{"id":50433,"date":"2019-12-19T08:58:24","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T14:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=50433"},"modified":"2020-01-08T11:55:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T17:55:26","slug":"vatican-music-conference-full-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/19\/vatican-music-conference-full-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Vatican Music Conference: Full Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The third international conference on sacred music organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture took place on November 7 – 9 in the Old Synod Hall inside the Vatican. About 150 participants from over 50 different countries took part. The first conference in the series, at which the present writer gave a presentation, had focused on 50 years since Musicam Sacram<\/em> under the banner \u201cMusic and Church \u2014 Cult and Culture\u201d, while the second one had as its theme \u201cChurch and Composers, Words and Sounds\u201d. This latest conference took the theme \u201cChurch \u2014 Music \u2014 Interpreters\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a welcome from Archbishop Carlos Azavedo, number two at the Pontifical Council, aided and abetted by Richard Rouse, one of the secretaries who shouldered much of the organizational work of the conference, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the prefect of the Pontifical Council, opened the proceedings with a fine wide-ranging reflection on the absolute need for theological hermeneutics, which provide the relationship between text and tradition, art and interpretation, artist and user, and between \u201csource and river\u201d, an image that would return at intervals in his talk. That relationship is always a dialogue. He reminded us that the very word \u201chermeneutics\u201d evokes the Greek God Hermes, the \u201cmessenger\u201d or \u201cinterpreter\u201d of the gods. Quoting from Luigi Pareyson\u2019s Verit\u00e0 e Interpretazione<\/em>, the existence of a musical work lies not in the score but in its performance, which is always a unique event, not a repetition but an \u201cecho\u201d of the score. Rabbinical midrashes tell us that Shivim Panim LaTorah<\/em> \u2014 each verse of the Torah has 70 different facets. Heidegger said that the test of interpretation is saying what is not said by the text. The basis for theological hermeneutics lies in incarnation: enfleshing the letter, the transcendent Logos<\/em>, the divine element v. the transitory-ness of the words. Dante\u2019s use of allegory and analogy is another means of deciphering the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Verbum Domini<\/em> (cf. 2008 Synod), as a Synod Father rather than as the Pope, Benedict XVI said that critical, historical and theological methods must intersect. Not only philological, archaeological or theological but all of these. The pendulum has swung in different directions; modern hermeneutics is different (cf. Bultmann, Gadamer, Ricoeur, leading to Heidegger). There is a difference between centrifugal and centripetal hermeneutics. The source of the river that led from Sacrosanctum Concilium<\/em> to Dei Verbum<\/em> is revelation. We need both to go back to the origins and go out to the peripheries. Technical knowledge and formation needed, but then true interpretation enables the music to gush forth, to bloom. There is a difference between a piano pupil being shown off by his or her parents, and a true \u201cexegete\u201d. Ravasi also spent some times looking at the different tonalities of the psalms (he is, after all, a biblical scholar), including the evocations of different instruments and voices. We need to be ever-listening, not passive (he reminded us that the word \u201cabsurd\u201d comes from ab-surdum<\/em>, unheard, like death). Liturgy is not just in the temple but in the cosmos (cf. Ps 148). In the Jewish tradition the name of God is not pronounced, \u201cthe supreme word is silent\u201d. Elijah heard God in a \u201cstill, small voice\u201d or the sound of a gentle breeze, according to your preferred translation. He ended by saying \u201cThe musician\u2019s task is to make explicit the silence of God. Man\u2019s role is to be the hymn of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next presentation was by Chiara Bertoglio, a\npianist\/musicologist\/theologian from Turin. Prefacing her remarks with the\nstatement that Christian performances are challenged by many questions, and \u201cWe\nplayed for you but you would not dance, we sang dirges for you but you did not\nmourn…\u201d (cf. Matthew 11:17 or Luke 7:32), she looked at the who-what-how of musical\nperformance. The composer is only the tip of the iceberg. In the Middle Ages,\nmost music was anonymously written. It is only later that music has become the\nexpression of the composer. Relationships between composers and performers are\noften