Professional Documents
Culture Documents
From Sacred Song to Ritual Music: (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1997, v)
This quote is from the Annie Dillard book listed below.
There is a singing group in the Catholic church today, a singing group which calls itself
“Wildflowers.” The lead is a tall, square-jawed teen-aged boy, buoyant and glad to be
here. He carries a guitar; he plucks out a little bluesy riff and hits some chords. With him
are the rest of the Wildflowers. There is an old woman, wonderfully determined; she has
long orange hair and is dressed country-and-western style. A long embroidered strap
around her neck slings a big western guitar low over her pelvis. Beside her stands a frail,
withdrawn fourteen-year-old boy, and a large Chinese man in his twenties who seems to
want to enjoy himself but is not quite sure how to. He looks around wildly as he sings,
and shuffles his feet. There is also a very tall teen-aged girl; she is delicate of feature, half
serene and half petrified, a wispy soprano. They straggle out in front of the altar and
teach us a brand-new hymn.
It all seems a pity at first, for I have overcome a fiercely anti-Catholic upbringing in
order to attend Mass simply and solely to escape Protestant guitars. Why am I here?
Who gave these nice Catholics guitars? Why are they not mumbling in Latin and
performing superstitious rituals? What is the Pope thinking of?
Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters (New York: Harper
and Row, 1982) 18-19.
Memo:
To:
NAAL
Music
Seminar
From:
Virgil
C
Funk
Re:
Enclosed
Paper
Date:
December
22,
2009
Enclosed
is
a
paper
which
I
would
suggest
that
the
members
read
before
my
presentation.
It
will
provide
a
background
to
Ratzinger’s
six
articles
on
Church
Music,
as
well
as
my
analysis
of
those
articles.
My
presentation
will
center
on
Starting
points
for
Music
and
Theology,
the
role
of
Revelation
in
Ratzinger’s
thought,
and
relation
of
music
as
experience
to
theology
as
reflection
on
experience.
My
plan
will
be
that
we
extend
the
opportunity
for
discussion
by
shorting
the
time
of
presentation-‐-‐-‐which
the
reading
of
the
paper
in
advance
will
facilitate.
I
look
forward
to
the
opportunity
to
share
this
material
with
you
in
conversation.
2
“Faith becoming music is part of the process of the Word becoming Flesh.”
Joseph Ratzinger was never a pastoral musician. His unique insights come from his viewpoint of
a theologian, linking the experience of music to the reflective thought and beliefs of a theologian. His
writings reflect his musical experiences and his theological reflections. But upon examination, his
writings reflect his faith (the Church’s faith) in revelation, in the Paschal mystery made present, and the
role that music plays in the revelation of God.
Music as experience, first
Music, you probably will agree, is an experience. Music exists when it is executed; and, precisely
for that reason, to write or speak about it is a challenge. Music as an experience acquires its significance
by association: first, by personal association with the individual experience. But music also gains
significance through association with the culture in which it executed. These cultural associations may be
national identities (as “God Bless America”), sub-cultural social movement associations (“We shall
overcome”), or sub-cultural religious associations (“Holy God, We Praise Thy Name”), among other
possibilities for association. And these cultural associations, held in common by some members of the
community, provide, if not a universal objective significance to music, a communal significance, beyond
that which an individual perceives. Experience of music is significant of its association and its
signification.
Music exists as an experience with individual and communal associations which provide
individual and communal significations. Ratzinger’s articles examine the religious associations of the
experiences of music.
PART I. Insights on Music
Music in Ratzinger’s experience
Ratzinger’s experience of music is, therefore, important to his musical ear, just as mine and yours
are to our ears.
In June 1945, after two years of drafted service in the German army, eighteen-year-old Joseph
Ratzinger returned to his home. His two year older brother, Georg, does not return until July. Writing
about the return 50 years later in his autobiography, Ratzinger states:
“Yet something was still missing to make our joy complete. Since the beginning of April
[1945] there had been no news from my brother. And so a quiet sorrow hung over our house.
