Sacred Music quotes

[slewi]

Hi all!

I’m looking to write a letter to my ordinary about the lack of sacred music in the diocese. What I am looking for are quotes from prominent catholic religious concerning the need to keep (or return) gregorian chant and poliphony in their rightful place in the church. If anyone knows of any such quotes and can post links to them here it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Stephen

 

[mercygate]

slewi:

Hi all!

I’m looking to write a letter to my ordinary about the lack of sacred music in the diocese. What I am looking for are quotes from prominent catholic religious concerning the need to keep (or return) gregorian chant and poliphony in their rightful place in the church. If anyone knows of any such quotes and can post links to them here it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Stephen

Look no further than Sacrosanctum Concilium.

 

[Eileen_T]

mercygate:

Look no further than Sacrosanctum Concilium.

Yeah. The actual document from Vatican II said that Gregorian Chant and Sacred Polyphony were to be the preference of the Church. The Spirit of Vatican II chucked it all away.

Was that the spirit who’s name if Legion I wonder?

 

[arieh0310]

From this interview with Cardinal Arinze.

Music to Nourish Faith
Concerning sacred music and the place of Gregorian chant in Catholic worship, Cardinal Arinze affirmed Gregorian chant as “the Church’s precious heritage” and said, “It should stay. It should not be banished. If therefore in a particular diocese or country, no one hears Gregorian music anymore, then somebody has made a mistake somewhere”.

He also made it clear that in affirming this heritage of sacred music “the Church is not saying that everything should be Gregorian music.

“There is room for music which respects that language, that culture, that people. There is room for that too, and the present books say that is a matter for the bishops conference, because it generally goes beyond the boundaries of one diocese.

“The ideal thing is that the bishops would have a liturgical music commission which looks at the wording and the music of the hymns. And when the commission is satisfied, judgment is brought to the bishops for approval, in the name of the rest of the conference”. (The US bishops recently re-established a subcommittee on music within the Bishops’ Committee on Liturgy. According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, bishops are responsible for determining the orthodoxy and suitability of music and musical texts for Mass. This subcommittee is now in the process of developing guidelines for approving liturgical music.)

Cardinal Arinze observed that sacred music is “not individuals just composing anything and singing it in church. This is not right at all. No matter how talented the individual is. That brings us to the question of the instrument to be used. The local Church should be conscious that Church worship is not really the same as what we sing in a bar, or what we sing in a convention for youth. Therefore it should influence the type of instrument used, the type of music used.

“I will not say never guitar. That would be rather severe. But much of guitar music may not be suitable at all for the Mass. Yet, it is possible to think of some guitar music that would be suitable, not as the ordinary one we get every time, the visit of a special group, etc.

“The judgment”, he said, “would be left to the bishops of the area. It is wiser that way. Also, because there are other instruments in many countries which are not used in Italy or in Ireland, for instance.

“But music should nourish faith, burst from our faith and should lead back to the faith. It should be a prayer”, Cardinal Arinze emphasized. “Entertainment is quite another matter”, he said. “We have the parish hall for that, and the theater. People don’t come to Mass in order to be entertained. They come to Mass to adore God, to thank Him, to ask pardon for sins, and to ask for other things that they need”.

 

[slewi]

That Arrinze quote is perfect. Just the sort of thing I’m looking for. The VII doscuments I have, but I don’t know how effective they have been up to this time, so I am looking for additional quotes.

Thanks!
Stephen