Composing Modern Liturgical Music

Dec 29, 2024

Composing modern liturgical music for the Catholic Church involves a delicate balance of maintaining sacred character, exhibiting authentic artistry, and creating compositions that resonate with “ordinary” worshipers. The music should be contemplative, vibrant, and deeply rooted in the Church’s traditions. At the heart of Roman Catholic liturgical music lies the Gregorian Chant, the foundational musical tradition of the faith.

A composer should engage in the study and performance of Gregorian Chant, seeking to understand and apply its defining musical principles. As outlined in the post-conciliar Church document Musicam Sacram, new forms should derive organically from existing forms, and the new work should belong in the musical heritage of the Church. It goes on to specify that new compositions need to showcase the expected defining qualities of genuine sacred music. It’s also essential that a new musical work caters to the needs of both small and large choirs, along with the active participation of God’s people.

Pope Benedict XVI asserts that modernizing holy music is strictly within the boundaries of the past, of Gregorian chants, and sacred polyphonic choral music. The qualities of genuine sacred music uphold the human voice as the primary instrument, unite the rhythm of the music with the natural rhythm of the given sacred text, and feature melodic harmonies and lines chosen for appropriate dispositions and emotions to liturgical worship. In this context, any secular associations should become secondary.