From Sacred Song to Ritual Music: Twentieth-Century Understandings of Roman Catholic Worship Music

Rating:
Summary: A must for liturgical music directors
Review: Jan Michael Joncas has proven to be as excellant at research as he is a composer. This book gives one a look at the vast changes that have taken place within the field of Catholic Liturgical Music. Each chapter is titled in the form of a question; ie.(What is Roman Catholic Worship Music?)and answered by studying the papal instuctions, beginning in 1903 with "Tre le sollecitdini" and continuing with instructions from 1955, 1958, the second Vatican Councils "Sacrosanctum Concilium" in 1963, and its continuation statement in 1967 "Musicam Sacram". In addition to the Papal doucments, it further reviews, each chapter, with the statements of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (USA), "Music in Catholic Worship", "Liturgical Music Today", "The Milwaukee Statement" and the "Snowbird Statement". Other chapters are titled: What is the Purpose of Roman Catholic Worship Music?, What Qualities Should Roman Catholic Worship Music exhibit?, What People Are to Make Roman Catholic Music?, and What Instruments Are to Make Roman Catholic Music? If one is looking for a history of music in worship, GET THIS BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: Require for music directors and liturgy commissions
Review: This volume provides answers to questions regarding the choice, use and purpose of music in the Roman Rite, by following the changing understandings in the last century as verbalized in the documents of the century: (1) Tra le solleciturdini (2) Musicae sacrae disciplina (3) De musica sacra et sacra liturgia ad mentem litterarum Pii Papae XII ... (4) Sacrosanctum Concilium (5) Musicam Sacram (6) Music in Catholic Worship (7) Liturgical Music Today (8) Milwaukee Symposia for Church Composers (9) Snowbird Statement on Catholic Liturgical Music.

He collates the material in the documents to show the flow of changing understandings and adds to it the thoughts of some of the major scholars/practitioners in the field. You won't be given answers but you will have an excellent understanding of the questions and their underpinings after reading this book.