OR APPROXIMATELY five hundred years, it was unthinkable for any Catholic musician to program compositions by dead composers. In those days, all liturgical music was contemporary.1 The famous composer and theorist, JOHANNES TINCTORIS (d. 1511), put it this way: “There is no music worth hearing save that written in the last forty years.” It’s difficult for some to admit, but each generation made music according to their rules, not ours. Indeed, Sergei Rachmaninoff—one of the greatest pianists of all time—was surprised to learn toward the end of his life that Schubert wrote piano sonatas!
Old-Fashioned Music (1 of 3) • I try to be sensitive to the musical styles I play at Mass. Too many dominant 7th chords—in my humble opinion—can suddenly make the pipe organ sound like a circus organ! During the following hymn, I play two (2) organ interludes. The first uses a tiny smattering of counterpoint. When it comes to the second interlude, however, some feel its chromaticism sounds excessively “19th-century” or “saccharine” or schmaltzy. Do you agree?
Old-Fashioned Music (2 of 3) • Only a very foolish and dishonest person would question my love for the music of Sebastian Bach. I have religiously studied, played, and listened to Bach’s oeuvre for thirty years—and my appreciation continues to grow each day. Nevertheless, I have argued that we must be careful about choosing certain Bach works for Mass, because they’re tied so tightly to the Baroque sensibility. We should guard against the Holy Mass resembling a “museum piece” (for lack of a better term). Indeed, in just five or six notes, Sebastian Bach can transport the listener into a 100% Baroque universe! If you doubt what I’m saying, consider the first few seconds of this marvelous PRELUDE (Well-Tempered Clavier, Bk. II, No. 22) by Sebastian Bach. I disagree with Albert Schweitzer about many things, but I do love his description of Bach’s Art of the Fugue: “A still and serious world: deserted and rigid, without color, without light, without motion; it does not gladden, does not distract; yet we cannot break away from it.”
Old-Fashioned Music (3 of 3) • The so-called “authentic instruments” movement became popular after World War II. Some musicians insisted on using old-fashioned instruments, which they didn’t know how to play properly. As a result, many early “authentic” recordings are comically out of tune (and sound ridiculous). One musicologist, noting the excesses of that movement, pointed out something rather clever: “If you want to be really authentic, you’d wear powdered wigs while playing such music.”
Conclusion • I have suggested that music must live. It must be filled with vitality. If we can make better music by studying old-fashioned performance techniques, let us do so by all means! On the other hand, I would feel silly if I went to Mass and saw the musicians wearing powdered wigs.
1 Except for plain-chant, the only deviation from this rule took place when a composer happened to be unbelievably acclaimed and famous, such as Josquin des Prez (d. 1521) and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (d. 1594). Even after they died, their music was still played.
