The Gregorian Chant Comeback

A recent Vatican statement calls for parishes to revive traditional music at Mass-what Rome has been saying all along.

BY: Arlene Oost-Zinner and Jeffrey Tucker

A moving moment occurred at Pope Benedict XVI's outdoor inaugural Mass last April. During the recessional, the Marian antiphon for the Easter season, the "Regina Caeli," was sung by worshipers from around the world, including the pope himself. It was beautiful and inspiring but for one problem. Most American Catholics under the age of 60 can't conjure even the first notes or words of this once-popular hymn. Even the most basic of Catholic chants-"Ubi Caritas," "Ave Maria," "Ave Maris Stella"-are unknown by most U.S. Catholics.

If the U.S. is going to participate in a revival of sacred music, particularly from the Gregorian repertoire-which is what the Vatican has now made it clear that the Benedict wants--something has got to change to bring U.S. parish practice in line. To achieve the musical goal of the Second Vatican Council-to elevate Gregorian chant to pride of place in the Mass-will require Herculean educational efforts and massive dedication of musicians of all sorts.

Not that a dictate or document from Rome is going to be enough to inspire every parish to sing the Credo in Latin or look away from their missalettes and toward Solesmes, France, the center of Gregorian chant, for Psalms and Communion chants. What this pontificate can do is provided liturgical and theological leadership by example. This will assist refuting the primary misunderstanding about sacred music today: that the choice of musical style at Mass is a matter of cultural and personal preference to be determined at the parish level, on the theory that any music that is suitably religious is appropriate for liturgy, so long as the people can participate (in theory) by singing along.

This misunderstanding, which is contradicted by two millennia of authoritative Church teaching, is widely held by Catholic musicians at the parish level. This is why parish music is so often reduced to a variety show, however well intended the performers may be. These same musicians, however, can play an essential role in the revival of chant and truly sacred music, provided that they are called to a higher standard and are willing to undertake the effort to acquaint themselves with the astonishing richness of what our heritage has to offer.

Nor does Benedict XVI need to issue new teachings. The Vatican's focus on Gregorian chant as proper to the liturgy has been consistent during the 40 years since the Second Vatican Council. There has been no letup in the insistence that chant is Catholic music, from the council document "Sacrosanctum Concilium"'s explicit call for chant to displace popular hymnody as the music of the people, through Paul VI's issuance in 1974 of "Jubilate Deo" (a booklet of basic chants for every parish), to John Paul II's prayer in 2000 for the beauty of sacred music to return to our liturgies.

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