MOTU PROPRIO" ON SACRED MUSIC

Among the çares of the pastoral office, not only of thi- Suprême Chair, which We, though unworthy, occupied through the inscrutabte disposition of Providence, but of every local church, a leading one is without question th.it of maintaining and promoting proper order in the House of God, where theaugustmysteries of religion arc celebrated, and where the Christian people assemble to receive the grâce of the Sacrements, to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the altar, to adore the most august Sacrament of the Lord's Body and to unité in the commun prayer of the Church in the public and solemn liturgical offices. Nothing should hâve a place, therefore, in the temple that is likely to disturb or even merely to lessen the piety and dévotion of the faithful, nothing that may give reasonable cause for disgust or scandai, nothing, above ail, which directly offends the décorum and the sanctity of the sacred functions and is thus anworthy of the House of Prayer and of the Majesty of God. We do not touch separately on the abuses in this matter which may arise. To-da}^ Our attention is directed to one of the most coinmon of them, one of the most difficult to eradicate, the existence of which is sometimes to be deplored in places where every thing else is deserving of the highest praise — the beauty and richness of the temple, the splendour and the exact performance ot the cérémonies the attendance of the clergy, the gravity and piety of the officiating ministers. Such is the abuse affecting sacred chant and music. And indeed, whether it is owing to the very nature of this art, fluctuating and variable as it is in itself, or to the succeeding changes in tastes and habits with the course of time, or to the fatal influence exercised on sacred art by profane and theatrical art, or to the pleasure that music directly produces, (and that is not always easily contained within the right limita), or finally to the many préjudices on the matter, so lightly introduced and so tenaciousl}r upheld even among responsible and pious persons, the fact

remains that there is a o-enaral tendency to deviate from tlie right rule, prescribed by the end for which art it* admitted to tlie service of public worship, and whicK is set forth very clearly in the ecclesiastical Canons, in the Ordinances of the gênerai andTprovincial Councils, in the directions which hâve at varions times issued from the Sacred Roman Congrégations, and frotn Our Predecessors the Sovereign Pontirfs.

It is pleasing to us to be able to acknowledge with real satisfaction the large amount of good that has been efïected in this respect during the last ten years in tins Our watcbful and careful City of Rome, and in many churches in Our country, but in a more especial way among some nations, in which illustrious men, full of zeal for the worship of God, (with the approval of the Holy See and under the direction of the Bishops) hâve united in fiourishing Societies, and hâve restored sacred music to the fullest honour in ail their churches and chapels. Still the good work that has been done is very far indeed from being common to ail ; and when We consult Our own personal expérience and take into account the great number of complaints that hâve reached Us during the short fcime that has ehipsed since it pleased the Lord to elevate Our humility to the suprême summit of the Roman Pontificate, We consider it Our first duty, without further delay, to raise Our voice at once in reproof and condemnation of ail that is seen to be out of harmony with the right rule above indicated, in the functions of the public worship and in the performance of the ecclesiastical offices. Filled as We are with the most ardent désire to see the true Christian spirit flourish in every respect and be preserved by ail the faithful, We deein it necessary to provide before aught else for the sanctity and dignity of the churches, in which the faithfull assemble for no other object than that of acquiring this spirit from its chief and indispensable source, which is the active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer

of the Church.And it is in vain fco hope that the blessiagof heaven will descend abun lantly upon us, when our bornage fco the Most High, instead of ascending in the odour of sweetness, puis into t h<^ hand of the Lord the scourges wherewith of old the Divine Redeemer drove the unworthy profaners froin the Temple^

Hence, in order that no one for the future may be able to plead in excuse that ne did not clearly undersfcand his duty, and that ail vaguenesa may be elimitated from the interprétation of matters which hâve already been commanded, We hâve deemed it expédient to point out briefly the principles regulating sacred music in the f mictions of public worship. and to gather together in a gênerai survey the principal prescriptions of the Church against the more comraon abuses in this subject. We do fcherefore publish, motu proprio and with certain knowledge, Our présent Instruction to which, as co ajudicial code of sacred music (quasi a coclice giaridoce délia musica sacra), We will, with the fullness of Our Apostolic Authority, that the force of law be given, and We do by Our présent handwriting impose its scrupulous observance on ail.

General Principles

1. Sacred music, being a complementary part of the solemn lifcurgy, lias a share in the gênerai scope of the liturgy, which is the glory of God and the sanctification and édification of the faithful. It contributes to the proper order and the splendour of the ecclesiastical cérémonies : and since its principal office is to clothe with suitable melody the liturgical text proposed for the understanding of the faithful, its proper aim is to add ^reater efficacy to the text, in order that through it the faithful may be the more easily moved to dévotion and befcter disposed for the réception of the fruits of grâce belonging 10 the célébration of the mosfc holy mvsteries.

