Chant Café

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The Church Music Association of America
in collaboration with
the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale, the Church of St. Agnes,
the Cathedral of St. Paul, and the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

The Church Music Association of America will hold a conference exploring renewal movements within the Church’s liturgy and sacred music on October 13–15, 2013, at the Church of St. Agnes and Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota. The conference marks the 40^thanniversary of the residence of the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale, founded by Msgr. Richard J. Schuler, at the Church of St. Agnes in St. Paul. The conference seeks to explore, through critical analysis, former and present efforts to revive the Church’s sacred liturgy and music, particularly as exemplified by Msgr. Schuler’s work. Questions central to the conference theme include:

– Which efforts have resulted in a true restoration of the Church’s liturgy and sacred music?

– Upon which principles has authentic liturgical and musical renewal operated in the past?

– Which reform actions have had deleterious effects on sacred music and the liturgy?

 

While the conference will focus on sacred music, other aspects of liturgy (theology, history, architecture, documents, etc.) will also be considered for inclusion in the proceedings.

 

The conference will include solemn celebrations of vespers (featuring Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore) and Missae Cantatae at the Cathedral of St. Paul and Church of St. Agnes, featuring an orchestral Mass, classical works for organ, and a modern polyphonic setting of the Mass ordinary. Dr. William Mahrt (Stanford) will deliver a keynote address, and other featured speakers include Fr. Guy Nichols (Blessed John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music) and Jeffrey Tucker (The Wanderer and Sacred Music).

 

The conference committee welcomes proposals for papers and recital programs related to the conference theme.

 

The deadline for proposals is March 22, 2013. Notification of acceptance will be given by April 8, 2013.

 

Proposals must be submitted via email to Jennifer Donelson at jd1120@nova.edu.

 

For paper proposals (30 minutes plus 5 minutes for questions), please send an email including:

1. Title and abstract (250-word maximum)

2. Your name and affiliation

3. Your phone number and email address

4. Bio (250-word maximum)

 

For recital proposals (25 or 50 minutes in length), please send an e-mail including:

1. Selections to be included on the program (including title, composer, and length of each selection)

2. A 100-word abstract (for lecture recitals only)

3. Your name and affiliation, as well as the name and affiliation of each performer/ensemble

4. Your phone number and email address

5. Your bio (250-word maximum)

6. A brief bio of each performer/ensemble included in the recital program (100-word maximum)

7. One or two recordings in mp3 format which demonstrate a recent performance. The selections need not be recordings of the pieces proposed for the conference recital program. File size limit: 10 MB.

8. Performance space requirements (instrumentation, configuration, need for music stands and chairs, etc.)

 

Paper topics arising from the theme and guiding questions include, but are not limited to:

– The renewal of chant and chant praxis through the work of St. Peter’s Abbey in Solesmes

– The Cecilian movement

– The Liturgical Movement and related figures and places (St. Pius X, Pius XII, Maria Laach Abbey, Romano Guardini, Dom Prosper Guéranger, Pius Parsch, Dom Lambert Beauduin, Louis Bouyer, Reynold Henry Hillenbrand, Adrian Fortescue, etc.)

– The work and ideas of Msgr. Richard J. Schuler

– Renewed interest in Viennese orchestral Masses in the 20^th century, particularly in light of the work of the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale

– Historical accounts of the efforts and ideas of the Church Music Association of America

– The impact on sacred music or liturgy of the 1903 motu proprio Tra le sollecitudini or the 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum

– The effects of Church councils on sacred music and the liturgy (Trent, Vatican II, etc.)

