        |
 |
| Musical Musings: Liturgy | Page 4 |
| |
|
The Snowbird Statement (Part 4)22. We affirm the use of choral music from the church's heritage, including Gregorian chant and polyphony, as recommended by various church documents of and since the Second Vatican Council. Liturgically sound criteria, however, must inform the use of the heritage of music. Pieces from the so-called treasury of sacred music must not be used in an unreformed, preconciliar manner, for reasons of mere nostalgic sentimentality or in any way at cross-purposes with the structure and pastoral intent of the renewed rites. Rather, the church's heritage of sacred music (which today certainly includes treasures from other Christian musical traditions) must be used with careful attention to the structure of the reformed liturgy, with a well-informed sense for how a rite unfolds, and with respect for pastoral needs and sensibilities. A discerning use of traditional music can be a spiritually edifying enhancement of liturgical celebrations and a sign of our union with and indebtedness to our forebears. The treasury of sacred music should not be understood as closed, however. It can function as a wellspring, guide and inspiration for future composition. It can also serve to foster organic growth and continued creativity in Catholic liturgical music.23. We underscore the value of the pipe organ as a most effective leader of congregational singing, especially in large assemblies. With its wide dynamic range, its variety of tonal color and especially its air-supported, sustained sound, the pipe organ offers a most effective support for communal song. The experimentation with guitars, pianos and other instruments over the past three decades has only proven the greater effectiveness of the organ. For smaller congregations and in small spaces, the use of other acoustical instruments such as the piano, guitar and wind instruments can be effective. These instruments need not be abandoned, but their use as instruments of broad congregational support is clearly limited. We invite a more critical attitude to claims that electronic instruments are equally effective and economical, and we encourage the installation of even small pipe organs in situations where resources are limited. We also wish to underscore the fact that good pipe organs help to attract competent musicians to leadership roles in the liturgical life of the church. They can also attract young people the organists of the future to the field of liturgical music and promote mentoring relationships between skilled practitioners and aspiring musicians. A commitment to the pipe organ represents a commitment to future quality in sung worship. 24. The area of acoustics represents a critical element of liturgical-architectural design. This area has not been given adequate attention in recent decades by those responsible for the design, building and renovation of churches. Acoustics should not be regarded as a peripheral aesthetic consideration. Indeed, the principal beneficiary of an ample acoustic is the singing assembly; the church building itself is the primary resonating instrument of those gathered for worship. Lively interaction between building and assembly is essential both to the spoken and sung participation of the people and the dialogic character of the liturgy. A resonant acoustic is also crucial if choral music is to achieve its particular effect. All voices present in communal worship are well served by good acoustics: congregation, presiders, lectors, cantors, choirs and instrumentalists. 25. The use of recorded music is a great temptation in Catholic worship today, especially where adequate musical resources are lacking. This option, attractive as it may appear, should be discouraged as antithetical to the nature of the liturgy as the living act of God's people. Nothing should substitute for or impede the functioning of the assembly in actual liturgical celebrations. The use of recorded choirs, organs and cantors, though they can seem to serve an immediate need, has the effect of discouraging local communities from marshalling the resources necessary for the authentic celebration of the liturgy. The Challenge of Leadership26. We are concerned about the current lack of official leadership in the area of liturgical music. This problem exists at national, regional and diocesan levels. While many pressing ecclesiastical concerns compete for the attention of individual bishops and bishops' conferences, more extensive episcopal leadership would be of enormous benefit to the church's sung liturgy. We urge the liturgy secretariats of episcopal conferences to restore or advance the subcommittees on church music that emerged after the Second Vatican Council, but have atrophied in recent years. These subcommittees should seek consultation with competent, practicing church musicians. Bishops' conferences also need to produce more adequate criteria for liturgical music publishing companies, so that the undue influence of commercial enterprises is kept in check. Otherwise, the church's repertoire will be determined by market forces.27. The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) has done much to serve the liturgy of the church in the English-speaking world. We commend ICEL for the excellent work achieved and we reject the wholesale criticism that has come from some quarters. We recognize the seriousness of some theological evaluations of the recent work of ICEL; however, we leave these concerns to those competent in doctrinal matters. Our concerns are more immediately musical. As ICEL continues to change texts destined for liturgical singing, negative effects are created for the ongoing development of liturgical music. Textual changes have the consequence of rendering obsolete many musical settings composed since the Second Vatican Council. We grant that the early vernacular translations were poetically weak and inevitably transitional, but we oppose further textual change until it is certain that the result is poetically excellent and enduring. We believe a more extensive consultation process with musicians, especially composers, and with wordsmiths, is necessary. There exist several models for consultation and testing in other Christian churches that could be usefully adapted. Conclusion28. We end, as we began, by affirming the fundamental impulses and pastoral decisions of the Second Vatican Council concerning the liturgical life of the church and the attendant renewal in the area of music. None of our criticisms of current theory or practice should be understood as a rejection of conciliar reform, much less as a desire to restore preconciliar practices. Great things have been achieved since the Council in the musical aspects of the church's liturgical life. However, the positive achievements coexist with much that needs revision and redirection. This statement, then, serves as an affirmation, a critique and a challenge. It does not claim to be conclusive or complete. It is offered as part of a necessary conversation about the future of Catholic worship that must continue with intelligence, wisdom and charity.1 November 1995, The Solemnity of All Saints SignatoriesAnthony J. DiCelloMount St. Mary's Seminary Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) Donald K. Fellows Wadhams Hall Seminary-College Ogdensburg, New York (USA) Rev. Basil Foote, OSB Westminster Abbey Mission, British Columbia (Canada) James Frazier St. Louis King of France Church St. Paul, Minnesota (USA) Gerard Gillen Maynooth University Maynooth (Ireland) Gregory A. Glenn The Cathedral of the Madeleine Salt Lake City, Utah (USA) Alison J. Leudecke The Immaculata San Diego, California (USA) Msgr. M. Francis Mannion The Cathedral of the Madeleine Salt Lake City, Utah (USA) Haig Mardirosian The American University Washington, DC (USA) Leo Nestor The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Washington, DC (USA) James O'Donnell Westminster Cathedral London (England) Richard Proulx Chicago, Illinois (USA) Rev. Anthony Ruff, OSB St. John's Abbey Collegeville, Minnesota (USA) James Savage St. James Cathedral Seattle, Washington (USA) Rev. Stephen Somerville Blessed Edith Stein Church Toronto, Ontario (Canada) Rev. Chrysogonos Waddell, OCSO Gethsemane Abbey Trappist, Kentucky (USA) Sr. Mary Jane Wagner, OSF St. Francis Seminary Milwaukee, Wisconsin (USA) The Snowbird Statement on Catholic Liturgical Music |
Back to Part 3: The Practice of Liturgical Music