The Choral Ordinary and Proper in the Roman Catholic Mass After the Second Vatican Council
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“A Necessary or Integral Part:” The Choral Ordinary and Proper in the Roman Catholic Mass after the Second Vatican Council By Jared Ostermann Submitted to the graduate degree program in The School of Music and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts. ________________________________ Chairperson Michael Bauer ________________________________ Paul Tucker ________________________________ Paul Laird ________________________________ Scott Murphy ________________________________ Kevin Vogt ________________________________ Michael Murray Date Defended: 12/4/2012 The Doctoral Committee for Jared Ostermann certifies that this is the approved version of the following doctoral document: “A Necessary or Integral Part:” The Choral Ordinary and Proper in the Roman Catholic Mass after the Second Vatican Council ________________________________ Chairperson Michael Bauer Date approved: 12/4/2012 ii ABSTRACT The ritual texts of the Roman Catholic Mass have inspired many of the choral masterworks of Western music. For many composers, one of the central considerations in setting these texts has been to determine the proper relationship of music with the ritual action it accompanies. From the Middle Ages onward, the Catholic liturgy was characterized by its multiple streams of parallel ritual activities. The music of the choir and the private devotions of the congregation proceeded alongside the sacramental prayers and actions of the clergy. In this setting the choir enjoyed a great deal of freedom, as it ornamented most of the liturgy with elaborate music. In the twentieth century this musical-ritual relationship underwent a profound change as a result of the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Specifically, in the post-conciliar Mass the priests, choir, and congregation are asked to focus together on each text, hymn, or prayer. In addition, the Catholic Church has called for an increase in congregational singing in the twentieth century—culminating in the directives of the council. The musical implications of these official reforms are significant. This document describes the key characteristics of the pre-conciliar Mass, as well as the musical implications of its liturgical structure. Twentieth-century reforms are then examined, through the relevant church documents. This analytical process clarifies the place of both inherited choral music and new compositions in the post-conciliar liturgy. A large part of the existing sacred choral repertoire—a body of music encompassing over six centuries of masterworks by numerous famed composers—no longer functions well in a Catholic liturgical context. In particular, choral settings of the Mass Ordinary have become very difficult to integrate into the post-conciliar liturgy. On the other hand, choral settings of the Mass Proper iii texts continue to work well liturgically. These Proper texts also present abundant opportunities for future liturgical compositions. This document seeks to explain the musical characteristics and dynamics of the post- conciliar Mass. It is hoped that this treatment will be helpful for researchers, church musicians, and composers who concern themselves with the Catholic liturgy. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I thank my wife Barbara for her unwavering love, support, and encouragement throughout my graduate studies. She inspired me to pursue a doctorate, and has made incredible sacrifices to help me complete this document and degree. This has been a true team effort every step of the way. I am extremely grateful to my first teachers, my mother and father, for the gift of a home education at the “Ostermann Academy.” My mother’s training in the art of writing has proved particularly valuable throughout my academic career. In addition, my parents and siblings have offered many forms of practical assistance – from babysitting to car repair through these busy and often stressful student years. My advisor, Dr. Michael Bauer, is one of the most dedicated and enthusiastic teachers you could ever hope to find – whether in the classroom or in the studio. I offer him my thanks for twelve years of musical, intellectual, and personal mentorship. I also want to thank Dr. Kevin Vogt, for his mentorship and for many wonderful and wide- ranging conversations over the past several years. Dr. Vogt was instrumental in defining the scope and substance of this document. Dr. Katrina Mitchell also deserves my thanks for her help in drafting an initial research proposal and bibliography. Finally, I would like to thank the choir and staff at St. Ann Catholic Church in Prairie Village, Kansas, where I served as Music Director during my doctoral studies. I thank the choir members especially, for their enthusiastic support in the past few years. My family and I were buoyed up by a constant stream of cards, gifts, prayers, and hearty good wishes from this wonderful group of people. v CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: THE CHORAL ORDINARY AND PROPER IN THE ROMAN RITE BEFORE THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL .................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 2: THE LITURGICAL MOVEMENT .................................................................. 60 CHAPTER 3: TWENTIETH-CENTURY CHURCH DOCUMENTS BEFORE THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL ............................................................................................................. 78 CHAPTER 4: THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL AND SUBSEQUENT REFORMS ...... 107 CHAPTER 5: THE CHORAL ORDINARY AND PROPER IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MASS AFTER THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL ........................................................... 140 APPENDIX A: SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ........................................... 163 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 166 vi INTRODUCTION The most recent ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church—the Second Vatican Council—began its discussion of sacred music with the following famous declaration: The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this preeminence is that, as sacred song closely bound to the text, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy.1 This short statement beautifully encapsulates the unique nature of Catholic liturgical music,2 incorporating the ideas of artistic worth, living tradition, textual centricity, and ritual integration. These characteristics, while complementary in an ideal sense, have frequently proved difficult to harmonize in practice. In fact, the history of Catholic church music could be described as a constant attempt to hold various competing ambitions in balance with one another. The surface beauty of music, while valued for its power to affect the human spirit, can in its very appeal hold the danger of sensuality.3 The art of polyphony, one of the great innovations at the heart of Western music, has often come into conflict with the need to communicate sacred texts with clarity. On the other hand, a desire to give full musical expression to those same texts has at 1 Catholic Church, “Constitution on the Liturgy” Art. 112, in Thomas C. O’Brien, ed., Documents on the Liturgy, 1963-1979: Conciliar, Papal, and Curial Texts (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1982), 23. 2 “Liturgical” as a musical designation will be discussed in greater depth below. As a preliminary definition, however, “liturgical” music is that music intended for use within the ritual framework of the church’s public worship. This designation contrasts with the larger category of “sacred music”—that is, music with a sacred text or theme, which may be intended for devotional use outside of liturgy or for a concert format. 3 Saint Augustine’s internal struggle with the sensual quality of church music is immortalized in his Confessions: “Thus I vacillate between the peril of pleasure and the value of the experience, and I am led more . to endorse the custom of singing in church so that by the pleasure of hearing the weaker soul might be elevated to an attitude of devotion. Yet when it happens to me that the song moves me more than the thing which is sung, I confess that I have sinned blamefully and then prefer not to hear the singer.” Qtd. in James McKinnon, ed., Music in Early Christian Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 155. 1 times led composers toward theatricality—or toward musical forms too large to be integrated into the liturgy.4 Yet another tension can arise between the ideal of artistic creativity—singing a “new song for the Lord”5—and the handing down of older musical forms. Even as ornate polyphonic vocal or instrumental forms developed, the church voiced concern that the traditional chant melodies remain intact.6 Instrumental music also presents a series of tensions in liturgical use: the God-given voice versus the human-built instrument; abstract versus texted music; theatrical versus sacred; Old versus New Testament; and so forth. One question for much of the church’s history, and the central focus of this document, has been the place, or proper role, of choral music within the liturgy. To describe the historical situation in very broad terms, early Christian worship was characterized by the unison singing