What an explosion of delight, then, when one hot July day, we suddenly heard steps and the one
we had missed for so long suddenly stood there in our midst, with a brown tan from the Italian
sun. Full of thanksgiving at his deliverance, he now sat down at the piano and intoned the hymn
“Grosser Gott, wir loben dich” (“Holy God, We Praise Thy Name.”) Ratzinger, Milestones 39-40
Ratzinger describes a formative musical experience, preceded by sorrow and loss, experienced in
silence, now relieved in joy, and expressed in music.
The echo of this experience returns when Ratzinger reflects on music in 1996, after 51 years of
theological study:
9
Baldovin,
Renewal,
84
10
Cite
the
Six
articles
here
16
TBCM
p
120
17
TBCM
120
18
TBCM
120
19
TBCM
121
It
also
may
be
that
Ratzinger
wants
to
establish
that
“active
participation”
necessarily
includes
“listening
to
music
and
uses
the
authority
of
Thomas
Aquinas
for
such
a
position.
It
is
the
question
mark
of
Paul
VI
which
Ratzinger
is
now
answering
in
an
academic
discussion.
One
might
have
a
scholarly
discussion
regarding
the
appropriateness
of
Aquinas’
position,
based
on
the
same
arguments
Ratzinger
uses
to
defeat
his
positions
on
spirituality.
20
Listeners
in
Aquinas’
era
are
clearly
influenced
by,
and
perhaps
dependent
on,
the
cultural
framework
of
an
illiterate
society,
without
taking
into
consideration
its
sitz-‐in-‐leben,
especially
since
Ratzinger
is
so
careful
in
situating
“spirituality”
in
its
proper
context
in
all
his
discussions.
21
In
Roman
Catholic
official
teachings.
See
Constitution
on
the
Sacred
Liturgy,
and
see
Chapter
VI
This sentence is a good example of the multiple levels of meaning contained in Ratzinger’s
writing, which makes reading and understanding his thought both a challenge and a pleasure. In addition
to the obvious first meaning of the sentence, that liturgy and its music participated in the revelation of the
“doxa” which lies hidden in creation; Ratzinger uses the musical metaphor of “transpose” and applies it to
the Church’s notion of spiritualization, which is to say, not the movement away from matter, but the
movement toward matter and that activity (the movement toward matter) of revealing the “doxa”
transposes the cosmos-it redeems, and it humanizes it-all at one time. Music has taken on a theological
significance, or even, if you wish, a theological function, above and beyond, engaging people in a sing-
along in Church. The threefold task of transposing, spiritualizing, and humanizing as the role of music is
a worthy meditation.
“Sacred versus Secular” debate
22
Cf
Appendix
One
23
Ratzinger
carries
on
a
fascinating
exploration
of
the
connection
of
rejection
of
art
forms
(by
the
Marxists
on
one
extreme
and
the
simply
rejection
of
art
music
on
another)
as
a
return
to
iconoclasm,
and
makes
interesting
observations
about
the
parallels
to
the
rejection
of
art
music
by
contemporary
musicians.
25
Costa
and
Rainoldi
were
both
significant
members
of
the
Universa
Laus,
even
though
this
article
does
not
deal
with
unique
UL
ideas.
29
German
edition,
p
169
30
Cf
Appendix
One
31
For
example,
his
human
development
of
the
psalms
ML
139.
32
Ratzinger,
On
the
Hundreth
Anniversary
of
PBC,
Relationship
between
Magesterium
and
Exegesis.
Faith
and
Science,
“Magisterium
and
exegesis,
therefore,
are
no
longer
opposed
as
worlds
closed
in
on
themselves.
Faith
itself
is
a
way
of
knowing.
Wanting
to
set
it
aside
does
not
produce
pure
objectivity,
but
comprises
a
point
of
view
which
excludes
a
particular
perspective
while
not
wanting
to
take
into
account
the
accompanying
conditions
of
the
chosen
point
of
view.
If
one
takes
into
account,
however,
that
the
Sacred
Scriptures
come
from
God
through
a
subject
which
lives
continually-‐
the
pilgrim
people
of
God-‐
then
it
becomes
clear
rationally
as
well
that
this
subject
has
something
to
say
about
the
understanding
of
the
book.”
