Gregorian Chant: Back to Basics in the Roman Rite

CatholicCulture.org ^ | 2005 | Piunno John C./American Guild of Organists

[Salvation]

Gregorian Chant: Back to Basics in the Roman Rite

  by Piunno John C.

The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as proper to the Roman liturgy; therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services. [Vatican Council II Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No.116]

In 1994, the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain released a recording entitled Chant. To the astonishment of many, this seemingly esoteric offering climbed to the Top 5 on the U.S. pop charts. A few years later, the monks released another recording for Christmas entitled Chant Noël. a collection of ancient Christmas music. Chant II was then released in response to the popularity of the first recording.

Why have Chant and its sequels captured so much attention? Many young people are asking where this beautiful music originated and how it came to be used in the Church.

Gregorian chant has been sung in the Catholic Church for centuries. In fact, until the end of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, one could hear Gregorian chant on almost any given Sunday in any diocese in this country. In the space of just a few years, however, it seemed to have vanished. Where did it go, and why is chant so infrequently heard at the parish level today?

Gregorian chant is unfamiliar to many people and should be listened to carefully. Aside from its intrinsic beauty, one should also appreciate its historical value and, more importantly, its liturgical value and purpose. In chant, the solemnity of the text is raised to an exalted level by being cantillated, or intoned, to a musical line. The rhythm of chant is free and is governed more by the rhythms of speech than by imposed musical patterns. The melody is indicated by small signs above the text, sometimes square or diamond-shaped notations called neumes, first written down in the tenth century. It was not until the end of the eleventh century that the pitches were accurately written using a system of letters. The first few chants of the Church were sung in Hebrew and then in Greek.

A legend dating from the ninth century tells how Pope Saint Gregory I (590-604) compiled the body of plainchant. It is said that he carefully collected and wisely arranged music that had been handed down over the centuries. This music, called Gregorian chant, spread to all parts of Christian Europe and is still sung daily in many religious houses throughout the world.

While it has been tradition to attach Gregory's name to chant, the available evidence does not support this. Apart from insufficient documentation, liturgical and musical analysis has found no strong evidence that the melodies first written down in the ninth century could be as old as Gregory. Nevertheless, we are certain that Pope Saint Gregory is responsible for assembling a liturgical book (antiphonus cento), and also for protecting the purity and integrity of sacred chant by prescribing laws and regulations over it.

Prayer, meditation, reverence, awe, and love — Gregorian chant carries them in rhythm and melody. More than any other music with lyrics, chant is "heightened speech." In chant the music and prose are perfectly integrated. Its function is to add solemnity to Christian worship. In sacred music, the text is at the heart of the composition.

The chief duty of sacred music is to clothe the liturgical text so that it moves the faithful to devotion and prayer. Chant does this in a most splendid and reverent way. This becomes apparent while listening to a recording of the Vexilla regis or the Pange lingua. Sacred chant is a heightened form of prayer.

Church musicians, liturgists, and the clergy should reflect on the reasons for the renewed interest in Gregorian chant, and what it means in terms of prayer and the evolution of liturgy. Possibly the renewed interest in chant reveals a desire to immerse oneself in a world of serenity and peace, away from the distractions of a hectic and sometimes discordant daily life.

Hearing chant can be a moving experience, but how does one go about learning it? A quick review of the Church documents on sacred music provides guidance on how and when sacred chant may be sung during various parts of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, and during other liturgies. The documents tell us what should be attained when we present music for divine worship; and chant is the supreme model the Church fathers encourage the faithful to use.

II

In the past 40 years, a variety of music has been tolerated in the Roman Church. Contemporary, folk, polka, country, and other forms of inappropriate secular music have infected the liturgies; and some of this music has also crept into our hymnals. In light of the instructions on sacred music from the Holy See, it is odd that non-sacred music continues to permeate our liturgies. Perhaps the bishops and pastors who abdicated their authority over these matters now need to correct them.

It is difficult to believe that the Council Fathers and those responsible for the liturgical reforms 40 years ago, envisioned a total absence of Gregorian chant and Latin from the Order of the Mass. It is doubtful that today's liturgies are the intended product of the spirit or the intent of the Second Vatican Council. Still today, many Catholic musicians, liturgists, and the clergy are reluctant to embrace the timeless traditions of the Church and the directives of the Holy See. Gregorian chant, sacred polyphony, and the use of Latin in the Mass are frequently viewed as being incongruous with the liturgy, and are sometimes greeted with antipathy and even outright hostility at their mere suggestion.

