Music In The Catholic Church: The Second Vatican Council

Music in the Catholic Church: The Second Vatican Council

Bethnay Mestelle

Professor Matt Rahaim

Music, Society, and Culture (MUS1801)

Music in the Catholic Church: A Brief History The Catholic Church has remained very similar throughout its 2000 years of existence; the words of worship used today are nearly identical to those used by first generation Christians. This uniformity developed in response to the Protestant Reformation, as the Catholic Church desired to give the impression of uniformity, unity, and universality. There have, however, been multiple reform movements that have changed the function and practices of the Church. One component of the Church that has changed over the years is the music used in the Mass,

In the 11th century, composers began to utilize polyphonic Mass settings. The previously used unison chant, which allowed for participation, was replaced with intricate polyphony that could not be performed without rehearsal and previous knowledge of the composition. This change emphasised the notion that music was for the religious elite, a connotation that remained in the church for many years. The musicality of the Mass flourished during the renaissance, with the canon recently established, composers began to write entire Mass settings. These compositions were based on the Cantus Firmus, a new genre born out of Gregorian Chant, and often featured contrapuntal harmonies as well as elaboration of the Cantus Firmus line. Much like the period that preceded it, a majority of the music used in the Catholic church in the Baroque and Romantic era was written by famous composers of the time. It was common to hear mass settings by Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, among others. Though many of the masses written during this time were written for the Lutheran Church, many were also used in Catholic parishes, due to the near identical format of the

This movement led to a renewed popularity of contra dancing, folk music, etc. Thus, it is unsurprising that these masses are almost exclusively isolated to the midwestern United States, particularly rural communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota where a majority of the congregation is composed of parishioners of Polish, German, Czech, and Slovenian heritage. These people oftentimes have few other connections to the land their relatives came from long ago, but they still desire an authentic connection to what they claim as their