On May 31, Pope Benedict marked the 100th anniversary of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music with an Open Letter to its Chancellor, Cardinal Grocholweski. It was a timely reminder of how central music has been to our Catholic worship through the centuries, and once again the Pope reminded us of what the very sound of Catholic musical prayer should be.
?In giving priority to Gregorian chant and to classical liturgical music, the Catholic Church is not trying to limit anyone?s creativity but is showcasing a tradition of beautiful prayer?, Pope Benedict wrote.
In the letter, released by the Vatican, the Pope wrote that sometimes people have presented Gregorian chant and traditional church music as expressions ?to be overcome or disregarded because they limited the freedom and creativity of the individual or community.???But, he said, when people recognize that the liturgy does not belong to an individual or parish as much as it belongs to the church, then they begin to understand how, while some expressions of local culture are appropriate, priority should be given to expressions of the church?s universal culture. He said music used at Mass must convey a ?sense of prayer, dignity and beauty, and should help the faithful enter into prayer ? and should keep alive the tradition of Gregorian chant and polyphony.?
Unfortunately, the Church is presently awash with new music that isn?t good enough. We should be looking to the sacred treasury for inspiration. To that end a new and similar initiative in this country will come into being in September. The John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music is being established at the Birmingham Oratory and Maryvale and will stress the importance of chant. The activities of the new Institute will also be put at the service of the Conferences of Bishops.??Benedict, and the new thrust in liturgical understanding, points us all to the chant. This is the best composition lesson anyone could give to aspiring liturgical composers. Those who ignore this advice have much less to contribute to the communal prayer life of the Church, and their influence will wane. More pressing is what ordinary people can sing in liturgies which correspond with the Catholic paradigm. A new Graduale Parvum is being prepared for British Catholics. We are all used to seeing Entrance, Offertory and Communion Antiphons in our missals and weekly mass sheets, which are either mumbled perfunctorily or simply ignored. But these are the essential texts for our liturgies as they change from week to week, and day to day. They are meant to be sung. They are much more important and appropriate to our cyclic prayers than the largely protestant and frequently irrelevant hymns that are stuck on at the usual places during Mass. These antiphons are known as ?the Propers?. I have discussed these with Catholics from time to time, even priests, who look at me blankly and seem to have no idea what they are.
James MacMillan 31st July 2011
