Author: Adam Bartlett

Carolyn Pirtle, the Assistant Director at the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, has written a wonderful piece entitled Benedict XVI and an Incarnational Theology of Liturgical Music.

In it, she identifies that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has effectively changed –– even set aside –– the debates of past decades surrounding the music of the liturgy with his incarnational theology of liturgical music.

Here are a few excerpts. Please read the rest there.

For many in parish music ministry today, the “style” question is a hot-button issue: Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, hymnody, and praise and worship are not simply classifications based on empirical criteria of melody, harmony, rhythm, texture, or timbre. They have come to imply loyalty to a particular camp, an ethos of liturgical music that often extends into defining an ethos of the liturgy itself and even the Church in general. Those who favor chant or “traditional” hymnody are often viewed as conservative elitists striving to grasp onto an antiquated vision of the Church. Those who gravitate toward “contemporary” hymns or praise and worship music are conversely labeled free-spirited, progressive liberals struggling to cast off the oppressiveness of a previous era in order to usher the Church into the modern culture. In order to resolve these conflicts, a dialogue must take place that delves more deeply than the question of mere musical style and examines the issue at its root. Ratzinger provides a starting point to this dialogue by stating that “church music is faith that has become a form of culture” (A New Song to the Lord, 94). By adopting this mindset, it becomes clear that a discussion of music and its place in the Church must first begin with a discussion of culture and its relationship to the Church, and it is this relationship which is in need of healing.

…

For those who seek to sing God’s praises, the self must be set aside in order to create a space for the Other. This becomes very difficult in a culture which sets such a high value on creativity, individuality, and originality, particularly when it comes to music. Whenever liturgical music becomes an extension of the self (whether as an expression of taste or a demonstration of virtuosic talent), it has ceased to serve its higher purpose. In “rediscovering ourselves” and the relationship between faith, culture, and music, we must seek above all to rediscover Christ, who offered His life in self-emptying love as a song of praise to the Father. In seeking to imitate this act of self-gift, musicians and parishioners alike create an interior space for the One who invites them to join in His perfect song of praise.

Lumen Christi Cantor Scores for Palm Sunday have been posted for free download.

Although many of the unique musical elements of the Palm Sunday liturgy are found in the new edition of the Roman Missal, all of the chants lack musical settings of the Psalm verses which are to be sung by the cantor or choir. Similarly, many of the antiphons for the procession and entrance are found in the Missal in text only.

The Lumen Christi Missal sets all of the texts that the congregation may sing in simple English chant, and the cantor score posted here provides the complete corresponding musical complement for the cantor and choir.

Download it here:

• Hosanna filio David (English and Latin)
• The two Pueri Hebraeorum antiphons (English and Latin) with English verses
• Hymn to Christ the King (English and Latin) with English verses
• The Responsory from the Missal for entrance into the Church (English)
• A full setting of the Entrance Antiphon for the Simple Entrance with congregational refrain (English)
• Chanted Responsorial Psalm from the Lectionary
• Lenten Gospel Acclamation with the Christus factus est Gospel Verse in through-composed chant (English)
• Offertory Antiphon (English, congregation-friendly)
• Communion Antiphon (English, congregation-friendly)

Have you ever wondered what Simple English Propers might look like if it used the new translation of the Roman Missal?

Perhaps something like this:

As announced earlier, today the USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship released the resource Liturgical Notes and Resource Materials for use Upon the Resignation of the Pope, for use in the weeks that lie ahead. The full release can be found here.

Among other things, it recommends the use of a Mass for Various Needs:

The Roman Missal provides a Mass formulary for a Pope. It can be found in the section, “Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions: 2. For the Pope.” This Mass is permitted, with white vestments, on weekdays in Lent “at the direction of the Diocesan Bishop or with his permission” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal [GIRM], no. 374), but not on the Sundays of Lent.

There are no musical settings for the antiphons given in this Mass. For those who would like to sing these antiphons in simple English chant, please consider the following musical settings (free download):