33
Tracey
Rowland:
Ratzinger’s
Faith:
The
Theology
of
Pope
Benedict
XVI
34
Päpstliche
Bibelkommission,
Dokument,
Die
Interpretation
der
Bibel
in
der
Kirche,
Einführung,
1993
35
Translation
of
Maskil
is
unknown.
As
Ratzinger
himself
observes
in
BDCM
138
ftnt
5
and
again
in
ML
143
“Stop getting drunk on wine, which only leads to licentiousness. Seek instead to be filled
with the Spirit, by reciting songs, hymns, inspired canticles, by singing to the Lord and chanting
his praises with all your heart, giving thanks always for everything in the person of our Lord
Jesus Christ to God the Father.”
Ratzinger associates the “inner dignity” of music with sober inebriation, the sober referring to the
creative meaning, or creative rationality, of the Logos, and the inebriation to the Spirit whom “I will send,
who will teach you everything in my name.” (see also Jn 14:2; 14:18,16:5) The metaphor engages my
musician’s mind because music does have a twofold element of mathematical rationality in its foundation,
mixed with the ability to stir and associate with a wide range of emotions, right up to the point of
inebriation. Ratzinger identifies unbridled inebriation in music with rock concerts, while affirming the
ecstasy of great art with sober inebriation. Music is an experience with associations, as we agreed at the
beginning, and language is an imperfect vehicle by which to describe the experience. Sober inebriation
describes Ratzinger’s attempt to identify the musification of faith, and his musical experiences are based
on his cultural experiences with Baroque “illumination” in Art music. Since he does not make such a
restrictive comparison, neither do we.
Music’s contribution to Christology
Ratzinger explores the development of theology, especially Christology, through hymn writing in
the early Church, citing the prologue of John and the hymn in Philippians as the third stage of historical
development: the first being the use of Jewish psalm singing, and the second, the use of hymns with OT
themes, such as the Benedictus and Magnificat. Combined with Greek musical forms, Christian hymn
singing became a vehicle for theological development.
“the early development of Christology, its every deeper recognition of Christ’s divinity,
probably occurred essentially and particularly in the hymns of the Church, in the blend of
theology, poetry and music.” BDCM 131
A reflection
It would be well to pause here and reflect. Since something as fundamental as the linking of the
Logos to Jesus took place through music, a true example of the musification of faith, how much more
pressure does that place on the use of authentic texts and musical forms in the present situation? Did the
youthful exuberance of composers during the period of 1969-2000 reflect the significance of the task at
hand, especially in the light of 3,000 years of history of music and texts?
A summary of Bible and Church Music
1. The Bible is the source for directives for Church music.
2. To sing (zamir) is an imperative command, and zamir begins to shape the inner dignity of
music.
3. Theology links “inner direction” of music to Logos.
4. Theology and the bible also link the “inner direction of music” to the Trinity, that is, to
sober inebriation.
5. Musical texts were formative in the theology of Christology and continue, through
revelation, to be so today.
6. The formation of Christology through music is not only textual, but music qua music.
37
Cf
Appendix
One,
material
for
this
section
is
drawn
mainly
from
In
the
Presence
of
Angels,
as
well
as
the
culture
section
of
Liturgy
and
Church
Music.
38
John
XXII,
Papal
Bull:
Teachings
of
the
Holy
Fathers
(1324)
39
IPOA
175
quoted
from
Harnoncourt,
Gesang
und
Musik
(see
n
14)
21.
40
Ratzinger’s
Bavarian
experience
supports
the
Polyphonic
Ordinaries
in
way
unfamiliar
to
most
American
readers.
The
Polyphonic
Ordinaries
work
only
in
a
Latin
Mass
structured
as
a
High
Mass-‐-‐-‐and
it
is
a
portion
of
this
structure
(namely,
the
Sanctus)
which
Ratzinger
defends
here.
His
support
of
the
Tredentine
High
Mass
celebrated
at
St
Peter’s
may
indicated
further
support
for
this
structure,
necessary
to
support
the
Polyphonic
Ordinary
musically.
