Why Chant? The Reason behind the Church’s Endorsement
Illumination: Français, Choir, from Book of Hours, Paris 1450, Bedford Master(fl. 1405–1435)
In July, I had the profound privilege of attending workshops and learning Gregorian Chant at the Abbeye of Solesmes, in France. The abbey’s history of photographing, collecting and analysing all the Gregorian chant across Europe and the globe is well known to many, and while that can be an entire history article in itself, what it solidified in my thinking was the necessity of chant in our Church today.
Chanting during the propers of the Mass - Abbey of Solesmes (Photo: Grace Feltoe)
This raises the question:
Why chant? Why is it still the music of the Church? And why have so many Popes before us and in our current age endorse it and continue the tradition?
Many provide the argument that it is simply ‘beautiful’, but it’s not a good enough reason, because this is a subjective opinion. While many people would agree, there are some who may find it so foreign to their modern ears they can’t yet see the beauty in it. I can not disagree, it is very ancient, and while technology, science and other music continues to develop, we are expected to sing the same thing in Church over centuries.
I would like to provide a few solid and practical reasons why we are still encouraged to continue this tradition, so that if you are not familiar with this prayer of the Church, you may have a place of understanding, and then hope your ears and heart will follow.
Pope St. Pius X provided rubrics to the music that should be presented in Mass in his Motu Proprio ‘Tra Le Sollcitudini’ of 1903.
“Sacred music should consequently possess, in the highest degree, the qualities proper to the liturgy, and in particular sanctity and goodness of form, which will spontaneously produce the final quality of universality.
It must be holy, and must, therefore, exclude all profanity not only in itself, but in the manner in which it is presented by those who execute it.
It must be true art, for otherwise it will be impossible for it to exercise on the minds of those who listen to it that efficacy which the Church aims at obtaining in admitting into her liturgy the art of musical sounds.
But it must, at the same time, be universal in the sense that while every nation is permitted to admit into its ecclesiastical compositions those special forms which may be said to constitute its native music, still these forms must be subordinated in such a manner to the general characteristics of sacred music that nobody of any nation may receive an impression other than good on hearing them.” (No.I.2)
In short, Pope St. Pius X highlighted that music should be:
Holy (excluding the ‘profane’, aka removed from the world, with no ‘pop’ culture of the time.)
Good in form, and art – that which is made to express beauty and feeling.
And through these two aspects create:
Universality
The Church in her wisdom considers Gregorian chant to fit this criteria, and rightly so.
If we consider Gregorian chant, its form and purpose, we can see how this befits the prayer of the Church today as it has centuries before across many continents.
1. Gregorian Chant is a Genre in Itself, with a Specific Purpose
To foster a holiness through music, the music needs to be set apart from the world, to not reference the world - ‘the profane’- but reference that which is Sacred and Holy. Chant provides a specific genre of music, fostered within the Catholic Church through centuries to be this specific purposeful music, and a genre that is used within the sacred actions of the Mass and other liturgies. Chant can be ‘liturgical’ music, as opposed to much ‘sacred music’ we know of, e.g. Handel’s Messiah, Hillsong, Palestrina’s Stabat Mater, Matt Maher. Chant is also sacred music, but being ‘liturgical’ means it contains the text of the Mass, and therefore is set apart for a privileged duty.
2. Gregorian Chant is in Latin
Latin continues to be the official language of the Church. To maintain Latin within our prayer and liturgies nurtures two qualities - holiness and universality.
Holiness
To keep a language now no longer in vernacular use and set apart for the glorification and edification of God, fosters a sacredness and reverence in our prayer life and liturgies. As we reserve language for specific purposes in our daily life, writing a thesis, meeting an official or speaking to our little brother, so too do we reserve a language for our prayer.
Universality
Abbey of Solesmes photo by Grace Feltoe
The Church is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. For the Church to evangelise and worship as a whole, we are provided a neutral language not confined by borders, or countries, to be promulgated and used. My personal experience is while I was at Solesmes, we participated in a daily Latin Novus Ordo Mass, with beautiful chant, and by this we experienced a Mass familiar to us all, no matter the country we came from - there was no prioritising one current language over another, and we could chant together as one voice.
3. Gregorian Chant Contains Goodness in Form
Gregorian chant does not obscure or distract from the text – but enhances it.
To provide context, during the Counter-Reformation, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) explicitly clarified that music should not obscure the liturgical text it is supporting. Before this, polyphony was becoming so elaborate that the music was obscuring the text and making it inaudible. While the council did not ban polyphony altogether, it required composers to re-evaluate their compositional style to befit the liturgical text – the music as the carrying vessel of the text and not the other way around. The famous story of Palestrina ‘saving’ polyphony within the Church may come to mind with many in the Catholic or musical sphere, as he provided a beautiful balance to this request.
Gregorian chant on the other hand, provides a clarity to text, as chant was originally to be used to elevate the text, enhance it, and carry it through spaces with a sung voice. Chant comes from text and therefore serves the text.
Gregorian Chant is Good and Holy in its Musical Form
Chant has developed modally, with each mode being of a certain characteristic to reflect the emotional or spiritual intention behind the text. Chant also contains the earliest form of word painting (shaping musical phrases to imitate the word being sung). By this it provides a greater depth of meaning to particular words and phrases to the listeners and singers. Furthermore, the musical beauty and yet simplicity of chant in and of itself, shows a virtue and humility to its form.
4. Gregorian Chant is Monophonic
Photo from Grace Feltoe
Monophony simply means having a single melodic line. By being of a single line reduces complexity and allows everyone to sing as one voice. Singing together is a means of bringing a community together, fostering the universality the Church states and desires. That is why from the Early Church to this present day the psalms are still chanted in monastic settings to provide a unifying quality to the prayer of the community.
We can also see this taking effect since the election of Pope Leo XIV at various Masses - as he, our shepherd on earth, chants, we also can unify with him and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
While there are plenty more arguments and references why Gregorian chant is still the music of the Church and should be held in such esteem, these simple yet objective reasons provide a concrete foundation as to why it remains steadfast in the Church today. And as our global Church increasingly shrinks with social media, travel and easy online accessibility, now more than ever will Gregorian chant become the means we can worship and pray as the universal Body of Christ.
Reference:
Tra Le Sollecitudini - Instruction on Sacred Music
Motu Proprio promulgated by Pope Pius X on November 22, 1903
