The Ministry of Music
2.
From Rubrical Music to Ministerial music
Before
Vatican II, music possessed a rubrical status. In other
words, the liturgical act called "singing" was
programmed by the rubrics as a rite to be performed, in
the same category as the server ringing the bell for the
elevation of the host, or the priest putting on a chasuble
or raising his hands for the Our Father. It was not required
that the priest put on a beautiful chasuble, a true vestment
of prayer, nor that he raise his hands in a dignified gesture
of supplication, nor that the bell emit a silvery sound.
The rubric required simply that the arranged rite be performed.
likewise, it was not required that the singing be beautiful.
it had the right to be ugly. Le us remember the Prefaces
sung by priests or bishops having neither ears for music
no good voices, whose songs skidded around like a skater
on thin ice. Their singing was ugly enough to make the devil
flee. But the rubric was saved.
Choirs,
lacking preparation or skill to perform more elaborate compositions
for the assigned texts, were sometimes reduced to solutions
which bordered on the ridiculous. On one side, it was said:
Spirits
rise more easily from the beauty of holy things, up to
invisible realities; the complete celebration foreshadows
more clearly the divine liturgy which is performed in
the new Jerusalem.
But
on the other hand, choirs were asked to recite recto to
no or to chant the texts that they were not able to sing
correctly. Could one then pretend without laughing that
this lamentation on one not was capable of rising spirits
to contemplation of invisible realities?
The
reign of rubrical music was full of disadvantages. Furthermore,
it bestowed dubious privileges on the choir, assuring for
it every Sunday a captive audience. What choral society
would not be pleased each week to be able to give a concert
to a full house and a guaranteed public? for choruses burning
with the sacred fire of divine service, what an invitation
to surpass themselves each week! But for congregations,
even if the choir sang out of tune, even if the organist
had not prepared his fingering or practices his pedals,
people were compelled to listen or, at least, to suffer.
No one could flee. Everyone, assembly and choir, was prisoner
of the rite.
However,
the new situation is the following: the ritual is subject
henceforth to the criterion of the ministerial function
and, into our appreciation of this ministerial function,
the element of "beauty" intervenes. In other words,
a song is no longer valid simply because it conforms to
the rite: it is necessary that it be beautiful, that is
to be performed with beauty, that it be perceived as beauty.
I
think that we have not yet measured the incredible newness
of this situation. Often we continue to sing simply through
habit: we sing in the vernacular -- well or badly -- that
which we sang formerly in Latin. sometimes the "new"
liturgy is reduced to this situation. But Vatican II is
far more demanding: it must mark the end of all badly performed
singing and the beginning of a new era where music has a
right to liturgical existence only as long as it is a source
of beauty and ecstasy. Each time that the quality of music
is not equal to the quality of silence that it has just
broken, the silences is preferable. There is no shame in
not singing but there is shame in singing badly. to be more
positive: it is necessary that each song and each rite enrich
the community and turn its heart toward God. Just as man
was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for man, in
the same way the community is not at the service of singing
but singing is at the service of the community.
3.
Which Songs?
Often
people ask: "Which songs, specifically, should the
choir be singing in the new liturgy?"
One
can respond in a general manner:
-
The
Choir can sing everything that the congregation sings
(since the choir is part of the congregation)
-
The
choir can also sing certain songs with the congregation
in antiphonal or dialogue form.
-
Finally,
the choir can keep for itself certain songs.
4.
Mini-Choirs and "Little Antiphons"
When
we think of a "choir," we think most often of
a group of singers performing a majestic piece of music
on a feast day. The long preparation (it can be staggered
out for weeks), then the fleeting performance (it only lasts
two or three minutes) are a part of the price to be paid
to "celebrate the holy day." Besides holy days
there is the entire litany of ordinary Sundays; and besides
the choir's Mass, there are the other Sunday Masses, without
counting daily Masses. consequently, one can then imagine
a "splintering" of the choir into smaller groups
or even some singers detaching from the main group to guarantee
each Mass the minimum of required solemnity. The General
Instruction of the Roman Missal article 64, states strongly:
There
should be a cantor or a choirmaster to direct and encourage
the people in singing. If there is no choir, the cantor
leads the various songs, and the people take their own part.
By
placing itself on this level of humble service in order
to guarantee a proper musical performance at each Mass,
the choir affirms that it is first of all the servant of
the community before being the servant of music.