difficult. Who is in charge? The listeners should in fact be the primary\nfunction, in the triad of composer-performer-audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The object of musical interpretation is not merely the\ninterpretation of the musical score. Composers may not be aware of al the\nimplications of their work. What looks like a misinterpretation can be an\nincrease in meaning. The written score is not a sacred text: performers are\nlike presiders at liturgy, who vary what they do according to the context,\nwhich is all-important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She quoted C.P.E. Bach and Busoni on symbolic\ninterpretation. \u201cYou cannot move others without being moved yourself\u201d \u2014 but\nBusoni was worried that this leads to a loss of control! Is there such a thing\nas artificial emotions? The question of fidelity to the text v. originality in\ninterpretation is a difficult one, and even more difficult with sacred or\nliturgical music. In Pergolesi, Handel\u2019s Messiah or Bach\u2019s St Matthew Passion,\nthe music is paramount. In a Victoria Mass setting, the text is paramount.\nInterpretation should no longer be a power-game but a collaboration in dialogue\nwith the divine. Tolkien is The\nSilmarillion<\/em> described creativity as a gift entrusted by the Creator to\nintelligent beings. Jacapone da Todi talked about music as the logos<\/em>, a musical score given to\nhumankind, \u201cwritten on lambskin\u201d. It\u2019s a foretaste of the \u201cplace beyond time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

____________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next up was James O\u2019Donnell, Organist of Westminster Abbey\nin London. He had been given the topic of the organ as an interpreter. He began\nwith the fact that it is a machine that has a celestial dimension. It \u201cbrings\njoy to the sorrowful soul\u201d (Cr\u00fcger in Psalmodia\nSacra<\/em>, 1662) and incorporates a kaleidoscope of images and cultural\nreferences. It has strong links with theology, liturgy and sacred architecture,\nand is unlike any other instrument in its various roles. A reflector of the\npower and majesty of God, it is a metaphor for the eternal (with its capacity\nfor the infinite prolongation of notes) and superhuman in its extremes of\npitch. Comprehensive, it produces a world of music. O\u2019Donnell wanted to\nemphasize the organ as being an integral part of the building; we talk about\norgan builders<\/em>, rather than organ\nmakers\/manufacturers (at least for pipe organs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at some examples of past practice, in the French\ntradition of alternatim<\/em> playing the\norgan is \u201csinging\u201d the missing texts. It produces dialogue by substituting for\nthe voices. A Couperin Mass only really makes sense when the chants are\ninterspersed with the organ movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For O\u2019Donnell, improvisation is \u201cin the moment\u201d, reactive,\ninteractive. Olivier Latry talks about improvising \u201cin the style of \/ on the\nhomily\u201d. Daniel Roth similarly describes it as \u201cencapsulating\u201d the homily.\nImprovisation create atmosphere, based on the texts of the day. Cardinal\nLustiger used to say \u201cOrgan, speak to us!\u201d This interaction is rooted in\nliturgical sensitivity and deep faith, and provides a vision of eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Donnell was anxious to differentiate between liturgical\nimprovisation, which is not about the player and involves something received\nand then given, and concert improvisation, which is all<\/em> about the player. The listener experiences it differently in\nthe two cases. There is a question about \u201cprepared improvisations\u201d [this would\narise again in subsequent sessions], and how these differ from improvisations\non the spur of the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He used recorded examples from J S Bach and Olivier Messiaen\nto illustrate some of the characteristics of improvisation. A chorale\nimprovisation has a semantic and reverential power, and affects people who have\nthe melodies \u201cin their bones\u201d. Often outside influences can produce a\ncombination of two different sound worlds and transport the listener to a\nmystical plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here there is once again a question of context. Bach\u2019s O Mensch bewein\u2019<\/em> will come across\ndifferently in a Passiontide liturgy and in a concert hall. The ambience of\nworship is crucial. Can you really play Messiaen\u2019s La Nativit\u00e9<\/em> in a concert hall at all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants were then invited to separate and choose\nbetween two organ workshops. Daniel Matrone, a French organist and titulaire<\/em> at the church of Saint Louis\nde France, gave a recital in Santa Maria in Camposanto Teutonico