Gregorian Chant. The Revival Announced

At the Mass that Benedict XVI will celebrate in Milan next June 3 in front of an immense crowd of faithful, on the occasion of the world meeting of families, the performance of the Gregorian chants will be entrusted to the choir directed by Maestro Fulvio Rampi.

It is one of the most justly esteemed choirs in Gregorian chant. In the study and practice of which, the "prince" chant of the Latin liturgy, Rampi has for years played a role of the highest importance.

Last May 19, in Lecce, he gave a compelling talk precisely on this form of chant, as part of a day of study on sacred music fifty years after Vatican II and in the light of the magisterium of Benedict XVI:

> Il canto gregoriano: un estraneo in casa sua

It is common knowledge that Gregorian chant is not in its finest hour. It has been practically banned everywhere, in spite of the fact that Vatican Council II, in the constitution on the liturgy, reaffirmed its primacy in the clearest of terms:

"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."

If Gregorian chant has been banned, it is because of complete amnesia concerning its nature. Its rebirth therefore demands in the first place that it be rediscovered and understood.

Rampi defined it with five traits, in his talk in Lecce:

1. Gregorian is the chant "proper" to the Latin liturgy. In it, the Church speaks its thought on the Word of God in song.

2. Gregorian is the "sonorous" expression of the interpretation that the Church makes of the Word.

3. Gregorian is not ornamentation, but is itself liturgy.

4. Gregorian is liturgy in its proper times and forms: from the introit to the gradual to the "communio," from the Kyrie to the Agnus Dei.

5. Gregorian is a whole that marks out and embraces the entire liturgical year, intelligible only in its unified vision, like the Sacred Scriptures. It is the musical form of the "lectio divina" of the Church.

*

At the day of study in Lecce, other prominent personalities in the field of liturgical music also spoke.

Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, president emeritus of the pontifical committee for historical sciences, illustrated "the historical antecedents of the liturgical sensibility of Joseph Ratzinger," in the Germany of the nineteenth century and in particular in Regensburg.

Monsignor Valentin Miserachs Grau, the outgoing head of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, denounced the omissions in liturgical and musical formation in the seminaries.

Maestro Simone Baiocchi, one of the most solid disciples of Domenico Bartolucci, the former director of the Sistine Chapel choir and now a cardinal, critically analyzed recent variations in the practice of choirs and "scholae cantorum."

Monsignor Juan-Miguel Ferrer Grenesche, undersecretary of the congregation for divine worship, made a thorough review of the magisterium of the Church in matters of sacred music, from the 1903 motu proprio "Tra le sollecitudini" of Pius X until today.

The conclusion that Ferrer drew from this is that a "clear and precise" magisterium in this regard has been given. But it has been widely disobeyed and contradicted. And the blame has in part belonged to the hierarchy of the Church.

The Church spoke – Ferrer noted – but lacked "a concrete intention to have the discipline in effect applied by those who had responsibility in the matter."

So then, in regard to this sin of omission attributable in large part to the congregation for divine worship of which he himself is part, Ferrer has announced that it is being remedied.

And this is being done at the prompting of a recent motu proprio of Benedict XVI, "Quaerit semper" of August 30, 2011.

In the final part of his talk, reproduced further below, Ferrer announced that the congregation for divine worship will soon be endowed with an office for liturgical art and music that will finally apply, all over the world, the prescriptions of the Church unheeded until now, the rebirth of Gregorian chant first among them.

As can be read further below, Ferrer is very detailed in previewing the future program of the new office.

But he also says that the new office, in order to be created, is still awaiting "confirmation on the part of the secretariat of state" headed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

And he does not say – but it is known – that the new office has competition in the curia. Because the pontifical council for culture, headed by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, also aims to have a say in sacred art and music.

For example, when Ferrer says that the duties of the new office of his congregation will include "the organization of international awards or competitions in composition," he neglects to say that Cardinal Ravasi has already organized one of these international competitions: for a composition that sets to music the "Apostles' Creed."