See
his
comments
further
on
regarding
directives
regarding
“words”
on
this
same
page.
of
a
“systematic”
approach
to
music,
even
though
a
casual
observer
will
notice
the
pattern
described
earlier:
Theology,
Bible,
Liturgy
Tradition.
44
Nüchtern:
sober,
dispassionate,
temperate,
moderate,
clam,
reasonable,
sensible,
level-‐headed,
clear-‐
headed
45
Trunkenheit:
drunkenness,
intoxication,
inebriation
The point is that there are distinctions (theologians make distinctions) and divisions, but in the
end, Ratzinger’s theological center (his personal belief) in love and the revelation of the incarnation holds
that these divisions, distinctions and separations are in process of being united.46
An accurate understanding of Incarnation from theology can and must resolve these tensions and
it is contained in the German word “verdungen,” which may be translated as “becoming” as in Word
Fleischverdungen (Word becoming Flesh). This aspect of two becoming one, the union of God with man
in Jesus, the greatest element of our faith, is then applied to music. Therefore, Ratzinger can look at
Jewish and Christian history and speak of his expectations for music, namely, Faith Musikverdungen
(becoming music). The musification (Musikverdungen) of faith is part of the process of the Word
becoming Flesh (Fleishverdungen), or to carry the parallel to its English extreme, the fleshification of the
Word [that is, the Logos]). The point is that it is a two-way street, a dialogue, an act of giving and
receiving love. So Ratzinger creates the expectation that all of these “dualities” will be resolved in ritual
music, and they are resolved in the unity of experience.
Experience and reflection on experience
And perhaps that returns us to the thought with which we began, with music as experience and
the theologian as one reflecting on that experience. Ratzinger’s reflections on Church music are like those
of no other modern commentator. He simultaneously provides a theoretical defense for the conservative
musicians’ position, an apparent critique of the modern vernacular movement, but which, as we have
seen, is mostly a theological reflection which brings theology and music together on a theoretical level.
What about the union on the practical level?
Music on the practical level
46
This
unification
on
a
theological
level
can
be
described
in
the
conversation
regarding
dialectical
arguments
(so
often
used
by
Aquinas)
and
analogical
imagination
(used
by
modern
theologians,
as
David
Tracy),
which
is
now
going
on
at
Catholic
Theological
Society
of
America
between
Tilley
and
Weinandy,
see
2009
CTSA
Annual
Meeting.
Beauty and God’s glory (doxa) are linked in Benedict XVI’s aesthetic; beauty is Jesus in the
Paschal Mystery, in the dying and rising of salvation. Beauty is not simply a harmony of proportion or
form, and the beauty of liturgy (and, therefore, of music) share in this mystery. The call for beauty in
music is a theological summons; not a pragmatic one.
In addition, I believe that Ratzinger offers these critical observations of and about the present
repertoire and some attitudes of many pastoral musicians in the United States. I offer them in his name:
1. The fallacy when the exclusivity of participation becomes the primary, or worse, the only
function of Church music.
2. The resultant form of music (qua-music) as participatory music that has proliferated, that
is to say, hymnody, pop-folk tunes, providing the primary experience of Church music.
3. The realization that music qua music (in addition to the texts) creates an experience
which shapes and expresses the faith of the Christian. This musical experience as music
presents the revelation of God, creating the Paschal mystery, the doxa of creation. If
music forms are not multi-faceted, then the meaning of God and revelation will be
reduced and may be “distorted” toward the “self.”
4. Art music has a role in worship, including the active listening of the assembly.
5. The definition of liturgical participation contains musical participation as one form of the
participation in the paschal mystery.
6. History, especially musical history, has a significant, if not defining, role in carrying on
and revealing the “inner dignity” of music and music’s role in faith.
7. Music participates in the revelation of the “doxa” of all creation.
For anyone familiar with Ratzinger’s writings about music, these positions are no surprise. What
does surprise is the consistent lack of attention that those implementing the vernacular repertoire have
paid and continue to pay to theoretical positions regarding Church music. Ratzinger stands boldly in favor
of developing a vernacular repertoire; he simply has rejected the method used to develop the present
repertoire. This does not mean that we should not develop a vernacular repertoire; it means that we must
pay better attention to methodology, for faith becoming music is part of the process of the word becoming
Flesh.
