Interesting news from the New Liturigcal Movement...

You have to know the back story to understand why the Vatican's change of policy on guest choirs is so important. For years, there has been a revolving door operating with regard to St. Peter's concerning guest choirs. Some have been great. Many have not been. Some have offered deeply regrettable performances.

Who was running the show? It almost seemed as if the Vatican lost control over this. It became more of a tourism project than a liturgical one. This was a tragedy that had to be addressed.

Sounds familiar. So what has been done?

New Norms...

"The liturgy is celebrated in the Latin language, according to the Roman Rite. Gregorian chant has first place. The guest choir is expected to chant the Ordinary of Holy Mass in alternation with the Musical Chapel of the Basilica."

There is even a playlist...

Sundays of Advent: Missa XVII Credo IV
Sundays of Christmas: Missa IX Credo IV
Sundays of Lent: Missa XVII Credo IV
Sundays of Easter: Missa I Credo III
Sundays of Ordinary Time: Missa XI Credo I
Feasts of Ordinary Time: Missa VIII Credo III
Feasts of the B.V. Mary: Missa IX Credo IV
Feasts of the Apostles: Missa IV Credo III

You can get the full story at the New Liturgical Movement blog.

Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith works in the Vatican as the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship. That means he probably knows a thing or two about the liturgy. He writes...

Some practices which Sacrosanctum Concilium had never even contemplated were allowed into the Liturgy, like Mass versus populum, Holy Communion in the hand, altogether giving up on the Latin and Gregorian Chant in favor of the vernacular and songs and hymns without much space for God, and extension beyond any reasonable limits of the faculty to concelebrate at Holy Mass. There was also the gross misinterpretation of the principle of "active participation."

Today [...] the Church can look back and recognize the influences that distorted the original intent of the Council. That recognition, he says, should "help us to be courageous in improving or changing that which was erroneously introduced and which appears to be incompatible with the true dignity of the Liturgy." A much-needed "reform of the reform," he argues, should be inspired by "not merely a desire to correct past mistakes but much more the need to be true to what the Liturgy in fact is and means to us and what the Council itself defined it to be."

[link]

In years to come the period shortly after the 1960's will be but a footnote in the history of the Church. The short period of turbulence that follows any council of the Church.

The question Catholics have to ask themselves now is simple. Will they use their free will to read the council documents and choose the good of what the Liturgy in fact is and what the Council defined it to be? Or will they submit to the degrading slavary of being children of their age?

Fr Tim Finigan writes about the way we help people to 'participate' in the Sacred Liturgy by having something other than the Sacred Liturgy instead...

To take just one example: what is meant to be sung at the beginning of Mass is the Introit; and Vatican II gave pride of place to Gregorian Chant for liturgical music. Most people will only ever hear the Introit sung at Mass celebrated according to the usus antiquior. At English Masses, they will not hear the Introit in English set to Gregorian Chant or even in some modern musical form. Instead, they will get an "Entrance hymn" chosen to suit the "theme" of the Mass or the season, or because it is one that people know and enjoy.

Imagine suggesting that the Entrance hymn be replaced by the Introit - perhaps sung in English according to one of the psalm tones to start with. One of the most likely objections will be that the people cannot participate.

This leads to a deeper question concerning the nature of liturgical participation. From Pope St Pius X onwards, there have been calls for active participation - culminating in the call of Sacrosanctum Concilium for the full, conscious and active participation of the people.

Notice, however, that "participation" implies that we are participating in something. What we are meant to be participating in is the Sacred Liturgy. The hymn "Holy God we praise thy name", or "Colours of Day" - take your pick - is not a part of the Sacred Liturgy. If such a hymn is chosen in preference to the Introit, nobody is actually participating in the Sacred Liturgy: people are simply singing a hymn that they like (or at least that somebody likes or thinks that other people should like.)

Has not "active participation" given way to mere activity?

[link]

"Imagine suggesting that the Entrance hymn be replaced by the Introit"

Imagine! I don't have to imagine it - I've done it. The introit is very definitely on the list of things I am excluded from by the modern Church in the name of inclusion.

It's the same story as the Latin. Eleven year olds in England are routinely taught to say "Hello, Pleased to meet you, My name is Jack, How old are you? Where is the hotel?" in French (to help them feel in touch with Europe or something) but oh mercy won't somebody think of the children if anybody suggests they might learn five lines of Pater Noster and so speak in one voice with Catholics around the world and through the centuries... So we are excluded from Latin.

I hope someday we will be able to partake in these things from which we have been excluded in the name of inclusion. In the meantime, the madness continues.

From Jeffrey Tucker...

What is truly tragic is that no one has alerted you to the real significance of chant. It goes far beyond using a chant as one of the four songs you can pick for Mass. The Gregorian chant grew up alongside the Mass itself, one step at a time. Some might date from the early Church, which sang the Psalms exclusively. The tradition developed as the liturgy developed over the next one thousand years as the parts of the Mass were organized and systemized into a liturgical year. There was music to go with the prayers. It was sung by martyrs and saints and heard in all times and all nations where the faith thrived.

