• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

What to Do with Musicam Sacram

Fr. David Friel · January 11, 2015

N THE ONE HAND, Musicam Sacram (MS) is a post-conciliar document, published two years after the close of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. On the other hand, it came two years before the publication of the revised Missal of Paul VI, which was promulgated in 1969. So, what should be done with it? Does it have any relevance or binding force today?

I received this question by email recently, and it prompted me to do a bit of thinking and researching. This is a difficult matter to address, and it is a question likely to elicit different answers from different authorities.

First, it should be established that MS is an “Instruction on Music in the Liturgy” published by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. An “Instruction” is a text that stands not so much on its own, but as a complement to another document. In this case, MS is meant as a companion to Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Thus, it is clear that MS is a document with a high level of authority.

Yet, while the document has never been formally abrogated, there are countless scholars and liturgical musicians who consider its teachings no longer applicable. The publication of the new Roman Missal in 1969, they believe, made MS obsolete. Is this true?

I would say not. After all, in the GIRM, which is a companion document to the revised Roman Missal, Musicam Sacram is cited 11 times. If MS had no binding force on the reformed liturgy, then these citations would not exist.

ERHAPS A BETTER approach, then, would be to say that certain specifics contained with MS no longer apply. For example, the former distinction between solemn, sung, and read Masses has not been retained in what we now call the Ordinary Form. Still, the general principles outlined in MS remain quite valid and very much in force.

Especially in the Ordinary Form, which allows for so many options and so much leeway, it is hard to make an argument against incorporating the principles of MS. If the principles of a more recent, non-authoritative document (such as Sing to the Lord) can be taken into account, who is to say, in the OF, that the principles of MS cannot also be taken to heart? To my mind, it seems quite laudable to apply the guidelines of MS to our present celebration of Mass.

If you are interested in a fuller treatment of this topic, there is something you should read that comes from an unlikely source. Available online is a TRANSCRIPT of five separate presentations given during the 2007 NPM Convention which (believe it or not) addressed this topic. The five lectures represent rather disparate points of view. Each lecture is worth reading, but I would say that the lecture by Dr. Ed Schaefer deserves special notice.

What to do with Musicam Sacram remains a thorny issue. Trying to reconcile, for example, the principle of “progressive solemnity” in SttL with the three-tiered structure of singing given in MS is difficult work. At the very least, the principles of MS must not be discounted outright. They should, instead, be welcomed—even studied—so as to improve our celebration of the sacred liturgy.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Authentic Liturgical Renewal Reform, Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, Progressive Solemnity, Sacrosanctum Concilium, USCCB Sing to the Lord Document on Music Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Many of those who have influenced the reform […] have no love, and no veneration of that which has been handed down to us. They begin by despising everything that is actually there.”

— Cardinal Antonelli (Peritus during the Second Vatican Council)

Recent Posts

  • Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
  • PDF Download • Belgian Book of Gregorian Accompaniments (Official Edition)
  • Don’t You Agree About These?
  • Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
  • Crucial Tip For Choir Directors

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.