Posted on 04/30/2005 8:43:32 AM PDT by Aristotle721
De Musica Sacra, the 1958 instruction on sacred music for the liturgy, is an oft-ignored document in the Catholic music culture wars, usually due to the fact that most of the battles take place on the aesthetic level.
My heart will always prefer chant, and in its absence, well-crafted sacred music. However, having made my intellectual peace with musical taste, I want once again to highlight the fact that the music reforms of the twentieth century were moving not only towards authentic sacred music, but also towards an expanded role for the psalms.
De Musica Sacra 27a-c gives the explicit instruction. I have taken the liberty of linking to parts of the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal that address these parts of the Mass:
a) If the priest and his ministers go in procession by a long aisle, it would be permissible for the choir, after the singing of the Introit antiphon, and its psalm verse, to continue singing additional verses of the same psalm. The antiphon itself may be repeated after each verse or after every other verse; when the celebrant has reached the altar, the psalm ceases, and the Gloria Patri is sung, and finally the antiphon is repeated to conclude the Introit procession.
b) After the Offertory antiphon is sung, it is also allowed to sing the ancient Gregorian melodies of the original Offertory verses which once were sung after the antiphon.
But if the Offertory antiphon is taken from a psalm, it is then permitted to sing additional verses of this same psalm. In this case, too, the antiphon may be repeated after each verse of the psalm, or after every second verse; when the offertory rite is finished at the altar the psalm is ended with the Gloria Patri, and the antiphon is repeated. If the antiphon is not taken from a psalm, then any psalm suited to the feast may be used. Another possibility is that any Latin song may be used after the Offertory antiphon provided it is suited to the spirit of this part of the Mass. The singing should never last beyond the "Secret".
c) The proper time for the chanting of the Communion antiphon is while the priest is receiving the holy Eucharist. But if the faithful are also to go to Communion the antiphon should be sung while they receive. If this antiphon, too, is taken from a psalm, additional verses of this psalm may be sung. In this case, too, the antiphon is repeated after each, or every second verse of the psalm; when distribution of Communion is finished, the psalm is closed with the Gloria Patri, and the antiphon is once again repeated. If the antiphon is not taken from a psalm, any psalm may be used which is suited to the feast, and to this part of the mass.
After the Communion antiphon is sung, and the distribution of Communion to the faithful still continues, it is also permitted to sing another Latin song in keeping with this part of the Mass.
It is a straightforward instruction. Of course, with Sacrosanctum Concilium and the 1970 Missal, it can be successfully argued that the additional song after the antiphon need not necessarily be in Latin.
The 1958 Instruction is compatible with all of the subsequent official documents on liturgical music, and prime examples of its compatibility were found in the First Mass and Inaugural Mass of Pope Benedict XVI, where the choir/assembly sang the proper antiphons, and the cantor/choir sang the verses - exactly as noted above.
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