Liturgical conference in Cork

I received the following from Maria Turner, who will be attending the conference

St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy

Third International Liturgy Conference

“Psallite sapienter: Benedict XVI on Sacred Music”

Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Cork

10-12 July 2010

Prior to his election as Pope, Joseph Ratzinger frequently addressed the question of sacred music in various writings, especially in his liturgical trilogy, “The Feast of Faith”, “A New Song for the Lord” and “The Spirit of the Liturgy”. Indicating the principles which underlie its historical development, he describes the qualities which should characterise all forms of liturgical music and proposes a way forward, which is in line with the Church’s musical tradition, while encouraging genuine creativity.

A key to Ratzinger’s understanding of the nature of sacred music is found in the expression “Psallite sapienter”, literally translated “Sing ye wisely”, which is drawn from Psalm 46 of the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible. For him this text synthesises what Sacred Scripture has to say about the kind of music that befits worship. Such music must be in accordance with wisdom, and therefore with reason and, ultimately, with the revealed word that comes from God, with the Word made flesh. In this way, it becomes capable of touching the human heart and raising it to communion with God, as it did so dramatically in the case of St Augustine: “Greatly did I weep at the beauty of your hymns and canticles, moved deeply by the sweet chants of your Church’s music. The voices flowed into my ears and truth was poured forth into my heart, from which the emotion of my devotion overflowed: tears ran from my eyes and I was blessed in them” (Confessions, IX, 6, 14).

Unfortunately, recent decades have witnessed an impoverishment of liturgical music in many parishes and religious communities. All too often, Church music has been reduced to the trivial and the banal, providing a poor substitute for the musical entertainment easily obtainable elsewhere and sadly failing to raise the heart and mind to God. Many factors have contributed to this situation, including an inadequate understanding of the kind of music appropriate to a liturgical setting, the banishment of the Church’s extraordinary heritage of plainchant and polyphony to concerts and recordings, a superficial interpretation of “active participation” which has effectively eliminated specialised choir music in the name of congregational singing, where such exists, and a pastoral pragmatism that has led to the adoption for worship of the mass-produced melodies of popular music.

Mindful of this situation, this Conference explores the ideas advanced in the Holy Father’s writings on liturgical music. It also provides a forum for a younger generation of liturgists and musicians, drawn from various countries, who are presently engaged in the recovery and promotion of the Church’s musical heritage for liturgical use or in composing beautiful new and uplifting works of sacred music.

The Conference will be opened by His Excellency Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, Archbishop Emeritus of Saint Louis.

Provisional Programme

Saturday 10 July

10.00 Registration

11.00-13.00

Dr D. Vincent Twomey, SVD, Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth

Sursum corda: An Introduction to Ratzinger’s Theology of Sacred Music

Fr Uwe Michael Lang, CO, Consultor to the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff

Defining Criteria for Sacred Music: From Benedict XIV to Benedict XVI

Fr Sven Leo Conrad, FSSP, Liturgical Scholar (Germany)

Joseph Ratzinger and Johannes Overath: The Intellectual Connection

15.00-18.00

Fr Stéphane Quessard, Episcopal Vicar, Archdiocese of Bourges (France)

Towards a Renewal of Sacred Music

Fr Samuel Weber, OSB, Director of the Institute for Sacred Music, Archdiocese of Saint Louis (USA)

Benedict XVI on the Psalms in the Liturgy

19.30 Pontifical Vespers

Celebrant: Archbishop Raymond L. Burke

Sts Peter and Paul’s Church, Cork

21.00 Organ Recital

Thomas Lacôte

Sts Peter and Paul’s Church, Cork

Sunday 11 July

11.30 Pontifical High Mass

for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Celebrant: Archbishop Raymond L. Burke

Palestrina, Missa Papae Marcelli (Lassus Scholars, Dublin)

Sts Peter and Paul’s Church, Cork

16.00-19.00

Dr Andreas Andreopoulos, Director of the Centre for Orthodox Studies, Department of Theology, University of Wales, Lampeter (Wales)

Music in the Orthodox Liturgy

Fr Alberto Donini, Lecturer in Sacred Music, Diocese of Brescia (Italy)

Gregorian Chant in the Liturgy according to Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI

Dr James MacMillan, Conductor and Composer (Scotland)

The Spirit of the Liturgy: Rejoice in Tradition and Embrace the Future

20.00 Gala Dinner

Monday 12 July

9.00-12.00

Dr Frank Lawrence, Department of Music, University College Dublin (Ireland)

The Spirit of the Liturgy: Gregorian Chant as Mystagogy and Exegesis

Thomas Lacôte, Titular Organist of St Stephen’s Cathedral, Bourges (France), Composer, Professor at the Musical Academies (Conservatoires) of Orleans and Aubervilliers, Associate Professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur, Paris

Liturgical Texts, Rites and Symbols and Contemporary Musical Creation: An Example for the Feast of the Dedication of a Church

Dr Kerry R. McCarthy, Assistant Professor of Music, Duke University (USA)

Listening to William Byrd

12.30 Solemn High Mass

William Byrd, Mass for Five Voices (Lassus Scholars, Dublin)

Sts Peter and Paul’s Church, Cork

16.00-18.00

Mgr James O’Brien

Annual General Report of St Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy

Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

The New Evangelization and Sacred Music: The Unbroken Continuity of Holiness, Beauty and Universality

Ite O’Donovan, Director of the Lassus Scholars, Dublin (Ireland)

Choral Music in the Celebration of the Liturgy: A Musical Heritage of Inestimable Value, a Tradition to be Fostered and Protected …

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Inquiries about the Conference may be made to the Society in writing, by telephone or by e-mail:

In writing: Terry Pender, Leeview, Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland

Telephone: 021-4813445/4813636 (within Ireland); +353-21-4813445/4813636 (from outside Ireland)

e-mail: colman.liturgy@yahoo.co.uk