Last weekend, I had a very interesting schedule. During my first commitment, the meeting of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, music became part of the agenda for reasons that will be explained below. Two of my remaining weekend commitments were directly concerned with music. 

My weekend began on Saturday morning with a long meeting of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council to prepare for the second phase of consultations about pastoral planning in the archdiocese. The Council spent an entire morning reviewing all the results of the first phase of the consultations throughout the archdiocese.

The Pastoral Council noted that one of the issues that received some attention during the consultations concerned music at liturgies in the archdiocese. The observation about music that caught the attention of the Pastoral Council could be summarised as follows: while the musical component in the celebrations of the archdiocese was generally sung well and frequently accompanied very professionally with musical instruments, the music was becoming routine. Participants in the consultations stated that basically the same music has been sung over the last 20 years. It is time, some participants said, for new creative contributions.

On Saturday evening, I participated in the finals of the National Gospel Competition at Fatima College that was sponsored by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. On Sunday, I presided at the liturgy to celebrate the 26th anniversary of the Mawasi Experience – a music ministry that merges Caribbean rhythms with a message of praise and worship that is rooted in the Word of God and culture.

My weekend experience almost forced me to reflect on Church music and its relationship to faith. On Sunday evening, I began to read about Church music and relate my reading to ministry in the archdiocese. I want to share my reflection with the readers of my column.

Summary history

As we all know, the early Church had its origins in Judaism and was quite familiar with the singing and chanting of temple liturgies. Paul exhorted the people to let psalms, hymns and spiritual songs be heard among them. The New Testament contains many examples of hymns to Christ e.g. Jn 1: 1-18; Eph 1: 4-14; Phil 2: 6-11. The heavenly liturgy referred to in the Apocalypse cites hymns to God and the Lamb e.g. Rev 1: 4-7; 12, 11-15; 19, 1-8.

Music and singing became a part of the life of the Christian community. It took two forms: 1) The singing/chanting of liturgical formulas and creedal statements approved by the Church whose wording did not change; and 2) Spontaneous songs from Spirit-filled individuals. The psalms became the first hymnal of the early Church. The words of the psalms also did not change. The music had to adapt to the wording of the psalms, formulas or creedal statements used in the liturgy.

Since there was no centralising liturgical authority, regional differences in music predominated. However, as magnificent churches and basilicas were built, liturgy began to become more solemn and so did the music. Polyphonic music began to appear. The Council of Trent legislated on the abuses that had appeared in liturgical music. It prohibited music that was “unbridled and impure” i.e. music that contained elements of pagan entertainment.

In 1903, Pope Pius X issued legislation for Church music. He stressed that music is a necessary part of solemn liturgy. However, it is not an end in itself. It must serve the goals of liturgy. He stressed that Gregorian Chant should be the model for all liturgical music along with polyphony.

The Holy Father gave two specific criteria for all liturgical music:
1) Holiness i.e. an exclusion of all worldliness and
2) Artistic quality.

The Second Vatican Council and post-conciliar legislation on Church music repeated the principles of prior legislation but also showed a new appreciation for music. It stated that while music serves the liturgy, it is also itself liturgy. Music and singing become a liturgical action. However, music is not to become a performance so it has the effect of preventing the participation of the community or unduly prolonging the celebration.

The Second Vatican Council encouraged the development of the cultural music of people. The Council stated that musical instruments are not to be excluded although they must serve a ministerial function. In all matters pertaining to liturgical music, the Church exhorted patience and collaboration. It understood that creativity cannot be defined and that personal tastes in music vary significantly.

The purpose of Church music

An understanding of the purposes and goals of Church music cannot be assumed. The purposes and goals must be explicitly articulated. A simple listing may be helpful to the reader. The purposes and goals are:
1) To worship God: praise, honour and thanksgiving. It includes the prayer petition e.g. the singing of litanies.
2) To connect worship and holiness with what is beautiful;
3) To emphasise the sacredness of texts and rites;
4) To involve people more deeply in celebration;
5) To assist in expressing emotions when words are inadequate e.g. funerals;
6) To set the mood for worship, prayer and religious experience.
7) To enhance joyfulness as people celebrate liturgy.  

The challenge

In its discussion of the observation of participants in the archdiocesan consultations, the Pastoral Council wondered whether, with all the proven musical talent in Trinidad and Tobago, it was not possible to bring a new level of energy to the development of liturgical music in the archdiocese. New energy in the context of Church music means creativity, cultural sensitivity and orthodoxy.

When I say that liturgical music must be orthodox, I do not mean to imply that people deliberately compose music to challenge or change traditional Catholic doctrine. What I mean is that it appears that composers are interested in using words and melody that people can easily remember and enjoy as they sing and participate in liturgy.

The challenge in writing liturgical music is to understand that liturgical prayer forms have been carefully refined over the centuries to communicate doctrine. For example, the wording of the Gloria and Creed in the Mass is very precise for theological reasons. However, in some cases, that same precision of expression is not present in some of the popular forms of the Gloria and Creed that are sung at Mass.

I invite the musical composers of Trinidad and Tobago to consider the question posed by the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council. In the tradition of Church music, take the precise wording of the text, whether psalms or prayer forms, and compose beautiful, inspiring music to communicate the truth and lift up the people to continue their journey of faith.