sacred music

The Jewish Precedent for Latin Chant

I’ve long written in favor of reestablishing Gregorian chant as the primary musical language of liturgy for Roman Rite Catholics around the world. We’ve taken great steps in this direction with the new Missal in English, which embeds the chant tradition in the heart of the book. And for the first time, we are seeing … Read more

Musical Corruptions Continue Despite Recent Vatican Interventions

The Vatican has intervened in the guidelines on Catholic liturgical music in the U.S. It has sent a message to U.S. publishers that it objects to extending the official text of the Agnus Dei to add additional text. The practice is called “troping” but that’s using a rather high-minded and deeply historical term for what … Read more

Catholic Music: It’s Time to Stop Making Stuff Up

Every weekend or so, some name composer of mainstream Catholic music is out and about giving a workshop in a parish somewhere. I’ve been to enough of these to pretty much know what they are going to say in advance. They stand in front of parish musicians and repeatedly tell them that the most important … Read more

Paint-by-Number Hymns

“Are you interested in painting, sir?” asks the cheerful curator of the modern art museum. “No, not me,” says the detective.  He passes his hand across his rumpled hair.  “Now, Mrs. Columbo, she’s different.  That woman is into everything.  She does a little painting herself.” “She does?” “Oh, yeah, all the time.  She buys these … Read more

Singing Lessons

This essay first appeared in the September 1996 issue of Crisis Magazine. The Mass is the very core of the Catholic liturgy, the supremely important expression of the Church’s faith. It is clear that a skewed concept of the Mass that fails to do justice to its essence will in due time harm the believer’s … Read more

Whatever Happened to Palestrina?

A German opera called Palestrina, composed by Hans Pfitzner during the First World War, portrayed the 16th-century composer as the savior of Catholic Church music. Set during the Council of Trent, the opera had the council fathers on the verge of banning polyphonic music (many voices singing various melodies at variance) from the Mass. Then … Read more

Cardinal Bartolucci on the Restoration of Sacred Music

ZENIT has published an interview with the long-time (and now-retired) director of the Sistine Chapel Choir, the recently elevated Domenico Cardinal Bartolucci. A brief journey through the Interwebs reveals the 93-year-old composer to be a feisty advocate for sacred music, particularly the “classics.” In this interview, he reveals his belief that “for sacred music, the … Read more

A Sacred Selection for the First Sunday of Lent

Rekindling a semi-tradition from last year, here is a piece of sacred music to help celebrate the First Sunday of Lent. I thought I’d start off with a relative newcomer (to me, at least): “In te Domine speravi,” from the ubiquitous Anonymous. O Lord, in Thee I have hoped; let me never be put to … Read more

A Catholic Composer to Watch…

Eric Genuis is a composer, performer, and conductor on a mission to save the culture from the destructive effects of bad music. Like the philosophers of ancient Greece, Genuis believes music shapes our character, and worries that "young people are damaged by popular music before they become adults." His solution is to make good music … Read more

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