The awards will take place at the end of the summer in Perugia, in conjunction with the Sagra Musicale Umbra. And an outstanding member of the jury will be Monsignor Massimo Palombella, the current director of the choir of the Sistine Chapel, greatly criticized for the low level of his performances and an exponent of a vision of sacred music very far from, if not opposed to, the one personified by the speakers at the day of study in Lecce.

*

Palombella, together with Monsignor Marco Frisina, director of the choir of the basilica of Saint John Lateran, and the last two heads of the office for liturgical music of the Italian episcopal conference, the priests Antonio Parisi and Vincenzo De Gregorio, leads the quartet that aims to gain control of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music.

This maneuver – and the musical vision that the four represent – was reported by www.chiesa in this article of last March 30:

> Not Sacred Music, but Sounds of Attack

At that time, the appointment of the new president of the PIMS seemed imminent. Instead it is still slow in coming.

Facing off in the curia are on the one side Monsignor Palombella with his cardinals of reference Bertone and Ravasi, and on the other the congregations for divine worship and for Catholic education, whose cardinal prefect, Zenon Grocholewski, is also grand chancellor of the PIMS and has taken as a slap in the face the rejection on the part of the secretariat of state of his candidate for the presidency of the institute, the Frenchman Stephane Quessard, selected in continuity with outgoing president Miserachs.

Cardinal Bartolucci, 95, naturally belongs to this second current. And with him Cardinal Brandmüller, a countryman of the pope.

It is a clash that represents two antithetical visions of the future of liturgical music.

If the decision – not only on the leadership of the PIMS, but also on the primacy of the congregation for divine worship in musical matters – were ultimately up to Benedict XVI, there is no doubt on the orientation to which his preferences would go.

The Gregorian singers directed by Rampi, who will accompany his Mass on June 3 in Milan, are an outstanding example of this orientation.

____________

THE NEW DUTIES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIP
IN THE PROMOTION OF SACRED MUSIC
AFTER THE MOTU PROPRIO "QUAERIT SEMPER" OF BENEDICT XVI

by Juan-Miguel Ferrer Grenesche

Everyone knows about the urgency and centrality that the Holy Father Benedict XVI has wanted to reserve during his whole pontificate to the correct and authentic application of the teachings of Vatican Council II. [...]?

It is in this context that the motu proprio "Quaerit Semper" of August of 2011 is to be understood, with which the Holy Father Benedict XVI has wished to concentrate further the work of the congregation for divine worship and the discipline of the sacraments in its properly liturgical competencies, affirming:

"In present circumstances it has seemed appropriate for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to focus mainly on giving a fresh impetus to promoting the Sacred Liturgy in the Church, in accordance with the renewal that the Second Vatican Council desired, on the basis of the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium." [...]

The first consequence of the motu proprio "Quaerit Semper" was the elaboration of a new of a new internal ordering of the congregation to adapt its structure to the priorities indicated by the Holy Father, beyond transferring part of the competencies of sacramental discipline – on the sacrament of orders, or cases of the nullity of ordination, and of marriage, or cases of matrimony "ratified and not consummated" – to the tribunal of the Roman Rota, creating within it an "administrative section."

Our congregation, born from the renewed fusion between the congregations of divine worship (or for the liturgy) and of the discipline of the sacraments, was made up of four sections or offices:

- liturgical office I;
- liturgical office II;
- the matrimonial office;
- the priestly office.

The new regulations, although dependent on confirmation by the secretariat of state, provide for the maintenance of four sections, in order not to alter the structure, which however in line of principle will be the following:

- liturgical office I;
- liturgical office II;
- the disciplinary office, which combines the competencies of liturgical discipline and all those that concern sacramentals;
- the office for liturgical arts and music.

In any case, whatever may be the final configuration of this department for the arts and music, it is expected that, with a certain differentiation of competencies, it will deal with issues of music, architecture, painting, sculpture, and the so-called "lesser" arts.

This in turn will require the appointment of a series of outside collaborators or consultants, with specific competencies in these sectors.

