Contemporary Catholic liturgical music

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Contemporary Catholic liturgical music encompasses a comprehensive variety of styles of music for Catholic liturgy that grew both before and after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II). The dominant style in English-speaking Canada and the United States began as Gregorian chant and folk hymns, superseded after the 1970s by a folk-based musical genre, generally acoustic and often slow in tempo, but that has evolved into a broad contemporary range of styles reflective of certain aspects of age, culture, and language. There is a marked difference between this style and those that were both common and valued in Catholic churches before Vatican II.

Contents

History

Background

In the early 1950s the Jesuit priest Joseph Gelineau was active in liturgical development in several movements leading toward Vatican II. [1] The new Gelineau psalmody was published in French (1953) and English (1963).

Vatican II

Contemporary Catholic liturgical music grew after the reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council, which called for wider use of the vernacular language in the Catholic Mass. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states:

Great importance should ... be attached to the use of singing in the celebration of the Mass, with due consideration for the culture of the people and abilities of each liturgical assembly. Although it is not always necessary (e.g. in weekday Masses) to sing all the texts that are of themselves meant to be sung, every care should be taken that singing by the ministers and the people is not absent in celebrations that occur on Sundays and on holy days of obligation. [2]

It adds:

All other things being equal, Gregorian chant holds pride of place because it is proper to the Roman Liturgy. Other types of sacred music, in particular polyphony, are in no way excluded, provided that they correspond to the spirit of the liturgical action and that they foster the participation of all the faithful. Since the faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently, it is fitting that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Creed and the Lord's Prayer, set to the simpler melodies. [3]

English Masses

One of the first English language Masses was of Gregorian chant style. It was created by DePaul University graduate Dennis Fitzpatrick and entitled "Demonstration English Mass". Fitzpatrick composed and recorded it on vinyl in mid-1963. He distributed it to many of the US bishops who were returning from a break in the Second Vatican Council. The Mass was well received by many US Catholic cleric and is said to have furthered their acceptance of Sacrosanctum Concilium . [4]

Mary Lou Williams, a Black Catholic composer, had completed her own Mass, Black Christ of the Andes (also known as Mary Lou's Mass) in 1962 and performed it that November at St. Francis Xavier Church in Manhattan. She recorded it in October of the next year. [5] It was based around a hymn in honor of the Peruvian saint Martin de Porres, two other short works, "Anima Christi" and "Praise the Lord". [6]

The first official Mass in English in the United States was held during the 1964 National Liturgical Conference in St Louis. [7] The Communion Hymn was Clarence Rivers' "God is Love", which combined Gregorian Chant with the melodic patterns and rhythms of Negro Spirituals. [7] [8] It received a 10-minute standing ovation. [9] Rivers would go on to play a major role in the Black Catholic Movement, wherein the "Gospel Mass" tradition took hold in Black Catholic parishes and introduced Black gospel music to the larger Catholic world. Other major players in this movement included Thea Bowman, James P. Lyke, George Clements, George Stallings Jr., and William "Bill" Norvel.

The revision of music in the liturgy took place in March 1967, with the passage of Musicam Sacram ("Instruction on music in the liturgy"). In paragraph 46 of this document, it states that music could be played during the sacred liturgy on "instruments characteristic of a particular people." Previously the pipe organ was used for accompaniment. The use of instruments native to the culture was an important step in the multiplication of songs written to accompany the Catholic liturgy. [10]

In addition to his role in creating this first English language Mass, Dennis had a large stake in F.E.L. (Friends of the English Liturgy). [11] Many of the contemporary artists who authored the folk music that was used in American Catholic Liturgy choose F.E.L. to be their publisher, as did Ray Repp, who pioneered contemporary Catholic liturgical music and authored the "First Mass for Young Americans", a suite of folk-style musical pieces designed for the Catholic liturgy. Repp gave an impetus to the development of "guitar masses". [12] [13]

Musical style

The musical style of 21st-century Catholic music varies greatly. Much of it is composed so that choir and assembly can be accompanied by organ, piano, or guitar. More recently, due to style preferences and cost, trends show fewer and fewer parishes use the traditional pipe organ, therefore this music has generally been written for chorus with piano, guitar, and/or percussion accompaniment. [14]

The vernacular Mass texts have also drawn composers who stand outside the dominant folk–popular music tradition, such as Giancarlo Menotti and Richard Proulx.

American composers of this music, with some of their most well known compositions, include: [15]

Notable composers of contemporary Catholic liturgical music from outside the US include:

Publishers

A significant percentage of American contemporary liturgical music has been published under the names of three publishers: Oregon Catholic Press (OCP), Gregorian Institute of America (GIA), and World Library Publications (WLP, the music and liturgy division of the J.S. Paluch company).

