Not Sacred Music, but Sounds of Attack
After the choir of the Sistine Chapel, the conservatory of the Holy See is also about to be conquered by those responsible for the musical disarray of recent decades. To silence from the pope
by Sandro Magister
ROME, March 30, 2012 – The last bastion in Rome of the grand liturgical music of the Latin Church, built on the pillars of Gregorian chant and the polyphony of Pierluigi da Palestrina, is in danger of collapsing at any moment.
This bastion is the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the musical conservatory of the Holy See, instituted by Pius X a century ago to set the right course for sacred music in the churches all over the world.
It is headed by Monsignor Valentino Miserachs Grau, 69, Catalan, who is also the director of the Cappella Liberiana, the choir of the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major. His predecessor and mentor there was Domenico Bartlucci, the most illustrious composer and interpreter of liturgical music that the Roman Church has had in the past century, the former director of the pontifical choir of the Sistine Chapel, from which he was brutally ejected in 1996, made a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2010.
There is a profound similarity of outlook, in matters of liturgical music, between pope Joseph Ratzinger and the current leadership of the PIMS. But as already took place in 2010 with the change of the director of the choir of the Sistine Chapel, for the renewal of the presidency of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music everything is about to be decided – not by the PIMS, but against it – without the personal involvement of the pope.
The reasons for this dissociation of Benedict XVI – willingly on his part, to the rejoicing of many – from practical decisions in a matter so agreeable to him, and maintained by him to be so essential to the mission of the Church, still remain undeciphered.
The fact is that this dissociation of the pope gives the green light in the Church, even at the highest levels, to men and to musical trends that are as far as can be from that "spirit of the liturgy" which informs his entire vision as theologian and pastor.
The case of the Sistine Chapel choir is emblematic. The appointment of the current director, Monsignor Massimo Palombella, took place behind the closed doors of the Vatican secretariat of state, surely among those least competent in the matter. And it has done nothing to restore the choir that accompanies the pontifical liturgies from the disrepair into which it has fallen.
It is not enough, in fact, that the selection of composers and songs is today more in line with the desires of the pope. No less important are the quality of the performances and the vision that inspires them.
Further below on this page is a critical review with the byline of an outstanding musicologist and musician, Alessandro Taverna. His judgments on the choir of the Sistine Chapel directed by Palombella are, naturally, debatable. But when, for example, he points out that by the end of an a cappella piece "the singers [had] dropped a good three steps," he is presenting a fact, not an opinion.
So then, for the position of head of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, an outcome even more fraught with misfortune is approaching.
The name that the secretariat of state is about to have approved by Benedict XVI is that of Vincenzo De Gregorio, the current musical consultant of the liturgical office of the Italian episcopal conference.
Who is De Gregorio? But before that, how has this quasi-appointment come about?
The Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music reports to the Vatican congregation for Catholic education, the prefect of which, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, is also the grand chancellor of the institute.
The current head of the PIMS, Miserachs Grau, came to the end of his mandate in 2011. And that same year Cardinal Grocholewski, in keeping with the statutes and in agreement with the presidency of the PIMS, chose as his successor Abbot Stephane Quessard, recognizing him as the right man to ensure continuity of direction for the institute, in full harmony with the vision of Benedict XVI.
Abbot Quessard occupies important positions in the archdiocese of Bourges, including that of episcopal vicar and of president of the liturgical commission. The archbishop of Bourges, Armand Maillard, therefore put up resistance at first to being deprived of a priest of proven value like Abbot Quessard. But in the end he agreed – persuaded above all by his friend Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès, the secretary of the congregation for Catholic education – to "offer" him to Rome as head of the PIMS, on the sole condition that his tenure begin in the autumn of 2012, not before.
Because of this the outgoing head, Miserachs Grau, has remained in office on extension, until the arrival of his successor.
At the beginning of last autumn, the congregation for Catholic education therefore notified the secretariat of state that Abbot Quessard would be the new head of the PIMS, in order to have him approved.
But months went by, and the "nulla osta" didn't come. There were signs of opposition instead. In December, the congregation was informed of the first rejection issued by the secretariat of state. Cardinal Grocholewski proposed his candidate again. And again, at the end of February, came the rejection. The word from the secretary of state was that they had found "a more suitable Italian candidate."
The congregation informed the archdiocese of Bourges of the double slap they had both received. And in the meantime, the rumor got out that for the secretariat of state, the die had been cast: the new head of the PIMS would be Don Vincenzo De Gregorio.
Neapolitan, the organist of the cathedral of his city, the former director of the state conservatory San Pietro a Majella, De Gregorio has been since 2010 the number one expert of the CEI for sacred music.