The essential musical structure of the Mass as it emerged in the middle ages had an Entrance prayer that was set to chant. This is called the Introit. Sometimes you hear the first word of the chant used to describe the Mass of the day. This is where we get the terms "Gaudete Sunday," "Laetare Sunday," and "Requiem Mass." What is called the "gathering song" or the "processional hymn" is really a replacement for this Introit.

When Vatican II said that the chant should have primacy, what it means is that this Introit should be sung, and that when it is not possible to sing it, the preference for chant still remains.

It is true with other parts of the Mass too. The Offertory is not a musical intermission but the name of a real prayer that is set to music. The same is true of Communion. These are gorgeous chants. Even the Psalm has a melody in the chant books. The more you get to know these treasures, the more it strikes you just how unified the text and the music are. Their assignment is not at all random.

Often the melody clearly reflects the story of the text, so that the melody goes up when speaking of Heaven and down when speaking of humility. The complexity of them can be enrapturing the more you study them. You find beautiful presentations of Gospel narratives and parables. Each chant serves a particular musical function. The Introit and Offertory are processional chants, for example, so they have a forward motion with less elaborate musical expression on individual words. The Psalm chants are more for reflection, so they are long and elaborate.

The chant, then, is not just one choice among many. It is the music of the Mass itself, and the only form of music that truly qualifies by definition. The chants mentioned above are called "propers" and they change week to week. There are also chants for the "ordinary" of the Mass, so-called because their text remains the same. There are parts for the people: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Agnus Dei. You have heard a few of these, most likely the ones people have started to sing for Lent. But the Church has given us fully 18 sets of these pieces of music, and you can see from their structure that they are intended for everyone to sing.

In the experience of our parish, people can pick up these ordinary chants rather quickly. They love singing them. They don't need accompaniment. They use the human voice alone, the very instrument that God has given all of us. This way there is an absence of elitism in this music. It needs no specialists who know how to play piano and guitar and drums. Actually, you don't even need the music really. In fact, for the first thousand years of Christianity, the chant was sung without being written out in a way that could be widely distributed. It was learned and carried forward by frequency of use, the way people learn "Praise and Worship" music today.

There are other marks of chant that make it distinctive. It lacks a regular beat-style rhythm such as that we hear in rock, country, soul, blues, or any other style. It is what is called plainsong, so there is an underlying pulse but it doesn't cause you to want to tap your toe or dance. What it does do is draw the senses upward toward the Heavens. It assists in the goal of all liturgy, which is to take us out of time and help us pray and listen to eternal things. In contrast, music with a beat keeps us grounded and internal.

Another feature of chant is its humility. A major problem with Praise and Worship music is that it tends to focus everyone on the person doing the performing. The bands are featured in the front of the church. The band members are showered with complements. The singing style elicits a kind of egoism that probably makes you uncomfortable but is integral to popular styles. Chant is completely different because it does not seek to put the talent of the singer on exhibit. Instead, it is all about community prayer. The ego is buried. It doesn't unleash the self but rather requires a submission of self to holiness. In this way, it is like the faith: as St. John Baptist said, let me decrease and let him increase in me. This is what the chant does – what the chant requires.

You are right to suspect that chant requires a substantial change of pace. It is not just a matter of substituting one song for another. The chant leads the embrace of a completely different approach to liturgy itself. The music serves the liturgy and the liturgy serves God. Where does that leave the singers and the community? Precisely where we should be: not as consumers but as servants.

You are all too aware that you were cheated out of a robust form of Catholicism when growing up, not by design but merely because of the unfortunate timing. These were difficult days. In the same way that many aspects of the faith were not well presented to you, the music of the Church has not been presented to you either. But you were born into these times, as a musician, for a reason. Perhaps you are being called to make a difference.

The Pope has made the restoration of sacred music a centerpiece of his liturgical goals. He speaks about the issue often, and has written so much about it. Perhaps it is time to consider that he is onto something profoundly important here.

[link]

I don't know what I can add to that...

Is it not enough to cheat my generation? Must we cheat my children as well?

This is a lie. The photos are fake. Do not believe it.

Children cannot possibly learn Chant.

Nope.

Definitely not.

Never.

You'll be expecting Leona to walk next!

Learning to sing, is, of course, impossible. Which is why this course is a waste of time:

Learn to Sing

A free 5 week course for all ages, aimed at newcomers to singing and those who have not sung for a while.

Starting on Tuesday 23rd September, 7pm at the Main Hall, Brittain Building, Teesside University, Borough Road.

[link]

If it were possible for people to learn to sing (which of course, it isn't) then when when our parish was faced with an absence of musicians, people could have simply learned to sing (but that can't be done) instead of it being seen of a desperate situation requiring a digital organist because "people can't sing if there is no music".

