church had "inherited it from the Fathers of the Church," that she has "jealously guarded it for centuries in her liturgical codices" and still "proposes it to the faithful" as her own, considering it "the supreme model of sacred music." Thus, Gregorian chant continues also today to be an element of unity in the Roman Liturgy.³⁸

The US Bishops have likewise given reasons for preserving Latin chant:

[C]are should be taken to foster the role of Latin in the Liturgy, particularly in liturgical song. Pastors should ensure "that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them."³⁹ They should be able to sing these parts of the Mass proper to them, at least according to the simpler melodies.⁴⁰

Gregorian chant is uniquely the Church's own music. Chant is a living connection with our forebears in the faith, the traditional music of the Roman rite, a sign of communion with the universal Church, a bond of unity across cultures, a means for diverse communities to participate together in song, and a summons to contemplative participation in the Liturgy.⁴¹

The Second Vatican Council directed that the faithful be able to sing parts of the Ordinary of the Mass together in Latin. In many worshiping communities in the United States, fulfilling this directive will mean introducing Latin chant to worshipers who perhaps have not sung it before.⁴²

The bishops go on to give certain chants that should be a bare minimum for every congregation. At Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton parish, while all Masses will begin to integrate these essential chants into their musical vocabulary, the 12:30pm Sunday Mass, led by a chant schola (see below), will on a weekly basis use the chant to enrich the Liturgy and allow the exploration of additional chant settings for those who wish to immerse themselves more deeply in this music. Well-known examples you may recognize are the benediction hymn Tantum ergo and the Marian antiphon Regina coeli. Many of our English hymns are translations of Gregorian chant hymns, among them "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (Veni, veni, Emmanuel), "Come Holy Ghost, Creator Blest" (Veni, Creator Spiritus), and "Creator of the Stars of Night" (Conditor alme siderum).

2. Renaissance polyphony

The great diverse body of expressive polyphonic choral music from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries — as well as music that grew out of it in later centuries — is second only to Gregorian chant in the eyes of the Church. A choir will offer this music at the 10:45am Sunday Mass. Within this musical patrimony, you may recognize names of Renaissance composers such as Palestrina, Baroque composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friederich Händel (who wrote the famous Messiah oratorio from which the "Hallelujah Chorus" is drawn), and Classical composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (famous for his Requiem).

3. New compositions

The Second Vatican Council urges composers to add to the treasury:

Composers, animated by the Christian spirit, should accept that it pertains to their vocation to cultivate sacred music and increase its store of treasures. Let them produce compositions which have the qualities proper to genuine sacred music, and which can be sung not only by large choirs but also by smaller choirs, and which make possible the active participation of the whole congregation. The texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine. Indeed, they should be drawn chiefly from the sacred scriptures and from liturgical sources.⁴³

In response to the legitimate call from many of you to hear music of modern composers, a choir will lead this music at the 6:00pm Saturday Mass. The repertoire will be both fresh and authentic, using this "general rule" from Pope John Paul II which is itself based on directives from Pope Saint Pius X:

"The more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savour the Gregorian melodic form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple."⁴⁴ It is not, of course, a question of imitating Gregorian chant but rather of ensuring that new compositions are imbued with the same spirit that inspired and little by little came to shape it. Only an artist who is profoundly steeped in the sensus Ecclesiæ [sense of the Church] can attempt to perceive and express in melody the truth of the Mystery that is celebrated in the Liturgy.⁴⁵

Hymnody

The core of the renewal of congregational song is our repertoire of hymns. Because the influx of "contemporary music" replaced many venerable hymns, we will gradually be recovering a baseline repertoire of old and new hymns that are strong musically and rich in theological content.⁴⁶ Though many of them are already well-known to you, there are many more that may seem new. This, perhaps, is where we request the greatest amount of patience and effort on your part. New hymns will be repeated multiple times in a short period in order to aid you in learning new music. In time, the parish website will include downloadable melodies (in MIDI or MP3 format) and music (in PDF format) of those hymns that are public domain for anyone who wishes to see and hear upcoming hymns. We also encourage you to use these hymns in your own personal devotion.