He replaced his mentor there, Don Antonio Parisi from Bari, for thirty years the factotum of the Italian bishops in a field, that of liturgical music, in which mediocrity and confusion continue to reign supreme, as proven by the national repertoire of sacred songs put together by Parisi, the last of the series in 2008.
Together with Monsignor Marco Frisina, Don Parisi is one of the most widely followed composers of sacred songs in use in the Italian Church. With a pop music style, fit for making "tunes," that has always horrified not only someone like Bartolucci, but also, in the secular camp, a consummate maestro like Riccardo Muti.
Both Parisi and Frisina are bound with double thread to the director of the Sistine Chapel choir, Palombella. As proof of this, at the latest consistory last February Palombella called to Rome, as the lead choir for the faithful in Saint Peter's, a choir created in Bari by one of Parisi's disciples, Don Maurizio Lieggi. While next April 1, for the Mass of Palm Sunday, as on many other occasions before, Palombella will have beside him the choir directed by Monsignor Frisina.
The three enjoy support even at the highest levels of the Vatican curia. The team captain, Palombella, is among the favorites of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who after installing him as head of the Sistine Chapel choir continues to follow his guidelines in musical matters as if he were an oracle. And Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, prefect of the pontifical council for culture, also has a weak spot for both Palombella and Frisina.
With De Gregorio at the head of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the trio is being joined by a fourth man, and moreover in a position of great influence over the fate of sacred music in the churches all over the world.
"It was a healthy openness, and it was of quality," De Gregorio said last summer to the newspaper "la Repubblica" about the "Messa beat," the famous 1966 composition by Marcello Giombini that left a lasting mark on many of the songs that came into use in the parishes, with motifs grafted in from pop, rock, jazz, gospel, ethnic music.
If this is the word from the new head of the PIMS, the future of the Vatican conservatory is sealed: a future of neglect, already foreshadowed by the lack of an audience with the pope at the centenary of the institute's foundation, in March of 2011: an audience first promised in writing by the secretariat of state and then unexpectedly canceled.
The real enigma is how all of this can happen under the reign of Benedict XVI, in a field like liturgical music in which his vision is constantly contradicted by events.
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SISTINE CHAPEL CHOIR: A CRITICAL REVIEW
by Alessandro Taverna The appointment of Don Massimo Palombella as head of the Sistine choir took a little by surprise the "authorized personnel," who thought it could be explained as a sign of trust and respect for them on the part of the Holy Father and his secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
There were many hopes: the main one was that the new director could revive a glorious musical tradition that had gradually exhausted itself, especially over the last few decades, as well as perfect the vocal quality of the choir, which has not always been laudable.
Well then, although the Sistine Chapel choir under the direction of Palombella has the merit of having recovered the practice of Palestrinian execution (previously completely forgotten in the papal Masses), it must be recognized that the vocal level of the choir has declined and worsened further.
What is particularly noticeable is the inability of the singers to maintain an acceptable rhythm. The speed of execution often slows down in an exaggerated way, as in the case of the "Tu es Petrus" by Palestrina. Dragging on practically to the initial greeting of the Mass, it has recently been decided to end it at "ecclesiam meam" to make it shorter.
The use of silver trumpets at the beginning of the celebration (a vestige of the rite of the papal chapel in the past) is rather debatable in the form in which it has been restored today, so much so that – here as well – the prolongation of the Marcia by Domenico Silverj has brought about not a few difficulties: on a number of occasions the pontiff, having already reached his chair, has had to wait for the end of a rushed execution of the introit.
Recently, the "Tu es Petrus" by Palestrina has been abandoned in favor of the one, shorter and also truncated, by Maurice Duruflé: this has made room for a more expansive treatment of the verses of the introit.
With Gregorian chant, the problems become even more evident. There is no explanation for why the "schola cantorum" should always be left without the accompaniment of the organ, with the result that the singers – incapable of holding the key on their own – drop down the scale in blatant and dramatic fashion, a drop that is revealed every time the organ comes in to accompany the assembly of the faithful.
It must be said that the selection of the choir to lead the assembly is also an unfortunate one. Once made up only of male voices, it is now predominately female, and continually reinforces the disastrous hammering away at the already shaky tonality of the "schola."
I would invite anyone to listen again to the singing of the Litany of the Saints at the feast of the Epiphany to realize that from the start to the finish, the singers dropped a good three steps.
It is evident at this point that the current choir of the Sistine Chapel should not allow itself to go without, in Gregorian chant, the accompaniment of the organ, which is used instead to support the participation of the assembly. In this latter case, moreover, the harmonies used by the organist [Juan Paradell-Solé] have a rather decadent and almost "jazzy" flavor, with the massive use of sevenths, which jar even more with the decision made a short time before by the "schola" to sing a cappella. Personally, I find that the phrasing of the organ is not always comprehensible, in the light of the objectivity and simplicity that should characterize Gregorian monophony.
