What are you going to play at Mass this weekend?
Would you prefer a printed book or a download to print for your music binder?
Or do you prefer playing direct from a digital tablet?
Possibly the first 4 books of the Catholic Organist’s Quarterly might be the music you have been looking for – part of a series of books of music that is suitable for you to play at Mass.
• Organ music playable for manuals and organized through the four seasons of the Roman Catholic liturgical year. Easy to medium difficulty.
Noel Jones, AAGO
After spending many years in abeyance, there are clear signs that the organ is making a welcome return to Roman Catholic liturgical life. Parishes across the country are installing new organs and hiring professional organists, and Diocesan Music Directors are providing training and support for organists in their areas.
This development is as it should be. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy promulgated by the Second Vatican Council made it quite clear that the organ was the instrument of choice for the liturgy of the Church:
Organum tubulatum in Ecclesia latina magno in honore habeatur, tamquam instrumentum musicum traditionale, cuius sonus Ecclesiae caeremoniis mirum addere valet splendorem, atque mentes ad Deum ac superna vehementer extollere.
The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, for it is the traditional musical instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up men’s minds to God and higher things.
Sacrosanctum Concilium, Chapter VI, Paragraph 120
However, the organ, like any instrument, can be a two-edged sword. While it can lift up the mind “to God and higher things” it is also possible for it to create a dismal experience where the mind is focused on anything but God. Like every church musician, an organist has a sacred responsibility to ensure that the organ performs its true function so that the faithful are edified and brought to devotion.
As a Catholic Church organist myself, I have long lamented the lack of easily accessible collections of organ music composed specifically for the Catholic liturgy, or which is particularly suitable for it. A colleague of mine puts it, “when I hear the organ play in church, I want to know that I’m in a Catholic Church.”
I know what he means. There is an aesthetic that is uniquely Catholic, and this goes beyond the liturgical seasons and the melodies that are appropriate for those seasons. There is organ music that helps create an aesthetic space for prayer and contemplation, allowing the faithful to focus on the presence of Christ in the Sacrament, music which does not draw attention to itself, but which supports the unity of the Body of Christ in the Celebration of the Eucharist: the sum and center of our life. However, this music also has a role to play in defining the seasons of the year, underscoring celebrations, and providing a point of comfort in times of trial.
Noel Jones has worked tirelessly to produce a volume of music, all of which can be played by organists of modest experience (none of it requires pedals), and which is all of excellent quality.
The music is laid out in sections for the various seasons of the year, but it goes without saying that most of it (with some obvious exceptions) is suitable for many different times of the year.
It should also be noted that these pieces can be played in a variety of ways. I encourage organists to try them fast and slow, loud and quiet, so that they may be used in the liturgy in different ways.
Neil Weston