– Trends in sacred music or liturgy during a particular pontificate

– The new English translation of the 3^rd Typical Edition of the Roman Missal

– The Counter-Reformation, especially the work of the Jesuits in Europe and the New World, the work of the Oratorians, or the work of artists in the court of Phillip II

– The Abbey of Cluny

– Unsuccessful reforms, such as the Quignonez breviary or Urban VIII’s hymn texts

– “Success”stories in contemporary or historical parishes, monasteries, etc., or current resources available for use by priests and parishes

– The Catholic architecture of the Twin Cities or other American cities (e.g. Masqueray, Ralph Adams Cram, Edward Schulte, Bertram Goodhue, George J. Ries, Barry Byrne)

– Catholic architecture in response to renewal movements or Church legislation

 

Recital programs arising from the theme include, but are not limited to:

– Concerts of choral or organ works which trace a particular line of liturgical renewal

– New compositions which demonstrate a clear connection to the Church’s treasury of sacred music and which are eminently liturgical in their outlook and use

– A program of a composer with connections to a particular renewal movement (e.g. Bruckner, Rheinberger, etc.)

– Programs honoring the musical tradition of the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale, especially Viennese orchestral Masses, Gregorian chant, or choir/orchestra works for the Divine Office

– Lecture recitals

 

Papers will be 30 minutes in length followed by a five-minute period for questions.

 

Recital programs may be either 25 or 50 minutes in length. Performances will take place at either the Cathedral of St. Paul, or at the Church of St. Agnes. If submitting a recital program for compositions other than those for organ, recitalists must provide all performing personnel (e.g. choir, string ensemble, etc.), though assistance will be given by the conference organizers in contacting local orchestral musicians. The presenter is responsible for the costs of hiring such personnel, who would be remunerated at the scale of the Twin Cities Musicians Union. No piano or sound amplification will be available for the recitals, except for a microphone for the presenter speaking during the recital if requested. Requests for specific orchestral instruments which would otherwise be difficult to transport to the conference (timpani, chimes, etc.) may be made as part of the proposal process. The organ at the Cathedral of St. Paul is currently undergoing a restoration project which will be completed by the time of the conference. Details and specifications are available at www.cathedralsaintpaul.org/cathedral-organs.

 

The official language of the conference is English.

 

Presenters must register for the conference ($150) and will be responsible for their own expenses.

 

 

Questions regarding the conference may be directed to Jennifer Donelson via email or phone:

– jd1120@nova.edu

– (954) 262-7610

 

The conference website is available at www.musicasacra.com/st-agnes; registration and hotel information will follow shortly.

The “changes” that Benedict made to the liturgical direction of the Church are not expressions of his aesthetic or taste. What Benedict did was to implement the Church’s liturgy in the Church’s  practice. There are documents. Decrees and such. Books. Rubrics. Believe it or not, Benedict’s reset button was really nothing more than pointing us to what we are supposed to be doing anyway. If you don’t believe me, read them yourself. There is a deeper theological and spiritual reasoning and structure as well, but really, the basic goal was: fidelity to what the Church offers. If you read Ratzinger on liturgy,  his thinking is quite pastoral. It basically comes down to: Every Catholic has the right to the  Church’s liturgy. 

The rest of her reflections are well worth reading. The above echoes my thoughts exactly. The liturgical reforms promoted by the Pope Emeritus were not conservative, or Bavarian, or Renaissance, or Gamber. They were pastoral. They were ecclesial. They followed the documents.

I often think back to the man I met outside Mass one day during the Colloquium in Chicago. He was a a maintenance worker at Loyola, a Catholic, and he was blown away by the beauty of the music at the Colloquium Mass. In his parish, he said, they did not have beautiful music like this. He wished they did.

In season and out of season, we work to make sure the People of God have the good things they are entitled to, according to the mind of the Church. It takes a lot of work, like any excellence. And it is worth all the effort.

Waiting for spring to arrive? Having a long Lent? Feeling tense about Holy Week? Here are some sure cures for the blues. Choose your favorite one or two.

1.  Spend an hour and a half, solid, no interruptions, on instrumental or vocal practice. 
2. Make a strategic plan, including a to-do list, for the completion of a long-dreamed-of project.
3. Buy some Easter cards for the choir and handwrite a note of appreciation to each person.
4. Sit down and read the Gospel for 15 minutes.
5. Buy an Easter basket or treat for someone in your parish who is lonely or poor.
6. Go for a run. 
7. Throw a football for 20 minutes with a nine year old.
8. Sing through the Victimae Paschali Laudes. Optional followup: Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem.
9. Recite a Psalm by heart.
10. Register for Colloquium.