In August we began to print monthly Liturgy programs in order to facilitate learning new hymns. Recently, it was announced that a new English translation of the Roman Missal had been approved and will be implemented beginning in Advent 2011. Since current hymnals will have outdated Mass texts at that point, we will delay purchasing new hymnals for the parish until we can select one that contains both an appropriate hymn repertoire and up-to-date settings of the new Mass translations.

Instruments

Of all the sounds of which human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are capable, voice is the most privileged and fundamental. Musical instruments in the Liturgy are best understood as an extension of and support to the primary liturgical instrument, which is the human voice.⁴⁷

The pipe organ

Regarding the use of instruments in the sacred Liturgy, the Second Vatican Council states the following:

The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, for it is the traditional instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up men's minds to God and higher things. But other instruments also may be admitted for use in divine worship . . . . This may be done, however, only on condition that the instruments are suitable, or can be made suitable, for sacred use; that they accord with the dignity of the temple, and that they truly contribute to the edification of the faithful.⁴⁸

The US Bishops add to the discussion by commenting on the thoughts of our present pope:

The organ is accorded "pride of place" because of its capacity to sustain the singing of a large gathered assembly, due to both its size and its ability to give "resonance to the fullness of human sentiments, from joy to sadness, from praise to lamentation." Likewise, "the manifold possibilities of the organ in some way remind us of the immensity and the magnificence of God."

In addition to its ability to lead and sustain congregational singing, the sound of the pipe organ is most suited for solo playing of sacred music in the Liturgy at appropriate moments. Pipe organs also play an important evangelical role in the Church's outreach to the wider community in sacred concerts, music series, and other musical and cultural programs.⁴⁹

We regret to say that the "organ" currently in our church is not truly a pipe organ, but merely a synthesizer built to look and sound (somewhat) like an organ. It is also far past its life span: the digital sounds have severely deteriorated to a point where the instrument is barely capable of the expressive possibilities expressed by Pope Benedict XVI above. Furthermore, problems with our sound system setup have magnified the inability of this digital instrument to support congregational singing in the way a real organ could.

Therefore, we are pleased to announce that, in the foreseeable future, we will begin a new organ fund. A research committee, under the leadership of our organist Jon Laird will then begin the extensive search process for a new pipe organ.

Other instruments

Because of differences in longstanding local cultural practices, Church documents for the most part have not specifically given lists of "approved" or "forbidden" instruments for Liturgy. However, two excerpts on instruments used in the Liturgy can illustrate the practical and theological considerations:

Other instruments can be called upon to give great help in attaining the lofty purpose of sacred music, so long as they play nothing profane, nothing clamorous or strident and nothing at variance with the sacred service or the dignity of the place. Among these the violin and other musical instruments that use a bow are outstanding because, when they are played by themselves or with other stringed instruments or with the organ, they express the joyous and sad sentiments of the soul with an indescribable power.⁵⁰

[F]rom the days when the Ark of the Covenant was accompanied in procession by cymbals, harps, lyres, and trumpets, God's people have, in various periods, used a variety of musical instruments to sing his praise. Each of these instruments, born of the culture and the traditions of a particular people, has given voice to a wide variety of forms and styles through which Christ's faithful continue to join their voices to his perfect song of praise upon the Cross. Many other instruments also enrich the celebration of the Liturgy, such as wind, stringed, or percussion instruments "according to longstanding local usage, provided they are truly apt for sacred use or can be rendered apt."⁵¹

We wholeheartedly welcome all instrumentalists to come forward and give their talents to God through the Liturgy.

Several parishioners have expressed concern about the future of guitars and percussion in our parish Liturgy. We do not believe that these instruments are absolutely excluded from the Liturgy; however, since they are so intimately tied to the contemporary style of music discussed above, their use will be significantly reduced to the point of being extremely rare.