in the\nVatican, the German church. His aim was to illustrate improvising in various\nstyles \u2014 Baroque, neo-classical, the 1930s, free style, and contemporary style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This writer opted for the other workshop, given by Dom Theo\nFlury, a monk of Einsiedeln and a professor at the Pontifical Institute of\nSacred Music. This took place in the Cappella del Coro in St Peter\u2019s Basilica,\nwhich contains two organs, a Morettini from the 1880s and a Tamburini from the\n1970s. Although billed as being in Italian and English, this presentation was\nexclusively in rapidfire Italian with a Swiss accent, and disappointingly no\nattempt to translate. It was interspersed with a number of improvisations,\nmostly on the Tamburini. As far as this writer could tell, the underlying main\nburden of Dom Theo\u2019s song was \u201cThe way I improvise is the way I improvise\u201d,\nwhich turned out to be predominantly in a sub-Reger\/Liszt idiom which became\nrather wearing after a short while. The wonderful compensation as we left was\nthe discovery that the body of St John Chrysostom, one of my heroes, lies in a\nsarcophagus under the altar!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One was left wondering about the question of \u201cprepared\nimprovisations\u201d. Do we listen to them differently from improvisations that may\narise in a liturgical context? Are they not rather memorized performances of\nprevious improvisations? In which case, can we say that they are actually\nimprovised at all? The same questions would arise in improvisations which\nincorporate previously-thought-out figurations and progressions. In this case,\nwhat was played seemed intended to show off the player\u2019s skill and demonstrate\nthe different colours of the instruments, including the exeunt omnes<\/em> sacristy bell in the basilica when it interrupted one\nof the pieces. I contrasted this with my first mind-blowing experience over 40\nyears ago of hearing a French organist improvising on the homily \u2014 the late\nJacques Berthier bringing to life the amazing words of the late Joseph\nGelineau, mirroring exactly the structure of Gelineau\u2019s thought and even the\ncadences of Gelineau\u2019s manner of speaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

____________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We reconvened for Day Two in the Old Synod Hall. First up was Massimo Doria, a jazz philosopher and musician working in Milan. His topic was the relationship between music and the sacred. Beginning with Pythagoras\u2019s question, What is Music? he defined it as unifying opposites, and making a correspondence between numbers and sounds. But there is more than that involved in sacred music: the Logos<\/em> speaks. A written-down mathematical ratio has no sound; scores are silent. What about music today? It can heal you, or make you ill! Injury is caused by imbalance in the order. Restoration comes about through movement (cf. stiff limbs). Cosmos is in battle with Chaos, which is a denial or order. The musical artist is forced to create another order, something different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augustine\u2019s dictum was the mystery of God is within oneself.\nGod is inside my soul. The infinite is not big or small, it is literally\nwithout measure. I cannot embrace it. It is not quantifiable. But music moves\nthe unchangeable logos.<\/em> The\n13th-century English philosopher Robert Grossatesta said that Truth is the light\nthat can illuminate even one\u2019s denial of reality; it enables one to understand\nwhat is wrong. For Augustine, music is time. We live the temporal element of creation.\nGod is not beyond time. Sometimes we want to be eternal, but eternity is not\nnever-ending time. Rather, it is a fleeting moment between past and future.\nWhen I perform music, I deny the present (cf. Magritte). Music enables us to\nunderstand concepts of rhythm. We should stop being afraid of time. The divine\none revealed himself in time. Music is simply a different way of living time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

___________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr Jordi-Agusti Piqu\u00e9, another Benedictine teaching at the\nPontifical Institute of Sacred Music, this time from the abbey of Montserrat,\nhad been given the topic of Flatus vocis:<\/em>\nthe sound of the voice as music in the liturgy. Unlike the profane world, the\nsound of the human voice in worship is understood as an epiphany, a\nmanifestation of the Spirit. There is clear distinction between sung and spoken\neuchological texts. Two crucial open questions arise: (1) How does one evaluate\nsinging as liturgical music? and (2) What is its theological weight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ps 29:4 the voice of the Lord is power (forza<\/em>), thunderous, rending cedars. For\nMoses, it\u2019s an action (Exodus 15:6); in the psalms it\u2019s a voice. Isaiah 40:8\ntells us that the voice of the Lord will stand (as opposed to flowers that will\nfade). In Matthew 17:5b, the voice said \u201cThis is my beloved Son….listen to\nhim\u201d \u2014 not touch him, worship him, represent him, but listen to him. Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?<\/em> \u2014 Why aren\u2019t\nyou listening to me?! Angels are a symbol of God\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning to the Fathers, Cantate vocibus !<\/em> Augustine famously said Cantare amantis est<\/em> [cf. Bernard: Ubi amor non labor sed sapor<\/em>!]. He talks about singing in terms of praise, dwelling especially on the jubilus<\/em>, pure sound which will lead to the use of instruments in Western liturgy. Also \u201cSing with your voice, sing with your life, that your works may sing in unison with your voice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the voice is an epiphany of God, the physical voice makes the non-understandable \u201cvisible\u201d. In Haydn\u2019s Representation of Chaos<\/em>, \u201cLet there be light\u201d \u2014 and there was light! Cf. Schoenberg\u2019s use of Sprechgesang<\/em> in Moses and Aaron<\/em>. Also, \u201cThose who do not have the Spirit (for example, the Devil) cannot sing.\u201d The 20th-century Hungarian composer Gy\u00f6rgy D\u00e9ak-B\u00e1rdos, in his Eli, Eli<\/em>, makes use of a \u201cdropping\u201d octave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liturgical singing calls us to a higher level \u2014 una voce dicentes<\/em>, We are monodic, only\nGod is polyphonic. SC 83 talks about the liturgical action of the whole Church\nprolonging the prayer of Christ. This is especially true when we sing Maranatha<\/em>. Chaos is not everything going\ncrazy but when nothing happens. For example, an octave contains no movement,\njust the same note at two different pitches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

____________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next came Salvatore Sciarrino,<\/em> a self-taught musician and psychologist and contemporary composer, originally from Sicily, on The Use of the Voice. His basic premise was the need to create a new vocal style. We don\u2019t need new intervals but a new way of listening to them. How do you move towards a new style that doesn\u2019t exist? We need to shake off the shackles of conventional music formation, clear the mind. The need is to focus on the bodiliness (corporality) and dramaturgy of music, utilising human configurations such as groaning, crying out. It is not the score that is important but the listener that needs to be at the centre. We need to create the conditions for listening as an active value rather than as a background to help us forget about silence. We are the music. What sound do your eyebrows make?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music should not just be sounds following each other. He\nconstructs music from \u201calien elements\u201d, espouses responsorial forms that make\nuse of alternation, makes use of microtones (e.g. in his Tenebrae\nResponsories). We did not, alas, hear any examples of his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

______________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giovanni Acciai, Professor of Musical Palaeography in Milan,\nand a specialist in Renaissance and Baroque vocal repertoire, took us on a\nlengthy tour of many theoretical sources from the 15th century onwards into the\n18th century. The science of pitches, tones and durations was excessively\ncodified, especially in Italy, the object being to create an exact relationship\nbetween individual syllables (vowels especially) and music. Many elaborate\nrules were set down in a sort of musical grammar which acted as a form of\nstraitjacket for composition. Countless treatises were devoted to this subject.\nIf you didn\u2019t know the rules, you were deemed not to be educated. Those who\nwrote differently were either said to be rebels or heroes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acciai\u2019s sources were extremely well-documented, and\nillustrated by examples from the work of Josquin des Prez, Palestrina,\nMonteverdi, Legrenzi, and Leonard Leo (1694-1744).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

______________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A joint presentation on interpreting ancient sacred music\ntoday was given by Antonio Florio and Dinko Fabris, the latter a constant\npresenter in these conferences.  