In 1947, Pius XII's encyclical, Mediator Dei, confirmed the norms established by Pius X (Motu proprio Tra le sollecitudini) and Pius XI regarding sacred music. Some 15 years later, the Second Vatican Council's document on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum concilium, reiterated and futher expanded the norms for sacred music. The new directives contained in the General Instruction on the Roman Missal provide instruction on the use of chant in the Mass.

The reluctance on the part of the clergy and musicians to embrace Gregorian chant is very apparent. Perhaps the reason is that they [the clergy, musicians, and liturgists] are no longer trained in liturgy, sacred music, aesthetics, and the history of the Roman Rite. The last 40 years have left an indelible mark on our liturgies. It is a mark of confusion sprinkled with secularism and other agendas. Many of our liturgies have lost the sense of sacredness. The sense of awe and mystery formerly associated with the Mass is no longer present.

For 40 years, the Catholic Church has experienced a tumultuous change in nearly every aspect of her liturgical and musical life. The Council Fathers wisely drafted instructions specifically designed to protect sacred tradition and the law. And the bishops, as caretakers of that tradition, in cooperation with the clergy and musicians as collaborators, should always strive to improve the quality of music used in the liturgies. More imporatantly, they should adhere to the Rite and what has been promulgated by the Holy See.

Perhaps a Third Ecumenical Council is needed to correct some aspects in the Order of the Mass, our liturgies, and also redefine sacred music. Just as the clergy are obligated to follow the rubrics established by the Holy See, church musicians and liturgists should follow the directives regarding sacred music and liturgy.

Sacred music needs to be clearly defined with guiding norms and discipline. This is best accomplished at the diocesan level. The cathedral should set the standard for the diocese. Improving the quality of the liturgies and music will occur when the bishops and pastors are willing to embrace the directives of the Holy See (Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, March 25, 2004).

In retrospect, a number of outside factors influenced and perverted the intent and spirit of the Second Vatican Council. in many instances the wishes of the Council Fathers were ignored, and some documents may have been misinterpreted.

III

So how does the Church bring Gregorian chant back into her liturgies? How do we re-Catholicize two generations of clergy and laity influenced by secular music that has become part of their spiritual fabric? It is a monumental task for any organization to change its culture and value systems. The changes in the 1960s and 1970s occurred with such velocity that in many cases little or no thought was given to the implications of the liturgical adjustments. It was an era in which musical and liturgical aberrations would find fertile ground in the formation of future priests and bishops.

Today, many of our clergy, liturgists, and musicians are ignorant of the Church's teachings, directives, and even her sacred traditions. Cultural and other external influences have had a devastating effect on the liturgies and music of the Church. Pope John Paul II has urgently appealed that the liturgical norms for the celebration of the Eucharist be observed with great fidelity (Ecclesia de Eucharistia Chapter 5). The author is not advocating a return to an all-Latin Mass — that would be regressing — but rather a back-to-basics approach focusing on improving the liturgies and music in the Church.

Given the desire of so many to hear Gregorian chant, perhaps now is the time for its gradual re-introduction into the liturgies. Obviously, pastoral judgment governs the use and function of every element of liturgical celebration. If one were to take into account the various teachings and directives of the Church with respect to the use of chant, sacred music, and Latin, it is possible to suggest a formula (a baseline) that would further enable the liturgical reforms hoped for in the Second Vatican Council:

• Conserve and gradually restore sacred chant and polyphony as recommended in the Holy See's documents on sacred music (Vatican II's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and also the General Instruction on the Roman Missal), so that the faithful may once again take a more active part in the sacred mysteries;
   
• Restore chant to the parts of the Ordinary of the Mass (i.e. the Kyrie, the Credo, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei), because it has always been looked upon as the supreme model of church music and reflective of the universal nature of the Church;
   
• Re-introduce sacred music and liturgical pedagogy in Catholic seminaries and other religious institutions in accordance with the directives from the Holy See;
   
• Restore use of the Kyriale, Graduale Romanum, Psalter, and the Liber cantualis (simple chants can easily be used by the congregation);
   
• Restore sung Vespers in our principal churches, such as cathedrals or basilicas, as directed in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No.100, and in accordance with the General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours;
   