2. Sacred music should consequently possess, in the highest degree, the qualities proper to the liturgy, and precisely sanctity and goodne^s of for m, from which its other character of universality spontanously springs.

It must be holy, and must, therefore, exclude ail profanity not only in itself, but in the manner in which it is presented by those who exécute 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 power 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 sensé that while every nation is permitted to admit into its ecclesiastical compositions those spécial forms which may be said to constitute its native music, still t ese forms must be subordinated in such a manner to the gênerai characteristics ot sacred music that nobody of any nation may receive an impression other than good on hearing them.

The Différent kinds of Sacred Music.

3. Thèse qualities are to be found, in the highest degré, in the Gregorian Chant, which is, consequently, the Chant proper to the Roman Church, the only chant she has inherited from the ancient fathers, which she has jalously guarded for centuries in her liturgical codices, which she directly proposes to the faithful as her own, which she prescribes exclusive^ for some parts of the liturgy, and which the most récent studies hâve so happily restored to its integrity and purity.

On thèse grounds the Gregorian Chant has always been regarded as the highest model for sacred music, so that it is legitimate to lay down the following rule : The ■more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and tone, the Gregorian form,

the more sàcred and liturgicçtl if becomes: andihe more out of harmony it is with that higkesi model, the 1rs* worihy is if of the Church.

The ancient traditional Gregorian Chant must, therefore, be largely restored to the .function of public worship; and everybody must take as a matter of course that an ecclesiastical function loses nothing of its solemniry when it is accompanieil by no other music but tins.

Spécial efforts are to be made to restore the use of the Gregorian Chant by the people ; so that the faithful may again take a more active part in the ecclesiastical offices, as was the case in ancient times.

4. The above-inentioned qualities are also possessed m an excellent degree by the classic polyphony, especialy of the Roman School, which reached its greatest perfection in the fifteenth century, owning to the works of Pierluigi da Palestrina, and continued subsequently to produce compositions of excellent qualitv from the liturgical and musical standpoint. The classic polyphony agrées admirably with Gregorian Chant, the suprême model of ail sacred music, and hence it has been found worthy of a place side by side with Gregorian Chant in the more solemn fonctions of the Church, such as those of the Pontifical Chapel. This, too, must, therefore, be restored largely in ecclesiastical fonctions, especially in the more important basilicas, in cathedrals, and in the churches and chapels of seminaries and other ecclesiastical institutions in which the necessary means are usually not lacking.

5. The Church has always recognised and favoured the progress of the arts, admitting to the service of her worship everything good and beautiful discovered by genius in the course of âges — always, however, with due regard to the liturgical laws. Consequently modem music is also admitted in the Church, since it, too, furnishes compositions of such excellence, sobriety and gravity, that they are in no way unworthy of the liturgical fonctions.

Still, since modem music has arisen mainly to serve profane uses, greater care must be taken with regard to it, in order that the musical compositions of modem style which are admitted into the Church may contain nothing profane, be free from réminiscences of motifs adopted in the théâtres, and be not fashioned even in their external forms after the manner of profane pièces.

6. Among the différent kmds of modem music, that which appears less suitable for âccompanying the fonctions of public worship is the theatrical style, which was in the greatest vogue, especially in Italy, during the last century. This, of its very nature, is diametrically opposed to the Gregorian Chant and the classic polyphony, and therefore to the most important law of ail good music. Besides the intrinsic structure, the rhythm and what is known as the conventionalism of this style adapt themselves but ill to the requirements of true liturgical music.

The Liturgtcal Text

7. The language proper to the Roman Church is Latin. Hence it is forbidden to sing anything whatever in the vernacular in soleinn liturgical functions — much more to sino: in the vernacular the \ariable or common parts of the Mass or Office.

8. As the text that may be rendered in music, and the order in which they are to be rendered, are determined for every liturgical function, it is not lawful to disturb this order or to change the prescribad texts for others selected at will, or to admit them either entirely or even in part, unkss when the rubrics allow that some versicles of the text be supplied with the organ, while thèse versicles are simply recited in choir. However it is permissible, according to the custom of the Roman Church, to sing a motett to the Blessed Sacrament after the Benedictus in a Solemn Mass. It is also permitted,

after the Ofïertory preseribod for the Mass lias been sung, to executn during the tiine that remaîna a brief naotett to vvords approved by t lie Church.

9. The liturgical text muât be sung as it is in the books, without altération or inversion of the words, without undue répétition, without breaking syllables, and always in a tnanner intelligible to the failli fui who listen.

Ea temal form ofthe Sacred Compositions.

10 The différent parts of the Mass and the Office must retain, even nmsically, that particular idea and form which ecclesiastical tradition has assignée to them, and which is admirably expressed in the Grogorian Chant. Various, therefore, must be the methods of composing an introit, a, graduai, an antiphon, a psalm, a h y m n. a Gloria in excelsis.