We were\ngiven a rapid tour of the early music revival, starting with Mendelssohn\u2019s\nrevival of Bach\u2019s St Matthew Passion in 1829, the first example of performing\nmore of the past than the present, and the starting point of musicology, even\nif it made use of modern instruments and playing techniques. The Early Music\nrevival starting in 1968 produced authentic performances using historic\nperformance practice. New repertoires of sacred music were discovered. From the\n1980s, a similar evolution took place in the performance of music from later\ntimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naples has been at the forefront of some of these developments, with a new Christian repertoire uncovered in its libraries. In the 16th century it had been the most populous city in Europe, larger than London or Paris, with only Constantinople of greater size. Not only that, but Naples was the music capital of the world, and its repertoire from that era has been single-handedly rediscovered by Professor Florio. The question is how can we make use of this patrimony today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among his discoveries are the fact that the opening of Pergolesi\u2019s\ncelebrated Stabat Mater<\/em> is a replica\nof a Pange lingua<\/em> written two years\nearlier by Francesco Provenzale, which is itself in turn a replica of a Stabat Mater<\/em> written seventy years\nearlier by Giovanni Salvatore, Provenzale\u2019s teacher. The same sort of thing is\ntrue for other works and composers. The \u201cSchool of Naples\u201d ultimately goes back\nto Gesualdo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In style it was very different from the \u201cboring\u201d style of\nRome, being more alive, more romantic, more passionate. Similarities to\ncomposers such as Monteverdi were apparent. There were no social barriers at\nthat time, and the popularizing influence of the Laudi Filipini<\/em> of 1586 [songs associated with the Oratory of St\nPhilip Neri] was considerable. As well as the Pergolesi\/Provenzale\/Salvatore\nexamples already mentioned, we listened to music by Cristoforo Caresana and\nGaetano Veneziano. The latter\u2019s Passion<\/em>,\nwritten for the arrival of Alessandro Scarlatti, to my ears sounded very like\nthe Missa Scala Aretina<\/em> of his exact\ncontemporary, the Catalan composer Francisco Valls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Richard Mail\u00e4nder\nis director of music and musicians for the Archdiocese of Cologne. He offered\nus a very broad take on what were termed \u201coratories\u201d \u2014 a mistranslation of\n\u201coratorios\u201d ! \u2014 which turned out to mean anything in the realm of  popular extra-liturgical religious music\nmaking, ranging from Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/em>\nand Bach\u2019s St John Passion<\/em> to Andrew\nLloyd Webber\u2019s Joseph and the Amazing\nTechnicolor Dreamcoat<\/em>. There are 5,000 children in the choirs of the\narchdiocese, which offers a rich field for formation in extended dramatic\/narrative\/contemplative\nforms, but adults are involved, too. Many motives can be involved: working in a\nnon-liturgical context, promoting spiritual meditation, edification,\nentertainment, and even in order to make money (for charitable purposes). Narration\nof bible stories is often involved, principally from the Old Testament, but\nthere are also stories of saints, legends, and even allegorical reflection.\nPerformances can last from 30 minutes to 3 hours, and range from Carissimi to\nLiszt, including elements of recitative, aria, sinfonia, choral fantasia and\nhymn tunes (chorales).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A brief historical overview began with monasteries around the year 1200, mystery plays, via oratorios proper (Philip Neri) from 1550 to 1700, which initially took place in schools, seminaries, hospitals, parish houses and finally churches. From 1730 onwards, these extended to palaces and other royal establishments,, in the 19th century to concert halls, sports stadiums, and by the 20th century could take place anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, motivation for performers can range from the desire\nto create an event, proclaiming the word of God, a means of pastoral care,\nespecially of children, contributing to \u201cbourgeois musical culture\u201d, making\nchurch buildings more open and available (some churches in Germany have ceased\nbeing used for worship and have become cultural centres), proclamation,\nspiritual experience, and the experiencing of God through words and music,\nmounting celebratory, festive events, building up the identity of church\ncongregation, providing opportunities for amateur choirs and school choirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past five years, there has been a wide range of\nperformances across the archdiocese \u2014 old, new, pop (mainly musicals), often\ndesigned for children, and much of it homegrown. With the musicals, there are a\nnumber of aims: catechesis for both performers and audience, rooting stories in\ntheir heads, providing roles for solo singers, varied instrumentation,\ninvolving parents in making costumes and stage sets, the long-term connection of\nchildren and parents to the congregation, and allowing children to be\nco-authors of what takes place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We watched video extracts from several different\nperformances of the St John Passion<\/em>.