The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-07-29
ON CHURCH MUSIC.

Last week the Catholic Bulletin
printed a valuable paper on the
subject of Church music. The ar
ticle was from the pen of the Rev,
William Busch of st. Paul Semi
nary. 1t presented in a concise,
but beautiful manner, the reasons
for promoting return to the gen
uine spirit of faith as exemplified
in the music of our churches.
As Father Busch we'll remarked,
the real difference between sing
ing as practiced in our various
churches today and music as sane
toned by the nature Of religion is
that the latter is strictly. a prayer,
while the former usually is an en-
tertainment.
| Man is subject to the onrush Of
varied and various emotions. He
reacts to the external pressure APP
piled, so to say, to his emotional
being. While listening to sacred
melody, as inspired by the spirit
of religion, he of necessity re-
spends in his heart in the form of
meditation and prayer. Let the
choir display the fourishes Of
operate music, and the auditor at
once attunes his set Of emotions
his reaction is one Of pleasure, of
enjoyment founded upon his love
| OF amusement.
Most of the church music of to-
day was produced by men who
made regulations also in the thea
ter. Their prime motive was to
| please, to entertain, to titillate the
emotions and the feelings that ac-
tUate a man when he is enjoying
himself. Merely placing sacred
words beneath the notes, that
might be voiced on the stage or
| in concert hall, does not in the
least constitute church music
The soprano may soar into the
empyrean, the tenor strive to
reach her, the basso rumble APP
prevail, while the contralto plain
lively begs not to be left behind:
the general effect may be one Of
glorious mental abandon and
exalted joyousness, but it is far
from the idea Of prayerfulness
and devotion which are becoming
and proper in the house Of God.
When the singer, often a nom
Catholic at that, vociferates re-
! peatedly, Credo, credo, credo, we
have our doubts as to the kind of
creed he is making so much fuss
about. We know he doesn t mean
it, and hence we fail to respond
to his Theatre fervor.
The Catholic Church has her
own music. In fact, it was she
who not only rescued and pre-
served what little the ancients
knew about melody and harmony,
but who also developed and per-
ifected this art and brought it
down to it's present form Of beauty
! and power. Ambrose, Bishop of
| Milan, in the fourth century, gave
the impetus that raised the art of
music to higher plane. Gregory
| the Great in the sixth century
founded the schola cantorum
which soon spread and directed
its power throughout Europe
Guido Of Arezzo later developed
musical notation and brought it to
the state where it rests today
The Miracle and Mystery plays
gave rise to the chorus, the fore,
runner of the modern oratorio and
cantata. Pontiffs and cardinals
bishops and other prelates ever
fostered the growth of real music
1t was only in later times that this
angelic art fell into bad ways, ano
soon arrayed in the trappings OF
buckskin and mask, it entered oul
churches as an entertainer, not as
a penitent or worshipper.
Pope Plus X endeavored to re
store real ecclesiastical music tt
the Church. His efforts were bu+
: partly successful. The objection
was that what is ancient is no
, necessarily better. But the an
sWer is that what is ancient, anC
, at the same time in conformit,
with the spirit Of religion, is fal
better than that which is modern
or ancient and out of harmony
J, with the very purpose of church
! and a religious service.
Those who have listened to &c
| clesiastical chant rendered witt
: science and feeling have no doubt
t as to the effect produced upol
| them by the music of the church
The choir. or the congregation
E singing in unison, inspires
I thoughts Of faith and devotion:
| told Of heaven and God and tn
! angels and saints; it made on
| feel the very presence of the Mos