In the specific field of sacred music, specific relations at the institutional level will be reestablished with the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, as also with the Abbey of Saint-Pierre of Solesmes and other associations and institutions that work in the field of music for the liturgy, from the scientific point of view, from the academic point of view, and in the perspective of the creation of new music or of pastoral practice.

At the level of immediate objectives or challenges, I will point out a few that certainly appear evident:

a. To realize and complete the series of musical books for the liturgy in the Latin language, including the holy Mass, the divine office, the sacraments and sacramentals. Having reached this goal, it will probably be appropriate to realize a complete and more easily usable edition of many of these materials in the form of a sort of "liber usualis."

b. It seems just as urgent to recompile and clarify the different norms and the guidelines of the most recent pontifical magisterium on sacred music in order to offer a foundational text for a directory of chant and music in liturgical celebration for the use of the different conferences of bishops, to which is entrusted the task of elaborating directories and repertoires for their respective countries.

Such a directory, as far as Gregorian chant is concerned, will have to overcome the disputes between purely paleographical and pastoral criteria, as also, in relation with the competent dicastery, to pose the problems of the use of Gregorian chant according to editions from before 1962 in the so-called "extraordinary form" of the Roman rite.

c. With the help of the competent academic and pastoral institutions, it will be necessary to promote, at least in the principal or most widespread modern languages, in harmony with the criteria presented in an appropriate directory, models of new compositions which may help to verify the theoretical proposals and discern them at the local level.

There remains the doubt of what may be the best strategy for reaching such a result. For the moment, the wait continues for the new organisms within the congregation, members and consultants, to confer on these matters, from the edition of repertoires for international celebrations to the organization of international awards or competitions of composition, to courses for composers, conductors, and performers, and to many other concrete proposals to be evaluated.

Summarizing, it is evident that in order to reclaim the issue of music in liturgical celebrations, the congregation, making its own the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI and his immediate predecessors on the matter, must guarantee:

1. the preparation of updated and official instruments in order to be able to celebrate with song the Roman liturgy in the Latin language;

2. clarity and facility for the celebration of the Roman rite in the ordinary form in the vernacular language, singing in part or in full the ordinary and/or the propers of the Mass or the divine office in Gregorian or polyphonic melodies based on the liturgical text in Latin;

3. the existence of updated criteria in order to be able to apply the principles of gradualism defined in "Musicam Sacram," both for celebration in the Latin language and for celebration in the vernacular language (directory);

4. the existence of a sure normative framework that responds to the purpose of establishing appropriate national repertoires destined to take on little by little an official value, in such a way that the use of other songs would require an authorization "ad casum" on the part of the respective ordinary: this is another matter for the future directory.

I hope with this [...] that the application of the motu proprio "Quaerit semper" may represent for sacred music a new stage of splendor and beauty: without it, the liturgy would see itself deprived of one of its most eloquent and substantial expressive elements.

sorry, I HATE GREGORIAN CHANT.

We learned to sing it in grade school, before Vatican II, and I hated it then, and I hate it now.

we worship God according to our culture, and this means everything: art, music, etc.

No problems. I am hardly asserting that there should be a mandate of Gregorian chant ONLY.

I have two major problems with the modern jingles used in most Masses these days:

First, they are banal (as you point out)
Second, they are, as often as not, heretical in their lyrics.

As a side note, I still can't believe how many hymns use the underlying theme of Beethoven's Symphony Nr 9, 4th movement, as their underlying melody (I find it uniquely funny in light of the actual lyrics of Friedrich Schiller's An die Freude, for which it was written)

As for modern music, it is allowed...and there are definite guidelines:

From Pius X:

