Several music-related notes:
Fr. Martin Fox had one more post last week from the Sacred Music Colloquium in DC.
The conference was packed with 85 people, who stretched the limits of the facilities—a nice problem to have—and this is certainly a record. If you have never sung renaissance motets and chant with so many voices, I can only say that it is an unforgettable experience. Two thirds of the attendees had never been before, but most all currently direct and sing in Catholic music parishes.
What did this conference give them? Full immersion into the musical culture of the Roman Rite, something that is sadly lacking in parishes. It’s like learning a language. The best approach is to live in the country that speaks it. This week was the "country" of Catholic sacred music.
But here is the best part: rather than merely bemoan the dreadful music that still dominates Mass in this country or kvetch about the missteps after Vatican II, there was a real sense of optimism—even unbounded joy—among most everyone there, as the musicians in attendance experienced a strong sense of collegiality and looked to a bright future.
This evening, the Pope attended a concert of sacred music in the Sistine Chapel, presented in his honor by the Domenico Bartolucci Foundation, directed by Msgr. Domenico Bartolucci.
At the end of the concert, Benedict XVI thanked Msgr. Bartolucci – who directed the Sistine Chapel Choir from 1956 to 1997 – for the concert, which included the composition "Oremus Pro Pontefice" written, the Pope recalled, by Msgr. Bartolucci "immediately after my election to the See of Peter."
"All the pieces we have heard," the Holy Father continued, "and especially their arrangement – with the sixteenth and twentieth centuries running in parallel – go to confirm the conviction that sacred polyphony, and especially that of the so-called ‘Roman School,’ is a legacy to be carefully preserved, kept alive and propagated, for the benefit not only of scholars and enthusiasts, but of all the ecclesial community for which it constitutes a priceless spiritual, artistic and cultural heritage."
Pope Benedict then highlighted how the aim of the Bartolucci Foundation is "to preserve and defend the classical and contemporary tradition of this famous polyphonic school, which has always been characterized by its focus on the pure voice, without instrumental accompaniment."
He continued: "A true ‘aggiornamento’ of sacred music cannot be achieved except by following the great traditions of the past, of Gregorian chants and sacred polyphony. For this reason, in the musical field as in that of other forms of art, the ecclesial community has always promoted and sustained those who seek new forms of expression without rejecting the past, the history of the human spirit, which is also the history of its dialogue with God."
In memory of Benedict XVI’s recent visit to Auschwitz, the monsignor also included "Super Fulmina," a composition he wrote as a seminarian, which recounts the desolation of the Jews who wept during their exile in Babylon.
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