\nOne was in a Cologne high school. It had been advertised with a refugee\nboat as the backdrop. In the room itself, the boat was central in the assembly,\nwith a large cross on top (reminiscent of the World Council of Churches logo).\nTo begin with, the cross was placed in such a way that you had to step over it\nto get in to the room. The aim was to make the \u201cpassion\u201d topic up-to-date. The\naudience participated in the chorales, and all dialogues took place at the\ncross. There was shouting at the end because of the death of refugees in the\nMediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another performance took place on Ash Wednesday in an art\nmuseum. The musicians (two different orchestras were involved) were stationed\nall over the museum at different points, and the audience encountered different\nsections of the work as they moved from one room or corridor to another, as\nindeed the musicians sometimes did. Some lessons that they learnt from that\nexperience include the fact that in a real sense there is no objective artistic\nwork \u201cavailable\u201d: each person has to find their own place in the music. The\nWord of God can\u2019t be prayed, can surprise, and can get lost! It\u2019s actually\nimpossible to take in the complete work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A different Ash Wednesday performance for art lovers, this\ntime of the St Matthew Passion<\/em>, took\nplace in a large church, accompanied by video images projected on a large\nscreen, designed to reinforce the impact of the performance. Some of the\ncombinations were quite overwhelming, both abstract images and one particularly\nharrowing close-up film of a heart operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other experiments have included mounting performances in\ndifferent locations. So Part I of The\nMessiah<\/em> took place in a municipal refuse hangar, Part II in a large\ncourtroom, and Part III in a church with a light installation at the end. These\n\u201clocations of life\u201d were an opportunity to speak to God in art outside the\nliturgy, had an evangelizatory quality, and were also building blocks for\npastoral care. The entire performance, including travel between locations, took\nseven hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Pawel Lukaszewski is vice-rector and head of\ncomposition at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. He is also a\nwell-known contemporary composer, with some 2,000 compositions to his name,\nover 150 CDs, etc. Many of his performances take place in the UK where he is\nextensively published and recorded, and he currently has a contract to produce\n40 new works for Chester\/Novello in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was billed to speak on The Language of the Composer<\/em>, but instead began by playing us a\nnumber of extracts from his work, which he describes as \u201cneo-tonal\u201d. We heard O Rex Gentium<\/em>, the 6th of a set of O\nAntiphons, which demonstrated juxtaposition of different stylistic elements. An\nextract from Funeral Vespers<\/em> showed\nneo-modal recitative accompanied by lush orchestral chords, an idea perhaps\nborrowed from the opening movement of Malcolm Williamson\u2019s Mass of Christ the King<\/em>. Finally some extracts from his Via Crucis<\/em>, an extended work consisting\nof an Introduction, fourteen stations, a fifteenth station (resurrection) and a\nconcluding Christus vincit<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lukaszewski doesn\u2019t feel himself linked to other composers \u2014\nthe word he used was \u201cunfettered\u201d. His musical language is, he says, inspired\nby the 1903 Motu Proprio Tra le\nsollecitudini<\/em>, in the sense that he is searching for the sacrum<\/em>. He writes according to the text,\nthe mood, the occasion, the time and the type of sound he is using. In line\nwith Sacrosanctum Concilium<\/em>, chapter\n7, he feels that the role of artists is to \u201ccommunicate the Creator\u201d. He aims\nfor simplicity, avoids complex developmental processes and instead relies on\njuxtaposition and repetition. Other adjectives he uses to describe his work\ninclude \u201crenewed tonality\u201d and \u201cantimodernism\u201d. He is interested in the \u201cprolongation\nof time\u201d, the slowing-down of the pace of life, in self-discovery in the realm\nof feelings, faith and doubts, and in musica\nhumana<\/em> rather than musica vulgaris<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he didn\u2019t describe his musical language at all.\nListening to the extracts, and to his afternoon session, one would use the word\n\u201ceclectic\u201d. One can find echoes of many other composers, from Carl Orff to\nShostakovich, Howells to Langlais, and even Mussorgsky. I would also say that\nLukaszewski is a miniaturist. Large-scale forms are not his forte<\/em>, but instead the use of\njuxtaposition and repetition, as stated above. In the final analysis, all he\nappeared to be saying was \u201cThe way I write is the way I write.