Oregon Catholic Press (OCP) is a not-for-profit affiliation of the Archdiocese of Portland. Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland is de facto head of OCP. [20] Archbishop Sample is the eleventh bishop of the Archdiocese of Portland and was installed on April 2, 2013. Cardinal William Levada who became Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Roman Curia was a former member of the board of directors. [20] Levada as Archbishop of Portland (1986–1995) led OCP during its expansive growth, and this style of music became the principal style among many English-speaking communities. Francis George, prior to becoming Archbishop of Chicago and cardinal, was also Archbishop of Portland and de facto head of OCP. OCP grew to represent approximately two-thirds of Catholic liturgical music market sales. [21]

Criticism

Contemporary music aims to enable the entire congregation to take part in the song, in accord with the call in Sacrosanctum Concilium for full, conscious, active participation of the congregation during the Eucharistic celebration. What its advocates call a direct and accessible style of music gives participation of the gathered community higher priority than the beauty added to the liturgy by a choir skilled in polyphony. [22]

Music for worship, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is to be judged by three sets of criteria – pastoral, liturgical, and musical, with the place of honor accorded to Gregorian chant and the organ. On this basis it has been argued that the adoption of the more popular musical styles is alien to the Roman Rite, and weakens the distinctiveness of Catholic worship. [22] [23] [24] This style contrasts with the traditional form where the congregation sings to God. [25]

Musicam Sacram, a 1967 document from the Second Vatican Council said to govern the use of sacred music, states that "those instruments which are, by common opinion and use, suitable for secular music only, are to be altogether prohibited from every liturgical celebration and from popular devotions". [26] Pundit George Weigel said that "[a]n extraordinary number of trashy liturgical hymns have been written in the years since the Second Vatican Council." Weigel called "Ashes" a "prime example" of "[h]ymns that teach heresy", criticizing the lyric "We rise again from ashes to create ourselves anew" as "Pelagian drivel". [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Sacrosanctum Concilium</i> Catholic Constitution on the Liturgy

Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, is one of the constitutions of the Second Vatican Council. It was approved by the assembled bishops by a vote of 2,147 to 4 and promulgated by Pope Paul VI on 4 December 1963. The main aim was to revise the traditional liturgical texts and rituals to reflect more fully fundamental principles, and be more pastorally effective in the changed conditions of the times, clarifying not only the role of ordained ministers but the modalities of appropriate participation of lay faithful in the Catholic Church's liturgy, especially that of the Roman Rite. The title is taken from the opening lines of the document and means "This Sacred Council".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Schutte</span> American Christian singer

Daniel Laurent Schutte is an American composer of Catholic and contemporary Christian liturgical music, best known for composing the hymn "Here I Am, Lord" and approximately 160 other hymns and Mass settings.

William A. Jurgens was an American Roman Catholic priest, composer, historian, musician, and translator of patristic and other works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church music</span> Christian music written for performance in church

Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments</span> Department of the Roman Curia

The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distinct from the Eastern Catholic Churches and also some technical matters relating to the sacraments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon Catholic Press</span>

Oregon Catholic Press is a publisher of Catholic liturgical music based in Portland, Oregon. It published the newspapers Catholic Sentinel and El Centinela; both papers have been discontinued effective October 1, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Rite</span> Most widespread liturgical rite in the Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Rite is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the sui iuris particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs rites such as the Roman Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours as well as the manner in which sacraments and blessings are performed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liturgical music</span> Music that was part of a religious ceremony

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic liturgy</span> Customary public worship service

Catholic liturgy means the whole complex of official liturgical worship, including all the rites, ceremonies, prayers, and sacraments of the Church, as opposed to private devotions. In this sense the arrangement of all these services in certain set forms is meant. Liturgy encompasses the entire service: prayer, reading and proclamation, singing, gestures, movement and vestments, liturgical colours, symbols and symbolic actions, the administration of sacraments and sacramentals.

Jan Michael Joncas is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, liturgical theologian, and composer of contemporary Catholic music best known for his hymn "On Eagle's Wings".

The St. Louis Jesuits are a group of Catholic composers who composed music for worship most often in a folk music style of church music in their compositions and recordings, mainly from their heyday in the 1970s through the mid-1980s. Made up of Jesuit scholastics at St. Louis University, the group initially used acoustic guitars and contemporary-style melodies and rhythms to set biblical and other religious texts to music sung in English in response to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church Music Association of America</span> Non-profit church music organization

The Church Music Association of America (CMAA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) association of Catholic church musicians and others who have a special interest in music and liturgy, active in advancing Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, and other forms of sacred music for liturgical use. Founded in 1964, it is affiliated with the Consociatio Internationalis Musicae Sacrae (Roma), an advisory organization on sacred music founded by Pope Paul VI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodore Marier</span> American classical composer

Theodore Norbert Marier was a church musician, educator, arranger and scholar of Gregorian Chant. He founded St. Paul's Choir School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1963, and served as the second president of the Church Music Association of America.