This paper is a small effort to address that issue.
APPENDIX ONE:
THE ARTICLES
“I
am
not
attempting
to
involve
myself
in
scholarly
discussion
and
research.
I
am
simply
offering
an
aid
to
the
understanding
of
faith,
and
to
give
the
faith
its
central
form
of
expression
in
the
liturgy.”
Joseph
Cardinal
Ratzinger,
from
the
Preface
of
The
Spirit
of
the
Liturgy.
Joseph
Cardinal
Ratzinger
On
the
Theological
Basis
of
Church
Music
1974
This
article
first
appeared
as
Zur
theologischen
Grundlegung
der
Kirchenmusick,
in
F
Fleckenstein
(ed),
Gloria
De-‐Pax
Hominibus,
in
ACV
Schriftenreihne
9
(Bonn
1974)
39:62.
It
also
appeared
in
DAS
FEST
DES
GLAUDENS,
Johannes
Verlag,
Einsiedeln,
Switzerland,
1981
and
appears
as
the
second
article
in
Part
Two
Practical
Applications
in
THE
FEAST
OF
FOOLS:
APPROACHES
TO
A
THEOLOGY
OF
THE
LITURGY,
translated
by
Graham
Harrison,
Ignatius
Press,
San
Francisco,
1986,
pp
97-‐126.
Jo seph
Cardinal
Ratzinger,
Theological
Problems
of
Church
Music
1977
This
article
was
first
a
lecture,
Kirchenmusik
eine
geistig-‐geistliche
Disziplin
,
given
to
the
Department
of
Church
Music,
State
Conservatory
of
Music,
Stuttgart,
Germany,
January,
1977.
It
was
first
published
under
that
title
“Church
Music:
A
Spiritual
and
Intellectual
Discipline.”
(Stuttgart,
1978).
Quotes
for
this
work
are
drawn
from
its
English
translation
published
in
“CRUX
ET
CITHARA:
SELECTED
ESSAYS
ON
LITURGY
AND
SACRED
MUSIC
TRANSLATED
AND
EDITED
ON
THE
OCCASION
OF
THE
SEVENTIETH
BIRTHDAY
OF
JOHANNES
OVERATH”
by
Robert
Skeris
(Verlag
Alfred
Coppenrath,
Altotting,
1983),
pp
215-‐222.
Joseph
Cardinal
Ratzinger,
L iturgy
and
Church
Music
1986
Originally
published
in
L’Obsservatore
Romano
3
March
1986;
then
republished
under
the
title
Liturgie
und
Kirchenmusik,
in
the
INTERNATIONALE
KATHOLISCHE
ZEITSCHRIFT
COMMUNIO
15,
1986
pp
243-‐56,
and
in
the
English
edition
of
COMMUNIO,
translated
by
Stephen
Wentworth
Arndt,
under
the
title
Liturgy
and
Sacred
Music
1986,
pp.
377-‐391.
It
also
appeared
in
MUSICES
APTATIO,
JARBUCH,
1986.
It
appears
as
Christus
in
Ecclesia
cantat
German
edition
(Rome,
1986)
pp.
60-‐74
and
in
the
English,
Italian,
French
and
Portuguese
editions
of
this
volume
(Rome,
1986).
Also
in,
HOMILETIC
&
PASTORAL
REVIEW
86
(1986)
10/22.
It
also
appears
as
Chapter
7
under
the
title
of
The
Image
of
the
World
and
of
Human
beings
in
the
Liturgy
and
Its
Expression
in
Church
Music,
in
NEW
SONG
FOR
THE
LORD
(Crossroads,
NY,
1996)
Translated
from
the
German,
EIN
NEUES
LEID
FUR
DEN
HERRN:
CHRISTUSGLAUBE
UND
LITURGIE
IN
DER
GEGENWART
(Verlag
Herder,
Freiburg
in
R,
1995)
by
Martha
M
Matesich
(reprinted
in
2005
under
the
authorship
of
Pope
Benedict
XVI).
