Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: The Profane at Mass
ROME, DEC. 14, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Somewhat related to the question of dramas during Mass (see Nov. 30) is that of particular folk traditions. An Ohio reader asked: "Our parish had its 25th annual polka Mass. The band consists of trumpet, saxophone, trombone, accordion and vocalist. They play 'Roll Out the Barrel' and other polka tunes to which the words of the liturgical hymns are substituted. I believe this to be sacrilegious "
We have written before about the so-called polka Masses on April 20 and May 4, 2004, and maintain the same position.
This inquiry leads me to note one aspect of Catholic tradition with respect to the music used in church. This characteristic could be called the "rejection of the profane" and means that the Church is wary of accepting any music that the faithful easily associate with non-religious music.
This is not a novelty. Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604) forbade the deacons from singing lyrical psalms and limited them to the simple tones of the Gospel. He said, "The cantor serving the altar irritates God with his customs even when he fascinates the people with his melodies." An 11th-century monk thundered against the fad of early attempts at polyphony and solo singing: "What compunction, what tears are born from these tropes when someone elevates the voice like a buffalo while in church. Monks have not entered this solitude to stand before God inflating the neck so as to sing melodies, rhythm arias, agitate their hands and jump from one foot to the other."
The birth of polyphony, at the same time deeply Christian, was not without dangers. Some composers used popular songs as musical themes for the composition of Masses which then took the name of the song. This is why there is a Mass called "bacciami amica mia" (kiss me, my dear). The Council of Trent attempted to contrast such tendencies in its 22nd session by decreeing: "That form of Music must be removed from churches in which anything impure or lascivious is mixed in, either from the sound of the organ, or through song so that the house of God may truly be called a house of prayer."
It must be recognized that some musical forms are inherently profane either because they are tied up with irreligious or immoral contexts or simply intimately associated with the secular sphere. So long as the music invokes the non-religious original, then "baptizing" the lyrics is simply insufficient.
On the other hand, sacred and profane with respect to music often depends on time and circumstances rather than any inherent quality of the music itself. Certain secular tunes can with time lose their exclusively profane context and eventually be used as religious hymns. The lyrics to the popular Christmas carol "What Child Is This," composed in 1865, are much better known than those to the original Tudor love-song "Greensleeves." The so-called Ave Maria of Schubert was originally a German translation of Sir Walter Scott's "Lady of the Lake." It was only later adapted by other composers to the full text of the Hail Mary.
Thus, while some flexibility may be allowed, the church is not the place to introduce experimental music which may grind on the sensibility. The primary function of liturgical music is to assist divine worship and to be a prayer itself. The forms of music should contribute to this goal.
Somewhat related to the question of dramas during Mass (see Nov. 30) is that of particular folk traditions. An Ohio reader asked: "Our parish had its 25th annual polka Mass. The band consists of trumpet, saxophone, trombone, accordion and vocalist. They play 'Roll Out the Barrel' and other polka tunes to which the words of the liturgical hymns are substituted. I believe this to be sacrilegious "
We have written before about the so-called polka Masses on April 20 and May 4, 2004, and maintain the same position.
This inquiry leads me to note one aspect of Catholic tradition with respect to the music used in church. This characteristic could be called the "rejection of the profane" and means that the Church is wary of accepting any music that the faithful easily associate with non-religious music.
This is not a novelty. Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604) forbade the deacons from singing lyrical psalms and limited them to the simple tones of the Gospel. He said, "The cantor serving the altar irritates God with his customs even when he fascinates the people with his melodies." An 11th-century monk thundered against the fad of early attempts at polyphony and solo singing: "What compunction, what tears are born from these tropes when someone elevates the voice like a buffalo while in church. Monks have not entered this solitude to stand before God inflating the neck so as to sing melodies, rhythm arias, agitate their hands and jump from one foot to the other."
The birth of polyphony, at the same time deeply Christian, was not without dangers. Some composers used popular songs as musical themes for the composition of Masses which then took the name of the song. This is why there is a Mass called "bacciami amica mia" (kiss me, my dear). The Council of Trent attempted to contrast such tendencies in its 22nd session by decreeing: "That form of Music must be removed from churches in which anything impure or lascivious is mixed in, either from the sound of the organ, or through song so that the house of God may truly be called a house of prayer."
It must be recognized that some musical forms are inherently profane either because they are tied up with irreligious or immoral contexts or simply intimately associated with the secular sphere. So long as the music invokes the non-religious original, then "baptizing" the lyrics is simply insufficient.
On the other hand, sacred and profane with respect to music often depends on time and circumstances rather than any inherent quality of the music itself. Certain secular tunes can with time lose their exclusively profane context and eventually be used as religious hymns. The lyrics to the popular Christmas carol "What Child Is This," composed in 1865, are much better known than those to the original Tudor love-song "Greensleeves." The so-called Ave Maria of Schubert was originally a German translation of Sir Walter Scott's "Lady of the Lake." It was only later adapted by other composers to the full text of the Hail Mary.
Thus, while some flexibility may be allowed, the church is not the place to introduce experimental music which may grind on the sensibility. The primary function of liturgical music is to assist divine worship and to be a prayer itself. The forms of music should contribute to this goal.
posted by Chipi Buenafe at
6:33 PM
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