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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Nourishing Our Souls on Beautiful Music: A Moral Imperative

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · September 5, 2013

F A NATURAL rational perfection is attainable to you, then it is a moral fault not to strive for it as much as possible; if you have achieved such a perfection, it is a moral fault not to strive to maintain it and to augment it, if possible.

This is true of any essential rational perfection—that is, not of tulip collecting or astrophysics, which are specialized knowledge and therefore not for everyone, but of such things as the correct use of the faculties of thinking and speaking, and some understanding of the orderliness of reality. These are basically what our forebears called the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music). To the extent that you can attain such essential rational perfections, you should strive to attain them, and a failure to do so, owing not to unavoidable circumstances or pressing obligations but to laziness or distraction or bad appetites, is a moral fault.

A fortiori, this imperative would not include physical perfection, such as weight-lifting or triathlon competency. All that is morally required of us in regard to our bodily nature is a diet and daily regimen adequate to sustaining the higher activities of reason and will. Indeed, if physical exercise were actually to take up so much time and attention that they rendered impossible a life of philosophical leisure or Christian prayer, this would be a manifest imperfection, not a perfection.

Let us apply this principle to music. If one knows that Palestrina or Bach or Handel or Mozart or Beethoven wrote superior music, then choosing consistently to listen to less excellent music would be a moral fault. It could even be a mortal sin if the intention and matter made it so; for example, listening for pleasure to songs about sexual perversion or Satanic heavy metal would be mortally sinful. However, since we must strive to flee even venial sins lest they prepare the way for mortal sin, it is always better to assume that today’s popular music, produced mostly by hedonists who are generally singing about sins, is a slippery slope leading to some kind of intellectual pollution and consent.

I have often heard people make a distinction between listening to music for its entertainment value and listening to it because it is beautiful art. They are trying to find a way to defend their practice of listening to Handel’s Messiah or Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto one day, and their favorite rock band the next day. To a virtuous person, however, that which is most pleasing and therefore most compelling for his attention is that which is most beautiful and most noble in its qualities.

For a person attracted by the goodness inherent in art, there can be no divide between entertainment and profundity or worthiness. We should only want to listen to that which is beautiful; to settle consciously for something less is a lessening of our humanity, of our rationality. It would be like saying that only a church needs to be holy, while a home can be profane. No, the home itself must be made holy, it must be a “domestic church,” a sort of monastic enclosure for the bringing up of saints. The divide between entertainment and fine art is a form of dualism, seen as well in the all-too-common division of worldly events or occasions from religious ones (e.g., Americans celebrate purely political holidays with no connection to the true religion revealed by God, and they celebrate their religious holydays with no connection to their civic life and identity).

If we can, we should elevate our souls to the point where what is intrinsically best or most beautiful is what gives us the greatest pleasure and restfulness. In other words, we should aim at a condition where anything we choose to do—whether for relaxation, leisure, or work—is equally noble, excellent, and praiseworthy. When I am in a serious mood, I should sing, play, or listen to Bach or any other great composer; when I am in a light mood or in need of relaxation, I should also sing, play, or listen to Bach or any other great composer.

THE BEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS God has permitted man to produce contain an almost infinite wealth that can be tapped into throughout all the vicissitudes of life. Good music speaks to all the emotions, all the phases of life, all the daily and weekly junctures. If I need to unwind and wish to do so with music, I might put on lute pieces by Dowland or a pleasant Haydn symphony; if I need to work intensely on a certain project, I might put on some surging Bach or bracing Beethoven; if I wish to elevate my soul to God in prayer, I shall put on a Mass of Palestrina or a work by Arvo Pärt. There is no room for “pop” music in a soul that is thoroughly attached to and captivated by the beautiful, the noble, the elegant, the profound. In fact, such a soul will hate the ugliness and triviality of such base music, which does not even deserve to be honored by the hallowed name of the Muses.