5. The Church has always recognized and favored the progress of the arts, admitting to the service of religion everything good and beautiful discovered by genius in the course of ages -- always, however, with due regard to the liturgical laws. Consequently modern music is also admitted to the Church, since it, too, furnishes compositions of such excellence, sobriety and gravity, that they are in no way unworthy of the liturgical functions.
Still, since modern music has risen mainly to serve profane uses, greater care must be taken with regard to it, in order that the musical compositions of modern style which are admitted in the Church may contain nothing profane, be free from reminiscences of motifs adopted in the theaters, and be not fashioned even in their external forms after the manner of profane pieces.
6. Among the different kinds of modern music, that which appears less suitable for accompanying the functions of public worship is the theatrical style, which was in the greatest vogue, especially in Italy, during the last century. This of its very nature is diametrically opposed to Gregorian Chant and classic polyphony, and therefore to the most important law of all good sacred music. Besides the intrinsic structure, the rhythm and what is known as the conventionalism of this style adapt themselves but badly to the requirements of true liturgical music.

From the Second Vatican Council:

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.

I bolded the part above, because, according to the GIRM, the only place where an actual hymn is called for is post-communion.

88. When the distribution of Communion is finished, as circumstances suggest, the priest and faithful spend some time praying privately. If desired, a psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn may also be sung by the entire congregation.

Every place else, it calls for chants. For example:

47. After the people have gathered, the Entrance chant begins as the priest enters with the deacon and ministers...
52. After the Act of Penitence, the Kyrie is always begun, unless it has already been included as part of the Act of Penitence. Since it is a chant by which...
62. After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel, the Alleluia or another chant indicated by the rubrics is sung, as required by the liturgical season....
74. The procession bringing the gifts is accompanied by the Offertory chant (cf. no. 37b), which continues at least until the gifts have been placed on the altar...
86. While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun...

While I am not suggesting that only Gregorian chant, Byzantine chant, or some other form of chant is the only form allowed, I find it ironic that they are the only ones almost universally EXCLUDED from modern liturgies. The thought of a sung introit rather than some cheesy OCP song would utterly horrify any music director and would likely horrify most priests.

Finally, Pope John Paul II had the following to say:

12. With regard to compositions of liturgical music, I make my own the "general rule" that St Pius X formulated in these words: "The more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savour the Gregorian melodic form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple"[33]. It is not, of course, a question of imitating Gregorian chant but rather of ensuring that new compositions are imbued with the same spirit that inspired and little by little came to shape it. Only an artist who is profoundly steeped in the sensus Ecclesiae can attempt to perceive and express in melody the truth of the Mystery that is celebrated in the Liturgy[34]. In this perspective, in my Letter to Artists I wrote: "How many sacred works have been composed through the centuries by people deeply imbued with the sense of mystery! The faith of countless believers has been nourished by melodies flowing from the hearts of other believers, either introduced into the Liturgy or used as an aid to dignified worship. In song, faith is experienced as vibrant joy, love and confident expectation of the saving intervention of God"[35].

What I find the most ironic, though, is that one of the principle authors of modern "church music" seen in most parishes today, Marty Haugen, is not even Catholic! Something very, very, very wrong with that picture.

One other thing...

Here is a classic example of the modern screwing up the original.

That very beloved hymn, Ubi Caritas...

Here is an English translation of the original lyrics:

WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
Christ's love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
As we are gathered into one body,
Beware, lest we be divided in mind.
Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,
And may Christ our God be in our midst.
WHERE charity and love are, God is there.
And may we with the saints also,
See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:
The joy that is immense and good,
Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen.

Here is the OCP version:

Refrain
Ubi caritas est vera, est vera:
Deus ibi est, Deus ibi est.

1. The love of Christ joins us together.
Let us rejoice in him,
and in our love and care for all
now love God in return.

2. In true communion let us gather.
May all divisions cease
and in their place be Christ the Lord,
our risen Prince of Peace.

3. May we who gather at this table
to share the bread of life
become a sacrament of love,
your healing touch, O Christ.

4. For those in need make us your mercy,
for those oppressed, your might.
Make us, your Church, a holy sign
of justice and new life.

5. May we one day behold your glory
and see you face to face,
rejoicing with the saints of God
to sing eternal praise.

Particularly that 4th verse, where did that come from??? Not from the original song...

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