• Provide a means for clergy, musicians, and liturgists (via workshops, correspondance courses, etc.) to be properly trained in sacred music, liturgy (Redemptionis Sacramentum), tradition, and the Roman Rite;
   
• Standardize the music of the Order of the Mass to "maintain the universal dimension of the Roman Rite among the people." "And to take steps so that the faithful may also be able to say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them" (Sacrosanctum concilium, No.54);

Liturgy and music in the Catholic Church are in need of reform. However, for the reform to be successful, it must begin with the clergy and, most especially, during seminary formation. The clergy, liturgists, and musicians have a special obligation to follow the Roman Rite and at the same time uphold the standards of quality and sacred tradition. Music used for sacred rites must have sanctity as its point of reference and should be devoid of any political agenda.

The Church with its special obligations toward sacred chant, that splendid music of the medieval Church, must manifest them whenever the occasion is presented. Chant is from the beyond — it is not of this world, because it allows us to transcend our thoughts in prayer and speak to God. Chant is a form of sacred art that stems from the pure spiritual, theological, and biblical inspiration that emanates from the heart.

Gregorian chant never left the Church — we left it. Fortunately, many of these sublime pieces are once again being sung during the Liturgy of the Hours and at Mass.

Sacred chant seems to have been misplaced. But we can distinguish the sacred from the unacceptable and, with proper disposition, return Gregorian chant to its proper place in the liturgies of the Church.

Copyright © 2005, The American Guild of Organists.

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John C. Piunno is a freelance writer living in Washington DC.

[Salvation]

Gregorian chant never left the Church — we left it. Fortunately, many of these sublime pieces are once again being sung during the Liturgy of the Hours and at Mass.

[Salvation]

**The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as proper to the Roman liturgy; therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services. [Vatican Council II Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No.116] **

Music and Liturgy Ping!

[Salvation]

There are some listening options in some of these links.

Gregorian Chant: Back to Basics in the Roman Rite
ECUMENIC(AL): [Video] Interview with le BARROUX Nuns about recording Chant CD for Decca Records
Cloistered French nuns to make Gregorian chant album for Universal Music
Old Roman chant: Qui habitat in adiutorio altissimi - Part II
Gregorian Chant on EWTN
Gregorian chant gains momentum in Anchorage
Gregorian Chant Revival (Nice Video For A Slow Day)

[netmilsmom]

At some parishes, that will happen about the same time that there are snowballs in h@ll.

[Vaquero]

Pie Jesu domine: Dona eis requiem.

[mlizzy]

Very funny! There are some Gregorian Chant selections (prior to the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy) on this site: Rosary for Peace. Also there is a link to streaming Gregorian Chant ...

[Salvation]

Thanks.

[Eepsy]

Also here:

“A selection of sacred and classical music in Mp3
played by teachers and students
of Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music”

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/sacmus/documents/rc_ic_sacmus_sound_en.html

[jtal]

The most useful Gregorian chant resources on the web for practice are:

http://antoinedanielmass.org/ (ordinary)
http://isaacjogues.org/ (propers)

Best place to learn chant properly IMHO is through the Church Music Association of America. They have bi-annual Chant Intensive weeks in which they train new musicians to this art. Please see

http://www.musicasacra.org

for more details. I attended the Intensive this summer in Pittsburgh and it was a profound and moving experience.

[Vaquero]

thanks anyway, but after 10 years of Catholic Parochial School....I have repeatedly heard Gregorian Chant to the point where I really have heard as much as I ever care to.... (I particularly remember the little square note symbols...)

[Sergio]

Bookmark.

[The Great RJ]

One of the worst effects of Vatican II was the replacement of the Gregorian chant with hootenanny liturgies accompanied by thumping guitars and kumbaya lyrics.