We have a God-given duty to sanctify our lives in every respect, including our leisure pursuits, our recreations and entertainments. Only that which, due to its inherent soundness of form, can be sanctified is worthy of a Christian’s choice and favor. Just as we cannot be holy bank robbers, we cannot be holy rock musicians or consumers of unholy music, because all of this is morally tainted, intellectually inferior, and culturally decadent.

Blessed John Henry Newman once said that going to church is our greatest privilege and should be our central desire. Our entire life, then, from top to bottom, should be permeated with the sacred, with order, beauty, purity, light—not excluding at the same time the emotional power and depth that always accompany true greatness. One thinks of the quartets of Beethoven or the symphonies of Bruckner or Mahler in their most sublime moments, where it is as if the veil between time and eternity is lifted, the abyss between creation and the uncreated spanned. It is our greatest privilege as artistic beings to listen to music that is sacred or finely crafted or sublime (or all three, as in the cantatas of Bach); and if we are listening to music for “relaxation,” it should still be of the best quality.

Everything comes down to the question of beauty. Beautiful music is intrinsically worth listening to at any time when music is appropriate. Especially at our juncture in history, when we have behind us the limitless harvest of centuries of the greatest music the human heart has ever produced—music which, for the first time, is easily accessible to all—there can be no possible excuse for debasing oneself with trash, for lowering oneself to the level of the masses who have no taste, no ear, no musical intuition, no discrimination. The masses listen to the music of techno-barbarians, with no other effect than fueling the basest passions and retarding cultural or mental advancement. That most people do not recognize this fact says nothing whatsoever about its truth. You cannot find out what the truth is by taking a poll or going around the marketplace and asking people what they think.

Music is a basic and essential food of the soul. Just as the body can only be as healthy as the quality of the food ingested, so the soul can only be as healthy as the quality of the sensible goods it takes in. Let us then resolve to nourish our souls on the health-giving food of the beautiful—on music that is profound, rich, subtle, varied, and splendid, and in all these ways, worthy of the image of God that resides in our rational nature.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music.