It must also be added that the scattering of numerous microphones does not make it easier to hear the harmonies executed in polyphonic singing, which become unclear, especially in the singing of the fauxbordon, both in the Ordinarium Missae and on other occasions, as in the hymns and psalms of Vespers.
For those following on television, this inconvenience makes even more evident the problems discussed a bit earlier, in part because there seems to be almost an insistence – especially in the new compositions that are presented – on dissonant harmonies that are not at all incorrect in themselves, but that it seems risky to entrust to a choir that presents the aforementioned limitations (one should listen again, for example, to the Alleluia verse of "Tu es Petrus" executed last February 19 on the occasion of the consistory).
Speaking again of the role of the organ, it seems to me that a general guideline has been put in place that has led to a substantial abdication of it in favor of other instruments, like the "fanfare" of the brass section that we have become accustomed to hearing at the entrance and exit of the pontiff. Sad to say, there is a complete lack of attention to and promotion of the comprehensive mastery of the organ, from improvisation to the classics of Italy and Europe.
Last October 5, Palombella gave an interview to "L'Osservatore Romano" in which he said among other things that, drawing on the vocal inheritance of the twentieth century, the singers would have to improve their intonation according to a "scientific" method, based in particular on the intonation of thirds and fifths.
But it must be recognized that precisely with regard to intonation, no progress at all has been seen, but rather a generalized and unstoppable decline, with a further defect that can be noticed very often, which is that one can hear the singers "yelling."
Results, then, that for now do not correspond to the resolutions formulated in that interview.
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The website of the author of the review, an internationally famous pianist:
> Alessandro Taverna__________
AN EMBARRASSING COMPARISONAt the upcoming celebration of Saints Peter and Paul, in Rome, in addition to the choir of the Sistine Chapel, the pontifical liturgies will be accompanied by the choir of Westminster Abbey.
The two choirs will sing selections from the Roman tradition of the past four centuries, from Palestrina to Lorenzo Perosi. Moreover, at the beginning and end of each liturgy the choir of Westminster will sing compositions from the English choral repertoire, of the Anglican tradition.
The choir of Westminster Abbey, directed by James O'Donnell, a Catholic, is recognized at a worldwide level as one of the finest of its kind. It numbers about 20 boys (all of whom attend the Abbey choir boarding school) and 12 adult professional singers, known as "lay vicars."
In September of 2010, during his voyage in England and Scotland, Benedict XVI got a chance to appreciate the superb quality of this choir, which he listened to during the ecumenical vespers celebrated in Westminster Abbey.
But also in Glasgow and at the Catholic cathedral of London, pope Ratzinger heard splendid executions of liturgical music, with both old and contemporary pieces, some of them composed for the occasion in a happy marriage of modernity and tradition.
Shortly after Benedict XVI returned to Rome, Don Palombella was appointed as director of the choir of the Sistine Chapel.
It's a given that for the slipshod Sistine Chapel choir, the comparison with the Westminster choir scheduled for the end of June will be embarrassing to say the least.
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For more information on the magnificent quality of the choirs of Westminster Abbey and the other choirs to which Benedict XVI listened during his voyage in the United Kingdom in September of 2010:
> Ecumenismo in musica. La Westminster Abbey insegna al coro pontificio come si canta in chiesa> Musical Intermission. Noises from the Sistine Chapel__________
A LESSON FROM JAPANAs for the possibility of a fruitful encounter between sacred music of the grand tradition and the innovations of contemporary music, assuming that the new compositions are intended for liturgical use, a stupendously successful example has been offered recently not by a musician from Rome, but from Japan.
Last March 15, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the earthquake that rocked that country, the Japanese embassy to the Holy See organized a concert at the Roman basilica of Saint Mary Major.
The concert was held by the female choir from Tokyo "Voces Fidelis," prepared by Haruka Kanie and conducted by Ko Matsushita, who also conducted four of his own compositions: the psalm "Miserere mei," the motets "Hodie beata virgo Maria" and "Non nobis, Domine," and the Eucharistic hymn "Tantum ergo."
All of them based on Latin texts of the Catholic liturgy, the songs revealed themselves to be musically ingenious, modern and at the same time inspired by tradition, of great spiritual elevation and with an extraordinary faithful adherence to the words of the liturgy.
The life and works of the composer, on his website, in English:
> Ko Matsushita__________
All of the articles from www.chiesa on these topics:
> Focus on ART AND MUSIC__________
English translation by
Matthew Sherry, Ballwin, Missouri, U.S.A.
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30.3.2012
