
On Friday Evening, December 10, at Holy Innocents Church, Mr David Hughes gave a presentation focusing on the recovery of the chant tradition by the monks of Solesmes Abbey in France in the 19th century. Mr. Hughes is preeminently qualified for this task; currently the music director at St. Patrick’s Church, Waterbury, he has founded and led to great success so many varied musical groups: childrens’ choirs, a men’s schola, professional scholae, parish choirs – the list his accomplishments is endless! Yet the announced topic of the evening was The Crisis in Church and Society and how Tradition Responds. For the speaker presented the story of the rediscovery of a more authentic chant as a case study of how a tradition functions.
In the 19th century Gregorian chant had fallen on hard times. To the extent it was sung at all, it was from editions deriving from a very simplified compilation made under papal patronage around 1600. Dom Guerenger of Solesmes led the restoration, first, of that abbey and, later, of chant itself. Dom Guerenger did not merely want to recreate what had existed prior to the French Rvolution, but to go back to the original sources. The monks examined ancient manuscripts throughout Europe on the trail of this tradition. The monks presented their discoveries to the world in (relatively) easy to use publications. They did not seek to “impose” their new metholds but sought, through their publications and their own singing at Solesmes, to lead by example.
This example helps us to understand better what has taken place in the Traditionalist Movement since 2007, at least in the New York area. Here too the principle that has steadily unfolded is not to recreate what had existed in liturgy and music in 1962 but to restore the Roman liturgy in all its fullness. Examples include the authentic performance of chant and polyphony; the celebration of the Holy Week Triduum according to the “pre-55” rite, the spread of Rorate masses and many other devotions. All this has been achieved, starting at a few parishes, by force of example. And in most cases participation at Traditional Masses is growing by attracting those who wander into a Traditional Mass by chance or curiosity – individual by individual, family by family, For this – as illustrated by Dom Guerenger and the musical movement he launched – is the path of authentic tradition! Music, vestments, ceremonies, art and and architecture of the past are studied, not as ends in themselves, but as elements actively working together in the proper celebration of the liturgy and thus ultimately for evangelization. Tradition is never static – it grows and can decline and be obscured – but recovery of its full meaning and beauty is always possible. And that task remains a challenge to our generation.
Here is a link to a recording of David Hughes’ talk:
Related Articles
No user responded in this post