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giuseppe Gullo is an Italian-trained singer and also a\nmedical doctor and oncologist, currently working in New York. His topic was Vox humana \u2014 physiological, historical and\ntechnical aspects of vocalization from the Baroque to the 21st century.<\/em> He\nbegan with the paradox of voice. Vocal technique in singing can change over\ntime (unlike the spoken voice). There can be different cultural expectations,\nfor example, the way the Japanese sing. In the West, there were changes in\ntechnique between the 16th and early 20th centuries. Now we are in the position\nof having to ask ourselves which \u201cinstrument\u201d we should use for the music of\nVivaldi, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to get rid of the vision of the past 200 years in\nwhich phonation has been dominated by early 18th-century techniques (Bel Canto<\/em>, etc). We have no recordings\nearlier than the early 20th century \u2014 Melba, Lipatti, etc. Phonation history is\n90% Italian (indeed, the same is true for other areas of musical history), but\nwhat about the French tradition, for example? Bel Canto is not just from the\ntime of Bellini, Rossini, erc \u2014 this was just the final stage \u2014 but started in\nthe 16th century, and changed in the 18th century and again in the early 20th\ncentury. The direct line stretches back to Mozart and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Bel Canto? It is typified by \u201chigh\u201d tone, \u201clow\u201d tone, the use of ornamentation, and the expressive qualities of the human voice. Sometimes it will mimic nature \u2014 birds, etc. Today we have reached the stage of requiring \u201cphonation therapists\u201d. The larynx was only discovered in 1701, the precursors of laryngoscopes followed subsequently, and it was not until 1854 that Manuel Garcia was able to see a functioning glottis and larynx. Before that, scientific opinion was that the voice came from the lungs, so flatten the tongue and lift the palate. In the late 18th century there was a period of enlightenment with treatises by B\u00e9rard, Mancini and others, which presented the theory of chest and head registers Melding the two together would produce beauty \u2014 completely wrong! Prior to that, vocalists had used the falsetto register (for example, in the lament from Carissimi\u2019s Jephtha<\/em>. Castrati singers differentiated between the head and chest registers. The chest register was used, among other things, to denote suffering. These registers did not disappear in the Italian system: it was Verdi who wanted them to be merged in Bel Canto. Today, we are more influenced by the French school, and the chest voice has been largely forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_____________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants then divided up into two \u201cworkshops\u201d. Richard\nMail\u00e4nder gave one\non directing choirs, while this writer stayed with Lukaszewski for a workshop\non composition. It was nothing of the sort. He introduced, once again, his Via crucis<\/em>, this time in more detail, pointing\nout the \u201cmega-rondo\u201d form of it, and how it uses a Polish Christmas carol\nmelody to symbolize death\/new birth. The instrumentation and use of voices was\nexplained. We then listened to a complete recorded performance of the work,\nlasting 60 minutes. Not exactly a workshop!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

______________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We then reconvened and headed up to the Sistine Chapel for\nVespers for Friday of the 31st Week of Ordinary Time. The opportunity to sit in\nthis amazing room for the best part of an hour, surrounded by the stunning\nartwork, was much appreciated. Most visitors are funnelled through rapidly in\nlarge groups. The presider was Monsignor Guido Marini, Papal Master of\nCeremonies, who also preached. The choir of the Sistine Chapel was under the\ndirection of its interim director, Monsignor Marcos Pavan, who has been\nresponsible for training the boys\u2019 voices for a number of years. The service\nwas predominantly in Latin chant, but interestingly the psalms were chanted in\nItalian to modern modal tones. After the service, the choir gave a mini-concert\nof works by Palestrina and Lassus but also more modern compositions. It was\ninteresting to hear the change in the tone quality of the choir since the departure\nof their previous director, Massimo Palombella. It seems more confident and\nassured, though the men are in danger of \u201crunning away\u201d and reverting to their previous\nbawling operatic style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next morning, we met Pino di Luccio, an Italian Jesuit