Here is a report on the full polyphonic Mass in Vienna:
With the Mass celebrated in the cathedral of Saint Stephen on Sunday, September 9, Benedict XVI revived a musical and liturgical tradition that had been interrupted for many decades.
Within living memory, in fact, the last papal celebration accompanied by the complete performance – Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei – of a great polyphonic Mass dates all the way back to 1963. That Mass was celebrated in Saint Peter’s, and the composer selected was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the dean of Roman polyphony in the sixteenth century.
This time, the Mass was celebrated in Vienna, and the composer was, rightly, Austria’s Franz Joseph Haydn and his stupendous “Mariazeller Messe” of 1782, for chorus, soloists, and orchestra.
Gregorian chant also made an important return appearance in the papal Mass on September 9. During communion, the choir repeatedly sang the antiphon “Vovete,” from the propers for that Sunday in the missal of the ancient rite, in alternation with verses from Psalm 76, also sung in Latin: “Make and keep vows to the Lord your God. May all present bring gifts to this awesome God, who checks the pride of princes, inspires awe among the kings of earth.”
The book that provides full communions and psalms is Communio.
Crux et Cithara is a 1983 book edited by Fr. Robert Skeris in honor of the 70th birthday of Johannes Overath. It contains many important pieces that bear on the current debate on Church music. The entire text is now hosted by MusicaSacra.com.
Among the pieces is J. Ratzinger’s “Theological Problems of Church Music”, which is extracted as a separate file.
One reason I postponed entering the Church was because of my ambivalence towards the music and liturgy found in typical Catholic parishes. I actually did not know what the true teachings of the Church on sacred music were, according to the documents of Vatican II, until 1991. Also, I did not know that there were any Catholic parishes where good music was still done. All that changed when I read the documents, and when in 1991 I started attending the Sacred Music Colloquium, held by the Church Music Association of America (CMAA).
More of this excellent interview with Professor Treacy here.
or an interim step.
Sessions at the Celebrant Seminar are designed to train priests in singing the Ordinary Form in English and Latin, as well as the Extraordinary form. Many pastors are finding the changes that last take places slowly. The ordinary form remains, for the most part, the Mass that will be said (and sung!) in parishes across the country and the world on a regular basis. Singing the Mass first in English, and then in Latin, will slowly but surely lead the hearts and minds of even the most resistant parishioners in the directions of beauty and mystery. Pastors must lead the way.
There are only three rooms remaining at the retreat center, so sign up through us soon. Remember, too, that we’ve made arrangements for a discounted price at one of Chicago’s nicer hotels only blocks away from St. John Cantius. Call the Crowne Plaza directly to make your room reservation, and mention the “Priest Training Seminar.”