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President’s Corner

    PDF Comparison Chart • “Serious Problems with the Lectionary Translation”
    EARS BEFORE truly revolutionary changes were introduced by the post-conciliar reformers, Evelyn Waugh wrote (on 16 August 1964) to John Cardinal Heenan: “I think that a vociferous minority has imposed itself on the hierarchy and made them believe that a popular demand existed where there was in fact not even a preference.” We ask the kind reader— indeed, we beg you—to realize that those of us born in the 1940s and 1950s had no cognizance of Roman activities during the 1960s and 1970s. We were concerned with making sure we had the day’s bus fare, graduating from high school, taking care of our siblings, learning a trade, getting a job, courting a spouse. We questioned neither the nuns nor the Church.1 Do not believe for one instant any of us were following the liturgical machinations of Cardinal Lercaro or Father Bugnini in real time. Setting The Stage • To never question or resist Church authorities is praiseworthy. On the other hand, when a scandalous situation persists for decades, it must be brought into focus. Our series will do precisely that as we discuss the Lectionary Scandal from a variety of angles. We don’t do this to attack the Catholic Church. Our goal is bringing to light what’s been going on, so it can be fixed once and for all. Our subject is extremely knotty and difficult to navigate. Its complexity helps explain why the situation has persisted for such a long time.2 But if we immediately get “into the weeds” we’ll lose our audience. Therefore, it seems better to jump right in. So today, we’ll explore the legality of selling these texts. A Word On Copyright • Suppose Susie modifies a paragraph by Edgar Allan Poe. That doesn’t mean ipso facto she can assert copyright on it. If Susie takes a picture of a Corvette and uses Photoshop to color the tires blue, that doesn’t mean she henceforth “owns” all Corvettes in America. But when it comes to Responsorial Psalm translations, certain parties have been asserting copyright over them, selling them for a profit, and bullying publishers vis-à-vis hymnals and missals. Increasingly, Catholics are asking whether these translations are truly under copyright—because they are identical (or substantially identical) to other translations.3 Example After Example • Our series will provide copious examples supporting our claims. Sometimes we’ll rely on the readership for assistance, because—as we’ve stressed—our subject’s history couldn’t be more convoluted. There are countless manuscripts (in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin) we don’t have access to, so it would be foolish for us to claim that our observations are somehow the ‘final word’ on anything. Nevertheless, we demand accountability. Catholics in the pews are the ones who paid for all this. We demand to know who specifically made these decisions (which impact every English-speaking Catholic) and why specifically certain decisions were made. The Responsorial Psalms used in America are—broadly speaking—stolen from the hard work of others. In particular, they borrowed heavily from Father Cuthbert Lattey’s 1939 PSALTER TRANSLATION:
    *  PDF Download • COMPARISON CHART —We thank the CCW staff for technical assistance with this graph.
    Analysis • Although certain parties have been selling (!!!) that translation for decades, the chart demonstrates it’s not a candidate for copyright since it “borrows” or “steals” or “rearranges” so much material from other translations, especially the 1939 translation by Father Cuthbert Lattey. What this means in layman’s terms is that individuals have been selling a translation under false pretenses, a translation they don’t own (although they claim to). To make RESTITUTION, all that money will have to be returned. A few years ago, the head of ICEL gave a public speech in which he said they give some of “their” profits to the poor. While almsgiving is a good thing, it cannot justify theft. Our Constant Theme • Our series will be held together by one thread, which will be repeated constantly: “Who was responsible?” Since 1970, the conduct of those who made a profit by selling these sacred texts has been repugnant. Favoritism was shown toward certain entities—and we will document that with written proof. It is absolutely essential going forward that the faithful be told who is making these decisions. Moreover, vague justifications can no longer be accepted. If we’re told they are “making the translations better,” we must demand to know what specifically they’re doing and what specific criteria they’re following. Stay Tuned • If you’re wondering whether we’ll address the forthcoming (allegedly) Lectionary and the so-called ABBEY PSALMS AND CANTICLES, have no fear. We’ll have much to say about both. Please stay tuned. We believe this will end up being the longest series of articles ever submitted to Corpus Christi Watershed. To be continued. ROBERT O’NEILL Former associate of Monsignor Francis “Frank” P. Schmitt at Boys Town in Nebraska JAMES ARNOLD Formerly associated w/ King’s College, Cambridge A convert to the Catholic Church, and distant relative of J. H. Arnold MARIA B. Currently serves as a musician in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. Those aware of the situation in her diocese won’t be surprised she chose to withhold her last name.
    1 Even if we’d been able to obtain Roman journals such as NOTITIAE, none of them contained English translations. But such an idea would never have occurred to a high school student or a college student growing up in the 1960s. 2 A number of shell corporations claim to own the various biblical translations mandated for Roman Catholics. They’ve made millions of dollars selling (!) these indulgenced texts. If time permits, we hope to enumerate these various shell corporations and explain: which texts they claim to own; how much they bring in each year; who runs them; and so forth. It would also be good to explore the morality of selling these indulgenced texts for a profit. Furthermore, for the last fifty years these organizations have employed several tactics to manipulate and bully others. If time permits, we will expose those tactics (including written examples). Some of us—who have been working on this problem for three decades—have amassed written documentation we’ll be sharing that demonstrates behavior at best “shady” and at worst criminal. 3 Again, we are not yet examining the morality of selling (!) indulgenced texts to Catholics mandated to use those same translations.
    —Guest Author
    “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
    All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing—direct murder by the mother herself. And we read in the Scripture, for God says very clearly: “Even if a mother could forget her child, I will not forget you: I have carved you in the palm of my hand.”

— Mother Theresa (11 Dec 1979)

Recent Posts

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  • “Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
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  • Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
  • Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser

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