The
English
quotes
are
from
Stephen
Wentworth
Arndt’s
English
translation,
the
German
quotes
are
from
the
2007
edition
of
EIN
NEUES
LEID
FUR
DEN
HERRN.
Joseph
Cardinal
Ratzinger
Biblical
Directives
for
Church
Music
-‐1990
First
published
as
Biblische
Vorgaben
fur
die
Kirchenmusic
in
the
BRIXENER
INITIATIVE
MUSIK
UND
KIRCKE:
DRITTES
SYMPOSION
“Choral
und
Mehrstimmigkeit”
(Brixen,
1990)
pp
9-‐21.
It
was
also
published
as
Chapter
6
under
the
title
Sing
Artistically
for
God:
Biblical
Directives
for
Church
Music,
in
NEW
SONG
FOR
THE
LORD
(Crossroads,
NY,
1996)
Translated
from
the
German,
EIN
NEUES
LEID
FUR
DEN
HERRN:
CHRISTUSGLAUBE
UND
LITURGIE
IN
DER
GEGENWART
(Verlag
Herder,
Freiburg
in
R,
1995)
by
Martha
M
Matesich
(reprinted
in
2005
under
the
authorship
of
Pope
Benedict
XVI).
The
English
quotes
in
this
work
are
from
Chapter
6.
Joseph
Cardinal
Ratzinger
I n
the
Presence
of
Angels
I
will
sing
your
praise .
1 995
This
article
was
first
a
sermon
of
Joseph
Cardinal
Ratzinger
on
the
occasion
of
the
retirement
of
his
brother,
Monsignor
Georg
Ratzinger,
as
choirmaster
of
the
Regensburg
Cathedral.
It
was
first
published
as
In
der
Spannung
zwischen
Regensburger
Tradition
und
nachkonziliarer
Reform
:
Musica
Sacra
114
(1994)
379/89
English
Version:
Betwixt
and
Between
the
Regensburg
Tradition
and
Post-‐conciliar
reform:
SACRED
MUSIC
122/2
(Summer
1995)
5/17.
It
was
originally
published
in
three
parts,
and
then
collected
as
one
article
In
the
presence
of
the
Angels
I
will
Sing
your
praise:
The
Regensburg
Tradition
and
the
Reform
of
the
Liturgy
translated
by
Robert
Skeris
(MUSICA
SACRA,
ONLINE
EDITION,
Vol
2,
Nos
6-‐8,
Oct
–Dec
1996)
This
also
appears
as
Chapter
8
under
the
title
"In
the
Presence
of
the
Angels
I
Will
Sing
Your
Praise"
:
The
Regensburg
Tradition
and
the
Reform
of
the
Liturgy."
in
NEW
SONG
FOR
THE
LORD
(Crossroads,
NY,
1996)
Translated
from
the
German,
EIN
NEUES
LEID
FUR
DEN
HERRN:
CHRISTUSGLAUBE
UND
LITURGIE
IN
DER
GEGENWART
(Verlag
Herder,
Freiburg
in
R,
1995)
by
Martha
M
Matesich
(reprinted
in
2005
under
the
authorship
of
Pope
Benedict
XVI).
The
English
quotes
in
this
work
are
from
the
OnLine
translation
of
Robert
Skeris.
J oseph
Cardinal
Ratzinger
Music
and
Liturgy
1999
Music
and
Liturgy
published
in
J
Ratzinger,
THE
SPIRIT
OF
THE
LITURGY,
TR
BY
John
Saward.
Part
Three,
Chapter
two.
(Ignatius
Press,
San
Francisco,
2000)
and
the
German
edition:
DEN
GEIST
DER
LITURGIE
EINE
EINFŰHRUNG,
SONDERAUSGABE
2006
(1999)
Appendix TWO: The Principles
NAAL
Music
Seminar
Saturday,
January
9,
2010
(10:30
11:15)
Discussion
(11:15
-‐
11:30)