Cesáreo Gabaráin was a Spanish priest and composer of liturgical songs such as Pescador de hombres. He received a Gold Record award in Spain, and his music is well known and sung by English and Spanish-speaking people. Gabaráin became a hymn-writer when he was thirty and went on to write about five hundred songs. He tried to write songs that were easy to learn and be sung by the entire congregation. His hymns support moments of personal and communal prayer and praise to God.

Clarence Rufus Joseph Rivers, usually credited as Clarence Joseph Rivers, was a Black Catholic priest and well-known composer of liturgical music. His work combined Catholic worship with black gospel, making him an integral part of the Black Catholic Movement. He also wrote several books on music and spirituality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GIA Publications</span> American sacred music publisher

GIA Publications, Inc. is a major publisher of hymnals, other sacred music, and music education materials that is currently located in Chicago. The organization was initially the publishing arm of the Gregorian Institute of America (1941–1965); a school affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church that was initially established in Pittsburgh but operated for the majority of its history in Toledo, Ohio. The school specialized in training choral conductors in the methods of teaching choirs to sing Gregorian chant. After the school's closure following the Second Vatican Council, the publishing part of the school was sold to the Harris family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aniceto Nazareth</span> Indian Roman Catholic priest (1938–2021)

Aniceto Nazareth was a Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Bombay, musician, published composer and liturgist.

Musicae Sacrae is a 1955 encyclical by Pope Pius XII dealing with Catholic liturgical music. It updated the 1903 motu proprioInter pastoralis officii sollicitudines, and was furtherly amended by the instruction Musicam sacram in 1967.

References

  1. ↑ "Joseph Gelineau". GIA music. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  2. ↑ General Instruction of the Roman Missal Archived 2008-12-11 at the Wayback Machine , 40
  3. ↑ General Instruction of the Roman Missal Archived 2008-12-11 at the Wayback Machine , 41
  4. ↑ Canedo, Ken. Keep the Fire Burning, Pastoral Press, 2009, pp. 27-28
  5. ↑ Gathright, Jenny (2017-08-07). "Shocking Omissions: Mary Lou Williams' Choral Masterpiece". NPR. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  6. ↑ "Shocking Omissions: Mary Lou Williams' Choral Masterpiece". NPR.org. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Clarence Rufus Joseph Rivers". Liturgical Pioneers / Pastoral Musicians and Liturgists. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  8. ↑ Rivers, Clarence-Rufus J. (2001). "Freeing the Spirit: Very Personal Reflections on One Man's Search for the Spirit in Worship". U.S. Catholic Historian. 19 (2): 95–143. ISSN   0735-8318. JSTOR   25154770.
  9. ↑ "Fr. Clarence Rivers, liturgy pioneer, dead at 73. - Free Online Library".
  10. ↑ Vatican Council II, Musicum Sacrum (INSTRUCTION ON MUSIC IN THE LITURGY), 1967,par. 46
  11. ↑ Canedo, Ken, Keep the Fire Burning,Pastoral Press 2009,p28
  12. ↑ Canedo, Ken, Keep the Fire Burning,Pastoral Press 2009,p42
  13. ↑ Canedo, Ken, Keep the Fire Burning,Pasteral Press 2009,pp27-28
  14. ↑ The American Guild of Organists
  15. ↑ Dates of birth and religious affiliations taken from Gather: Comprehensive, eds. Robert J. Batastini and Michael A. Cymbala (Chicago: GIA Publications, 1994), from the Oregon Catholic Press website, and from the St. Louis Jesuits' news page Archived 2006-10-30 at the Wayback Machine on Dan Schutte's website.
  16. ↑ "Ian Callanan Biography". GIA Publications.
  17. ↑ "Paul Inwood". OCP.
  18. ↑ Hawn, C. Michael. 2013. History of Hymns: Priest bases hymn on call to be 'fishers of men.' Carrollton, TX: CircuitWriter Media, LLC Retrieved, July 12, 2013
  19. ↑ Hymnary.org & musica.sanpablo.es/02 . 2002. Cesáreo Gabarain. Grand Rapids, MI: Christians Classics Ethereal Library, Calvin College http://www.hymnary.org/person/Gabarain_C Retrieved, July 12, 2013
  20. 1 2 "Oregon Catholic Press". Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  21. ↑ "Catholic Book Publishers Association". Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  22. 1 2 Hovda, Robert W.; Huck, Gabe; Funk, Virgil C.; Joncas, J. Michael; Mitchell, Nathan D.; Savage, James; Foley, John (2003). Toward Ritual Transformation: Remembering Robert W. Hovda. Liturgical Press. ISBN   978-0-8146-6196-3.
  23. ↑ Snow Bird Agreement, 1993
  24. ↑ USCCB, Sing to the Lord, November 2007
  25. ↑ Day, Thomas (1990). Why Catholics Can't Sing: The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste, Crossroad Pub Co. ISBN   978-0-8245-1035-0
  26. ↑ "Musicam sacram". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
  27. ↑ Weigel, George (2013). Evangelical Catholicism. New York: Basic Books. pp. 164–65. ISBN   978-0-465-02768-2.

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