Our friends from the St. Cecilia Schola Cantorum, Arlene Oost-Zinner and Jeffrey Tucker, have reviewed for us the happenings at this year's annual meeting of the Church Music Association of America.
There was a sense among all present that this conference is of critical importance right now, given the renewed interest in chant. Mainstream Catholic publishers have begun distributing music from Solesmes, progress is reported at many English-speaking seminaries, and anecdotal evidence suggests more and more parishes are making a shift toward mature music from Christian history. Conference participants improved their skills and renewed their enthusiasm, and returned to their parishes prepared to feed this growing awareness of the need to adhere to magisterial directives.It's not enough to make music that people want to hear. It's not even enough to make good quality music that people want to hear. Those requirements fit the bill for one who is starting a new radio station, but not for liturgical music. Music appropriate for the Mass must be sacred, where we do not play fast and loose with the definition of the word. If "magisterial directives" mean anything, they must be intelligible when taken at face value. I'm glad to see authentic renewal is continuing apace.
Peace, Paul.
I would echo "anecdotal evidence suggests more and more parishes are making a shift toward mature music ..." It's been happening for at least a few decades, if not several in many places.
I would also remind your readers that if the church musicians of history had adhered to "magisterial directives" there would have been no organum, no polyphony, no four-part hymns, no baroque music, and nothing of anything else that followed. Being a church musician means being an artist, and that involves a larger dose of inspiration and perhaps a dash of rebellion.
Authentic renewal has been going on for a long time, and it will continue long after we're all dead.