[stfassisi]

The following was written by Cardinal Ratzinger before becoming Pope Benedict XVI

Liturgy and Sacred Music
http://www.adoremus.org/0408SacredMusic.html

1. Surpassing the Council? A new conception of liturgy
The new phase of the will to liturgical reform no longer sees its foundation explicitly in the words of the Second Vatican Council but in its “spirit”. As a symptomatic text, I shall use here the learned and clearly drafted article on song and music in the Church in the Nouvo Dizionario di Liturgia. The high artistic rank of Gregorian Chant or of classical polyphony is in no way contested here. It is not even a question of playing off congregational activity against elitist art. Nor is the rejection of a historicist rigidification, which only copies the past and remains without a present and a future, the real point at issue. It is rather a question of a basically new understanding of liturgy which one wishes to use in order to surpass the Council whose Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy bears two souls within itself.2

Let us briefly attempt to familiarize ourselves with this conception in its fundamental characteristics. The liturgy takes its point of departure — we are told — from the gathering of two or three who have come together in the name of Christ.3 This reference to the Lord’s words of promise in Matthew 18:20 sounds harmless and traditional at first hearing. But it receives a revolutionary turn when one isolates this one biblical text and contrasts it with the whole liturgical tradition. For the two or three are now placed in opposition to an institution with its institutional roles, and to every “codified program”.

Thus this definition comes to mean: it is not the Church that precedes the group but the group that precedes the Church. It is not the Church as an integral entity that carries the liturgy of the individual group or community; rather the group is itself the specific place of the origin for the liturgy. Thus the liturgy does not grow out of a common given, a “rite” (which as a “codified program” now becomes a negative image of bondage); it arises on the spot from the creativity of those who are gathered.

In such a sociological language, the sacrament of orders presents itself as an institutional role which has created a monopoly for itself and dissolved the [Church’s] original unity and solidarity by means of the institution.4 Under these circumstances, we are told, music then became a language of the initiates just like Latin, “the language of the other Church, namely, of the institution and its clergy”.5

[J Edgar]

“A legend dating from the ninth century tells how Pope Saint Gregory I (590-604) compiled the body of plainchant. It is said that he carefully collected and wisely arranged music that had been handed down over the centuries. This music, called Gregorian chant, spread to all parts of Christian Europe and is still sung daily in many religious houses throughout the world.
While it has been tradition to attach Gregory’s name to chant, the available evidence does not support this. Apart from insufficient documentation, liturgical and musical analysis has found no strong evidence that the melodies first written down in the ninth century could be as old as Gregory.”

---

The above is contradicted by the information in the post: The Mass of Vatican II(Catholic Caucus)
The following is stated therein:
“ ... I was amazed. I called Professor William Mart, a Professor of Music at Stanford University and a friend. I said, “Bill, is this true?” He said, “Yes. The Psalm tones have their roots in ancient Jewish hymnody and psalmody.” So, you know something? If you sing the Psalms at Mass with the Gregorian tones, you are as close as you can get to praying with Jesus and Mary. They sang the Psalms in tones that have come down to us today in Gregorian Chant.”
... “

[Campion]

“Psalm tones” and “Gregorian chant” aren’t the same thing. “Psalm tones” are part of Gregorian chant and are used in Gregorian chant. Your second citation refers to “psalm tones”; the first refers to Gregorian chant in general.

[J Edgar]

Thanks for the clarification.

[Right Wing Assault]

I heard Benedict is a big fan of more kneeling. I wish he would cut back on the standing some parishes do.

[Little Bill]

You have that right, I am Protestant and I love Plain Chant.

[Salvation]

Thanks for all your references.

[Bigg Red]

I love chant. What is there not to love about it, huh?

[Salvation]

That is a gold mine!

[Bigg Red]

I heard Benedict is a big fan of more kneeling. I wish he would cut back on the standing some parishes do.

&&&
I could take a lot more standing and get rid of that stupid, disruptive “sign of peace”. Hate it! Gives me no feeling of peace.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Gregorian chant music was popular back in the early 1970s. I used to have several vinyl records back then.

Now, all I have left is the theme music from BECKET and THE LION IN WINTER.

[LadyDoc]

Sorry but I hate Gregorian chant.

Worship needs to be within one’s culture, and no one sings the stuff anymore.

That doesn’t mean that music can’t be modern and respectful and help us lift our minds and hearts to God.

[rbmillerjr]

Some of the most beautiful music I’ve heard is Gregorian Chant and Lithuanian and Romanian Orthodox music.

youtube it, it is worth it imho.

[Campion]

Worship needs to be within one’s culture

Our culture is a cesspool, or hadn't you noticed? Worship is also supposed to take you out of your culture and take you to your real homeland, heaven.

no one sings the stuff anymore

Not true. I'm in a Schola Cantorum. We sing one OF Mass and one EF Mass a month. This month we sang - Gregorian chant in Latin -- for a wedding.