How?, Why? and Active Participation
I was lucky enough to catch the BBC Radio 3 programme,
Private Passions, while driving in my car the other week. The guest was Eamon Duffy, Catholic historian
and Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge.
The whole programme is worthy of a listen, but at 23 minutes
42 seconds into the programme he is asked about the current state of music in
the western Catholic liturgy. He begins
his response with, “That’s rather a depressing question”. He singles out James MacMillan for praise and vaguely
refers to (I’m guessing a very few) other Catholic composers, but otherwise
he paints a very grim scene indeed. I
highlight a few key things that were said below……
# “….we sing in Church the kind of music we
would never dream of listening to and that we only otherwise hear at school
assemblies….”
# “…[there has been] a radical
impoverishment and a loss of the sense of the numinous.”
# “…the traditional function of music, to
lift the spirits and to provide a standard of excellence that transcends the
everyday, I think is much harder to recover.”
# The interviewer, Michael Berkeley, contributes
by highlighting the danger of appealing to everyone in the music of the
liturgy, that by looking for the lowest common denominator we, in fact, do the
opposite of transcending and that we mere mortals need all the help that we can
get in reaching that state.
# “The theory behind [recent liturgical music trends] often included the
idea that everybody ought to participate…..and that it was better that there
should be participatory music than that there should be excellent music.”
I cannot disagree with much of what he says and I think that
there are some very key points on which we who are involved in parish and school liturgies
need to reflect.
He is, of course, utterly correct about the purpose of the
music in the liturgy, in helping raise our hearts and minds to God. But, despite his claim that there is some
excellent liturgical music available that is accessible and achievable in a parish
setting, that is not really my experience. For example, in our choir we rarely
attempt more than one harmony – we simply do not have the numbers, for
one. So, a great deal of the sort of
music that he has in mind as desirable in the Mass is not really a possibility for many parishes. Therefore, we must give a great deal of
thought to what we are actually capable of doing and how we do it; it’s a case
of aspiring without over-reaching.
I also agree with the point made by Michael Berkeley about
the danger of gravitating towards the lowest common denominator. This can happen for a number of reasons. Now, this may say more about my despotic ways than anything else, but I’m not a fan of liturgy by committee. I have found that, when there are too many people
involved with the planning of what to do, there is a danger of a loss of focus and coherence and that you end up selecting things that are merely the least offensive to
most people. In my ministry I have certainly found that you cannot please all the
people all the time and, if you try, you end up pleasing no one. And anyway…….we are not in the business of
pleasing or appeasing; we are in the business of leading, though always taking care to listen as we do so. (My own process of self-appraisal invariably involves communicating with a few from the pew)
We also gravitate towards the LCD when we don’t aspire, when
we don’t seek to grow our knowledge and understanding of the liturgy, and when
we settle for the “same old” just because…….we’ve always done it like that! There is a balance to achieve between the
reassurance of the familiar and the excitement of the new. Working on and planning the Liturgy can be fascinating,
engaging and richly rewarding. If it has
become a drag then it is past time when you should ask yourself why it is so.
Finally, I agree with Duffy’s criticism of those who believe
that all liturgical music has to be participatory – it doesn't. Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not a fan of the
congregation passively standing or sitting while the choir wonderfully performs a polyphonic Gloria – that, for me, is not parish liturgy. But there is a case, for example, for the choir
to sing the “verses” of the Gloria in harmony with the congregation joining in
with the refrain. On occasion. There is also a case for the
choir to sing something during the Presentation of the Gifts or the Communion
Procession. And there is most certainly a case for the musicians to play something (without any singing) during the Presentation of the Gifts and the Communion Procession (though not during Lent). Active participation in the
Mass is about our mindset, and not simply about “doing” something.
You can listen to the programme via the link below. If you are struggling to access it then do
get in touch and I will be happy to email it to you.
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