who has spent much time at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem. His presentation looked at song, instrumental music and dance in monotheistic religions of the Mediterranean area. He focused mainly on Psalm 41(42), but his final four examples were three from the Koran and one from the Rabbinical tradition. The primary these is that music brings about change<\/em>. This is achieved by breathing, instrumentalists as well as singers, by relaxation (even fuelled by alcohol!), calming, invitation (that casts off depression, and cf. Qoheleth \u2014 there is a time for….), the movement from sadness to joy, consolation, changing war into joy, the use of the shofar<\/em> to mark expiation, when tears become the psalmist\u2019s bread. With John the Baptist and Salome, there is a shift in their respective journeys brought about through the medium of dance. The Koran speaks of dance as a mystic union with God; the entire universe rotates in a dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

__________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egberto Berm\u00fadez gave a fascinating insight into the\nreciprocity that existed between church music in Spain and Colombia from 1550\nto 1950. The Colombian Indians used the muisca<\/em>\nlanguage and we know from their last celebration in 1564 that child singers\nwere slain with spears and arrows at the end of the rites. From then on, the\nmusic used was heavily 1st World-influenced, accentuated by the arrival of the\nJesuits in 1604. Organs were imported into the country, but singers and\nchoirmasters were still predominantly Indian. One form which typifies the\nculture more than any other was the villancico<\/em>,\nthe religious popular song. (Today, the term has been relegated to a descriptor\nfor Spanish-language Christmas carols, but earlier it was far more broad in its\nusage.) One extraordinary feature of this history is the fact that the Indians\nwould \u201cblack up\u201d in parody: for the Indians, black people symbolized ignorance.\nThis practice eventually led to phenomena such as Al Jolson in the USA,\nLaurence Olivier\u2019s black Othello<\/em> in\nthe UK, the Black and White Minstrels, and much else that can no longer be done\ntoday. In the 19th century, there was a struggle against operatic tendencies in\nchurch music, in the same way as there was in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

_________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference was then received in audience by the Holy\nFather in the Sala de Concistorio, the Consistory Room in which Benedict XVI\nannounced his resignation. Pope Francis\u2019s address to the gathering was given in\na previous post on this blog: https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/09\/church-music-interpreters\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the participants then had the privilege of meeting the\nPope individually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

__________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our final session was a demonstration of ancient music by\nthe Ars Longa<\/em> ensemble from Havana.\nThe influence of folk rhythms and idioms on the Baroque style was fascinating\nto hear. It was also clear that church music of that time could verge towards\nthe erotic as part of the integration of the two traditions. We heard Cuban\nBaroque and Mexican Baroque examples, presented with verve and technical\nvirtuosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

__________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all, a very worthwhile exploration into varying ways\nin which change and interchange can influence the way we sing and play and pray\nthe music of the Church. There was a strong field of English-speaking\nparticipants. The USA contingent included two former presidents of NPM, Virgil\nFunk and Richard Hilgartner, together with composer and historian Ken Canedo\nfrom OCP. Several Canadian composers and musicians were present, including\nMichel Guimont. The UK was represented by the present writer and several other\ncomposers and church musicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pontifical Council is already planning for a fourth\nconference in the series, to take place sometime in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An account of the recent internatiional conference on church music<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":50434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3119],"tags":[3382,3381],"class_list":["post-50433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-plaza-new-ws","tag-church-music","tag-conference-report"],"yoast_head":"\nVatican Music Conference: Full Report - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/19\/vatican-music-conference-full-report\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vatican Music Conference: Full Report - 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