“The Mass as Sacred Drama” On-line Lecture by Charles Weaver

Friday, March 5, 2021 at 7:15 PM EST

Price: Free

Public  · Anyone on or off Facebook. To access the event go to https://www.facebook.com/events/289596409255454/

A lecture by Charles Weaver, Music Director at St. Mary’s Church, Norwalk, CT

Much music composed for the Roman Catholic Mass over the last millennium and more has found a wide and appreciative audience outside of its original liturgical context. Listeners with little or no connection to the Church often react favorably to the transcendent and timeless qualities of plainchant, and sixteenth-century choral settings of liturgical music are a staple of concerts and recordings by vocal ensembles. In this talk, Weaver will relate this music to the gestures and ritual actions of the Mass of the Roman Rite as practiced from the sixteenth century to the present day, with an aim to enriching the understanding of modern audiences from outside of the Western Catholic tradition. He will also discuss the role that liturgical music (especially plainchant) played in older, Church-run models of music education, and how these might be adapted for use in teaching music to children today.