The Institute for Catholic Culture, a fine adult-education program based in Virginia, is presenting a lecture soon about the state of music in the Catholic Church in the U.S. On Tuesday, September 15, the poet and translator Prof. Anthony Esolen (Magdalen College) will speak on “Music and the Corruption of Catholicism“.
Dr. Esolen has written before on music and Catholic life. His book Real Music: a Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church includes a demonstration CD produced by one of the admirable choirs of St. john Cantius parish in Chicago. And for a sample of Dr. Esolen’s thinking on classic hymns, here’s an article from 2018 in Crisis Magazine.
The lecture on September 15 is to be streamed with live video starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time, and registration is required.
I appreciate the video very much. I have Dr. Esolen’s book “Real Music: a Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church.” I think it should be required reading for any church musician. I also collect hymnals albeit Catholic hymnals, and one thing I have learned is that the authors of hymns were well versed in the scriptures and gifted poets. I wish there could have been more time for questions and answers. This is an excellent video.