recordings offered free by diocese

By JOSEPH O’BRIEN chant into the liturgy, as Catholic Times Correspondent the Magisterium of the LA CROSSE – Even as Church desires,” Carstens the older form of the said. is making a comeback after Carstens added that the Benedict XVI’s 2007 motu Second Vatican Coun- proprio “Summorum Pon- cil’s document on the tifi cum,” restored it as the liturgy “Sacrosanctum extraordinary form of the Concilium” calls for the , so too, the Dio- continued use of Gre- cese of La Crosse is dusting gorian . It is also mentioned in the Gen- off revered liturgical norms CT/Joseph O’Brien that have fallen out of use A was recorded for the Introit Project at the Cathedral of St. eral Instruction of the Joseph the Workman April 30, 2008. From left are Brian Luckner, the Cathedral’s Roman (GIRM), in the form of the sacred music director, Matthew Curtis, Danielle Luckner and Amy Johnson-Pierce. Mass. the offi cial Vatican-ap- The diocesan Offi ce of rehearsal.” proved user’s guide for Sacred Worship is making available Both the scarcity of such musical the Mass, as the fi rst of four options through its page on the diocesan resources and the effi ciency of the In- which priests have for liturgical mu- Web site (http://worship.dioceseofl a- ternet inspired Carstens to undertake sic at the beginning of Mass. crosse.com) the complete for the project. There was also a person- Given its position both in the Sundays, and feast days al reason, he noted. “I have tried to GIRM and in the Church’s heritage, of the . The introits are incorporate the introit chants in cel- Carstens said that chant really should the entrance that are often ebrations at which I am the or have pride of place in contemporary replaced with so-called “entrance director,” he explained, adding liturgical music. “While in prac- hymns.” that, like many involved in music, his tice most parishes and communities Funded by an anonymous donation, ability to sight read is limited. choose the last option, a ‘suitable li- the recordings have been made from “So, in the process of learning a turgical song,’” he explained, “the the Roman , the Vatican-ap- piece of music that I have not seen or fi rst option, the introit, should be giv- proved book of Gregorian chant for heard before, such as an introit chant, en greater consideration.” all parts of the Mass. I have sometimes found a record- ing of the chant on the Internet” he Quartet of voices Learning aid explained. “Although these fi les are The foursome who recorded the in- Sacred Worship director Christo- rarely available, when I fi nd them, troits at the Cathedral of St. Joseph pher Carstens is providing these re- they are the most convenient way for the Workman were Cathedral Parish’s cordings for free to anyone with ac- me to learn a chant.” sacred music director Brian Luckner, cess to the Internet. There are 75 his wife Danielle Luckner, and fel- complete recordings downloadable Easy access low parishioners and choir members as MP3 fi les, Carstens said, and the The availability of this music, Matthew Curtis and Amy Johnson- corresponding sheet music from the Carstens noted, helps small parishes Pierce. Roman Gradual is also available as without a large budget by offering The sessions were recorded be- downloadable PDF fi les. the recordings for free. It also helps tween April 9 and May 21, 2008, “In this way, one can print off the parish that might otherwise Luckner said, with the help of pro- piece of music and then listen to the be hesitant to use Gregorian chant ducer Jeff Cozy of Bright Ideas Mul- recording of the chant to assist in because they don’t know Latin or timedia, La Crosse. The recording learning it,” he said. “A director of a are unfamiliar with the principles of went smoothly, he added, especial- choir, for example, may want to use chant. ly because of the caliber of the tal- one of the chants or even send the “The Introit Project, while not ent. “They’re all highly skilled mu- link to choir or schola members for eliminating every challenge, seeks sicians,” Luckner said of his fellow them to review before gathering for to be a useful way to help introduce singers. “They had a lot of material and had to process that material relatively quickly. But they all Variation on a theme: Introit project had the skills for it.” According to Luckner, the inspires local singer music being performed is at By JOSEPH O’BRIEN least half as old as the Church Catholic Times Correspondent herself. “Most of the pieces would LA CROSSE – Matthew Curtis’ Gregorian chant Web site is an- date from the sixth to the tenth other sign that early Church music is beginning to gain in popular- century,” he said, pointing out ity. Curtis, one of the members of the schola choir that recorded that most of them were writ- the Introit Project and a member of the Cathedral of St. Joseph the ten by anonymous monks. “For Workman, developed a Web site to sell his own solo version of the a long time, the pieces weren’t introits and other parts of the Mass. His work is available at both notated, but only handed on in his own Web site, http://www.chanttracks.com, and at http://www. oral tradition.” ucombo.com, a music-sharing Web site. An award-winning tenor – his forte ranging from lyric to opera As music’s own traditions – Curtis graduated from Viterbo University, La Crosse, with a bach- began to develop, Luckner ex- elor’s degree in vocal performance and is continuing his studies at plained, the pieces were eventu- the University of Minnesota’s Master of Music Program. ally written down – and contin- Curtis has been a member of the Cathedral choir since 2000 and ued to be handed down as part over the years grew familiar with the Gregorian chants he recorded of the Church’s rich musical for the diocese. Inspired by this work, Curtis has decided to branch patrimony. Gregorian chant was out on his own and has made a separate recording of the complete named after Pope St. Gregory Mass parts from the Gregorian Missal, including the introits, the Great (540-604), who had , , and and parts. collected the chants of his time Since as a singer he has to support himself, he’s asking for a mini- in manuscript form as a sort of mal fee for each piece of music downloaded. “In all there are 475 forerunner to the Roman Grad- chants that I recorded,” he said. “If you choose to download the entire collection, it only costs $49.99 – that’s about 10 cents per ual. chant, which is pretty reasonable,” he said. Given the music’s long un- He decided to sell his music, Curtis said, because there is such a broken tradition in the Church, premium on study and rehearsal time for student musicians. He’s Luckner hopes that people will hoping his talents help support him fi nancially. “In fact, this project see how appropriate its place is was an excuse,” he said with a laugh, “not to go looking for a sum- in the holy sacrifi ce of the Mass. mer job.” “There’s a certain profound He added that his own Web site also serves as a resource for spirituality that is evoked by other singers – and listeners – interested in the Church’s rich liturgi- the very nature of these ancient cal tradition. chants,” he said.