Pope Benedict XVI Schola

Jeffrey Tucker has a fabulous post on The New Liturgical Movement , titled “When it is chant and when it is not.” Here’s an excerpt:

The famously unfulfilled mandate of the Second Vatican Council, that Gregorian chant should enjoy a principal place (principem locum obtineat) in liturgy, is finally being taken more seriously by Catholic musicians and ecclesiastical bodies. But there are many issues that are unresolved, mostly due to the lack of consciousness on the part of the musicians and clergy. The Vatican document from 1963 assumed more knowledge than most Catholic musicians and pastors currently have on this issue.
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I’ve bought a lot of chant books in the past two years, but my favorite remains A Gregorian Chant Master Class by Dr. Ted Marier, available from the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Conn.

The good sisters have done us all a favor by making it possible to buy the book online. Last time I ordered a copy—in September, as a gift for a friend—I had to pay the old-fashioned way, by mailing a check.

The book offers a handy chart of neumes (the symbols used to represent the notes), clear explanations of how each one is sung, detailed examples, and a CD with a series of short lessons. If you want to learn chant, this is an excellent resource to start with.

Musicam Sacram, Instruction on Music in the Liturgy, published March 5, 1967, by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. If you want to know what we’re supposed to be singing at Mass, this document provides the foundation. —————- Now playing: Corydon Singers, Matthew Best & Thomas Trotter - Missa Choralis, S. 10 : III. Credo via FoxyTunes

A friend has created a live365 Internet radio station, Gregorian Chant Lives! At the moment all but one of the tracks are from commercial recordings. One track is a Communion chant (link to pdf download: Amen dico vobis) sung by Harmonia Vocal Quartet and recorded during Mass under somewhat imperfect conditions.

The goal is to shift to chant recordings submitted by U.S. scholas. So if you’re a member of such a group and have mp3s to share, please e-mail.

In the meantime, enjoy listening.

Most Catholics—including, perhaps, many directors of music, priests, deacons, and religious—seem to see the selection of music for the sacred liturgy as a private matter, determined by personal preferences and what are “our favorite songs.” Certainly the culture of American Catholicism fosters that impression. A recent issue of a diocesan newspaper included an article explaining the U.S. bishops’ new advisory document Sing to the Lord. The article correctly notes that STTL “places a special emphasis on the use of the organ and the singing of Gregorian chants in Catholic Liturgies.” It continues,

But the music directors at three [diocesan] parishes don’t see the document as signaling a return to traditional music and a phasing out of popular contemporary music. A balance of music styles is needed, the directors said, to give participants the music they find spiritually moving.

The diocesan newspaper in question is an especially good one, and I’m not slamming the editors or writers.

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Have you noticed the number of chant articles appearing in the media? Virtually all of the Catholic mags have published on the topic in the past year, and some secular newspapers have as well. Here’s a nice piece from the November/December 2007 issue of The Catholic Answer, an Our Sunday Visitor publication. The authors are Arlene Oost-Zinner and Jeffrey Tucker of the St. Cecilia Schola in Auburn, Ala. A couple of key paragraphs:

Popes have consistently emphasized that it should be studied, perfected and used, not just in religious communities and cathedrals but in all parishes. That is in part because chant embodies the pace, rhythm and transcendent longings we find in Scripture, particularly the Psalms. The tradition of Gregorian chant in the Latin rite provides music that meets the needs of all ages, classes and ethnic groups, not just in our times but in all times. The chant is intimately linked with Catholic faith and its prayer life. It takes us out of our everyday environment to remind us that we are in a sacred space. It helps us pray. For all these reasons, chant has begun to move beyond the world of CDs and movie soundtracks, entering once again into our parish lives. The National Registry of Gregorian Scholas (choirs), for example, lists more than 100 groups singing in parishes around the country.