Music in Catholic Worship

William Mahrt's comments during and following the Consultation on a Revision of Music in Catholic Worship, sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on the Liturgy, Subcommittee on Music in the Liturgy, October Chicago, Illinois, October 9, 2006.

There are many aspects of Music in Catholic Worship that need revision. The purposes of music should be stated clearly; I would say that there are two overriding purposes: to make the liturgy more beautiful and to emphasize its sacred character.

To accomplish these purposes, the statements about the aesthetic judgment need re-emphasis. A principal problem today is that the quality of the music—not just the texts—is mediocre; it fulfills what then Cardinal Ratzinger called utility music, concluding that utility music is useless. Only music that is truly beautiful should have a place in the liturgy.

Music can establish unambiguously the sacred character of the action. Here the statements about style need a radical revision. All styles are not equal. The tradition of Roman documents establishes a clear hierarchy. Gregorian chant has pride of place; classical polyphony has a privileged role. It is because styles carry with them associations and even evoke a place—the style of a Broadway show tune evokes the theater; the style of cocktail music evokes the cocktail bar, yet we hear these styles in church. The priority of sacred styles needs re-emphasis.

The analysis of the purposes of the parts of the Mass needs reformulation. The distinction between proper and ordinary is a very useful one—propers accompany other actions, ordinary are the liturgical actions themselves. Thus the description of the introit as establishing a tone of celebration may not be the most accurate—the introit accompanies the procession, emphasizing the focal point of the altar as a point of arrival, and observing  its sacredness by incensing it. It is then particularly the Gloria which establishes the tone of celebration.

The theology of music in the document is only anthropocentric; but it should also be theocentric. The document speaks only of the action of the congregation; but this has no meaning unless it is in the service of the action of Christ in the Mass.  To say that music has the purpose of the glorification of God (theocentric) does not contradict that it cultivates the faith of the people (anthropocentric); these two purposes reinforce each other.

If music is to be central to the liturgy, a strong statement needs to be made that the singing of the celebrant of the Mass is crucial; otherwise the music seems secondary to the structure of the liturgy. In this context, the attention of the subcommittee should ultimately turn to the melodies for the celebrant, particularly the Lord’s Prayer, but also the dialogues —these are sorely in need of revision.