If, like me, you're not part of the current loser generation of rapidly ageing people who seem to think they invented sex (and English) and the world started in 1962 then you probably don't find the idea of experimenting with things that were commonplace in the Church for say, hundreds of years, terrifying.

If that's you, then you might be interested in this: An Idiot's Guide to Square Notes.

But remember, only people that can already sing can sing and those people just don't exist in the Church these days. If they did, you'd see them on X-Factor.

From our "glorious traditions our parent's generation pissed away" department we bring you the 'O' Antiphons. The last eight nights before Christmas Eve were called "The Golden Nights" and the antiphons all begin with 'O' e.g. O Wisdom, O Lord of Israel, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Radiant Dawn, O King of Nations, O God With Us.

In latin that reads: O Sapientia, O Adonai, O Radix Jesse, O Clavis David, O Oriens, O Radix Gentium, O Emmanuel. The first letter of each title (not including the 'O' of course) spells "SARC ORE" which is Ero Cras backwards which means "tomorrow I will come" in latin.

Fortunately, somebody wonderful has pub together a web page on the subject of the 'O' antiphons resplendent with mp3 files and jpg scans of gregorian chant notation - click here for that.

114. The treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care. Choirs must be diligently promoted, especially in cathedral churches; but bishops and other pastors of souls must be at pains to ensure that, whenever the sacred action is to be celebrated with song, the whole body of the faithful may be able to contribute that active participation which is rightly theirs, as laid down in Art. 28 and 30.

116. The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.

118. Religious singing by the people is to be intelligently fostered so that in devotions and sacred exercises, as also during liturgical services, the voices of the faithful may ring out according to the norms and requirements of the rubrics.

[Sacrosanctum Concillium]

Are Choirs diligently promoted? Are our pastors of souls at pains to ensure that the whole body of the faithful are able to contribute when we celebrate with song? Is chant given pride of place? Is religious singing intelligently fostered?

It must be the lack of demand from young families...

Jeffrey Tucker of the New Liturgical Movement blog (a fine blog) put together a list of ten unknown truths about Sacred Music.

Are they true? Because if they are then somebody should let people know...

The music of the Mass is not of our choosing; it is not a matter of taste; it is not a glossy layer on top of a liturgy. Liturgical music is embedded within the structure of the liturgy itself: theologically, melodically, and historically.

Hymns are not part of the structure of Mass. Nothing in the Mass says: it is now time to sing a hymn of your choice. Hymns are permitted as replacements for what should be sung but only with reservations.

The sung parts of the Mass can be divided into three parts: the ordinary chants (which are stable from week to week), the proper chants (which change according the day), and the priests parts that include sung dialogues with the people.

The music of for the Mass is found in three books: the Kyriale (for the people), the Graduale (for the schola), and the Missale (for the priest).

To advocate Gregorian chant is not merely to favor Latin hymns over English ones, because chant hymns make up only a small portion of chant repertoire. It is to favor a sung Mass over a spoken one, and to favor the music of the Mass itself against substitutes.

Cognitive pedagogy is not the primary purpose of music, so, no, it is not important that all people gathered always and immediately "understand the words."

The music of Mass does not require an organist, pianist, guitar player, bongos, or microphones. It requires only the human voice, which is the primary liturgical instrument.

The Second Vatican Council was the first ecumenical council to decisively declare that chant has primacy of place: "Ecclesia cantum gregorianum agnoscit ut liturgiae romanae proprium: qui ideo in actionibus liturgicis, ceteris paribus, principem locum obtineat." (And ceteris paribus does not mean: unless you don't like it. It means even if chant cannot be sung because of poor skills or lack of resources, or whatever, it still remains an ideal.)

There is no contradiction between chant and participation. Vatican II hoped to see that vernacular hymnody would decrease and the sung Mass would increase. Full, conscience, active participation in the Mass means: it is up to the people to do their part to sing the parts of the Mass that belong to the people.

The first piece of papal legislation concerning music appeared in 95AD, by Pope St. Clement. It forbid profane music in liturgy and emphasized that Church is the place for holy music. All successive legislation has been a variation on that theme.

It's probably fair to say I was a bit harsh about Fr Massie and his digital ways. Tonight he did good. Firstly, we had a new rite latin mass. Later, he continued to teach us Gregorian Chant.

We are working through the Missa de Angelis in the plainsong for schools book. It's quite challenging when you don't know any of it but after several runs through we are getting somewhere. Fr Massie's friend Fr Augustine from Pluscarden was down for the night on his way to a meeting of novice masters (he's a monk and a novice master) and he was able to give us tips as well.

All in all, it's great to see that progress is possible and that Fr Massie is serious about getting this stuff in to some proper masses.

Here's a resource for all you liturgical music arranging types. If you want to sing the psalm each week but don't have the l337 skills to read gregorian or what have you. Despair not. The Chabanel Psalm Project has all the psalms set to simple melodies based on traditional gregorian chant tones.

Check out this sunday (this sunday (24th Sunday of Ordinary Time) for example.

Now if only someone would do the same for the antiphons.