music and social ideology

read a great article this morning
concerning the plight of
music in the american roman catholic church
the magazine the american catholic report
a magazine published by joseph fessio sj

the context of the article has to do
with the observation that since the
second vatican council
there has been a diminishing set of values
which have worked to lessen the efficacy
of music in catholic ritual

the "folk" inspired music which had the benefit
of being derived from the movement of popular
culture in the 60's 70's and 80's
and the awarenes of ethnic folk culture
in the effort to extend the mission of the church
to those who are deprived of many of the cultural benefits
of the west
brought about a collection of musical styles
which lack the force of perseverence
in anything other than the wills of those
who propogate this music

it is
by and large
music that should never have been published

while it is "accessible"
it is at the same time comprised of the same musical
elements as that of the popular medium
known on radio MTV and now the downloading craze

as so often happens when social change comes about
the new takes precedence over the tried and true

the author of the article refers to what he calls
the "democratization" of liturgy
which more or less militates against the notion
that the most knowledgeable the most talented
the sense of the elite in music
are at best a relative concepts
and often shunned in the modern parish

let it be said
that only one who has meditated
on the high value
the transcendental value of beauty
is capable of discerning the
appropriate music for solemn ritual
the Mass while being for everyone
is to be conducted with the highest possible standards
and that suggests that professional
and seriousminded musicians will determine the
music appropriate to an occasion

what the writer did not say
what he did not allude to
was the fact that in a classical sense
the word "musician" had an
at least three leveled principle of comprehension

boethius
as has been stated previously
held out the highest level of musician -"hood"
to those who are capable of musical discourse
in a philosophical manner
this might even preclude the ability to play an instrument

in the mind of boethius
one could be a great musician
and have literally very little to do with
the making of music
but is of a mind intent on thinking about
and discussing how music works
and in what manner it works best
and why some forms of music are
perhaps good for a party
but not good for a sacred ritual

the appreciation for sacred music goes beyond the
concept of mere attraction
for one might not be inclined at all
to go out and purchase music heard at a Mass
but one very well might be moved to return
to the space where the music was offered
to incline once again to the purpose for that music
whether the music is present or not

this does not exclude the music of worship
which may have some connection to ethnic
expression
oftentimes music derived from ethnic expression
can be very close to the patterns of recitation
known and understood in church culture from the beginning
one thinks of the typical "call and response" patterns of
music found in much of africa

this corresponds to the antiphonal structure
of the use of psalms and canticles in worship
whereby a cantor leads with the text and
the congregation responds with a simple chanted
sentence form which is thematically coherent

again
psalmos
the twanging of the strings with fingers
the primary texts for vocal worship in
the ritual of roman catholicism
are the psalms
we must begin again there

now
isn't this interesting