Accepting the chant as normative for liturgical celebrations

Glory To God In The Highest And On Earth Peace To People Of Good Will from Church Music Association of Amer on Vimeo.

Here is an excerpt from a presentation by Msgr Andrew Wadsworth.

Gregorian Chant Conference at Ave Maria University

From the Musica Sacra website:

This two-day workshop will present both beginning and advanced musicians with lectures, breakout sessions, and rehearsals that will enrich their knowledge of Gregorian chant and its use in the Roman Catholic liturgy.

Led by a faculty of chant specialists from around the state and beyond, attendees will learn more about the history of Gregorian chant and its role in the liturgy as well as experience the chant in the context of both the Divine Office and the Mass. Beginning chanters will be introduced to the basics of notation and rhythm according to the classic Solesmes method. Experienced chanters will learn new repertoire and advance their understanding of rhythmic and interpretive nuance. Resources and practical methods for the cultivation of Gregorian chant in the life of the parish will also be discussed. A special breakout session will be devoted to helping priests and deacons with their liturgical chants.

This workshop is ideal for choir members, parish music directors, music students, teachers, parents, seminarians, deacons, priests, and anyone who is interested in learning about the heritage of sacred music within the Roman Catholic Church. [Emphasis added.]

Pope Benedict: improving the celebration of the Word of God, during and outside Mass

Pope Benedict has issued a post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation entitled Verbum Domini - Word of the Lord.

Among other things the Holy Father referred to the need for a sense of recollection and inner repose:

Rediscovering the centrality of God’s word in the life of the Church also means rediscovering a sense of recollection and inner repose. [...] Only in silence can the word of God find a home in us, as it did in Mary, woman of the word and, inseparably, woman of silence.

He deals also with the question of music. This is very important because music can promote recollection and inner repose, or it can destroy it. Some of the words, melodies, arrangements and instruments used at Mass do precisely that: just when one needs some peace a responsorial psalm arrangement that shatters that peace, or a communion reflection that is a total distraction during that most sublime moment intrudes upon the sacred rites being celebrated.

Pope Benedict says:

As part of the enhancement of the word of God in the liturgy, attention should also be paid to the use of song at the times called for by the particular rite. Preference should be given to songs which are of clear biblical inspiration and which express, through the harmony of music and words, the beauty of God’s word. We would do well to make the most of those songs handed down to us by the Church’s tradition which respect this criterion. I think in particular of the importance of Gregorian chant.

Good Holy Father! He wouldn't be Benedict if he did not find an opportunity to promote Gregorian chant. How sublime these settings are at precisely those points when the Word of God can enhance that spirit of recollection and inner repose: the entrance antiphon which prepares the heart and mind, the responsorial psalm (or Gradual) to assist us in our response to the first reading, the Alleluia that prepares our hearts to hear Christ in the Gospel, the Offertory Antiphon that accompanies the offering of the bread and wine and of our own selves, the Communion Antiphon that is peacefully rising to God.

All these are so far superior to the inane songs that are sung at most of our Masses.

In my recent visit to Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, I was most impressed by the simplicity and sobriety of the liturgy. The Masses I attended were in English, but the antiphons were sung in a gregorian style manner, and the psalm in a chant like tone. There was the perfect balance of silence and song, with every opportunity for recollection and inner repose.

Acknowledgement to Zenit.

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Southwark's Director of Music Nick Gale launches Gregorian Chant educational CD

It's very good to see the increase in interest in Gregorian chant. Nick Gale visited this parish a couple of years ago and introduced our choir to the chant. He is actively involved in promoting the chant wherever possible and this Press Release is on his Gregorian Chant website:

Ash Wednesday 2010 sees the launch of the first of three educational CDs of Gregorian Chant for use in parishes. The Chant is performed by a small group of singers from the Choir of St George's Cathedral, London, under the direction of Nick Gale. Nick is a UK-based teacher of Gregorian Chant and the Director of Music at St George's Cathedral. Volume One of Cantus Angeli, (Chants of the Ordinary,) features complete performances of seven Gregorian Masses, the Ambrosian Gloria, the Asperges and Vidi Aquam, three Credos and a selection of alleluias with verses. The singers are chosen for the simplicity of their tone and the acoustic for its gentle resonance; the consequent clarity and simplicity of the performance makes the Chant accessible to the average parish and gives the CD a more pedagogical focus than most similar productions.

January saw the lauch of the Gregorian Chant Network of which Nick is a member.