APPINESS. What does that word mean? Is it sitting around playing video games? Is it going to fancy restaurants to commit gluttony? Various “forms” of happiness seem to exist: delight, joy, pleasure, cheerfulness, enrapture, and so forth. Some of my happiest memories involve serving Low Mass in a small Kansas church where the only person in the pews was my father. The peace I experienced and the union with God … well, it was splendid.
I Will Never Forget • One experience I’ll never forget was serving for a SOLEMN REQUIEM MASS in Kansas City circa 1998. The priest, deacon, and subdeacon wore stunning black vestments embroidered with silver. Suddenly, the choir began singing polyphony. It struck me that such music was perfectly suited for the holy and ineffable Sacrifice of the Mass. There was just no doubt in my mind.
“Patriotic Catalan” • The relator for the subcommission in charge of studying the question of sacred music—in preparation for the Second Vatican Council—was Monsignor Higinio Anglés (d. 1969), who had served as president of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music since 1947. My teacher, who knew Anglés well, described him as “a patriotic Catalan.” Readers probably remember that one of my favorite composers is Cristóbal de Morales. Well, the man in charge of creating the OPERA OMNIA containing all Morales’ compositions was Monsignor Higinio Anglés. Reading page 79 of the Bugnini biography by Yves Chiron, I was glad to discover that Msgr. Anglés told his subcommittee that CARMEN GREGORIANUM (Gregorian Chant)…
“because of its antiquity and purity (i.e. its sobriety) is better suited to the sacred character that ought to adorn all liturgy and is the music most prone to fostering piety and elevating the soul.”
Contrariwise • In a recent article, I commented on a statement by Paul Inwood. I also tried to illustrate the type of music used in the 1980s for Masses offered in the Ordinary Form. I was very young, so I didn’t know the names of any of the composers—but decades later, I discovered that one of those pieces was written by Paul Inwood. Here’s how it sounded:
* Mp3 Download • Song by Paul Inwood
—This song was sung at Jeff’s parish during the 1980s.
Needless to say, I can’t remember all the songs they used at Mass when I was a child sitting in the pews. I do recall one was about a butterfly. The reason I give this example by Paul Inwood is to demonstrate that certain music is so “goofy” or “secular” or “Broadway-influenced” or “gimmicky” that it has absolutely no place during Mass.
The Year 2024? • I wish I could say that “nightmarish” music is no longer used at Mass. Unfortunately, we know that’s not true. The following video clip shows a Mass that took place in my diocese a few weeks ago:
Here’s the direct URL link.
Do you agree such music is totally secular?
The musical style evokes a secular event, not a sacred event.
