The Teaching of the Church on Gregorian Chant

The importance of Gregorian Chant and its restoration was emphasised by Pope St Pius X in his motu proprio Tra le Sollicitudine, which insisted on Chant being used in the Roman liturgy, as especially suited to it; while polyphonic music was not excluded, it should not be regarded as 'superior' to Chant, and the danger of polyphony detracting from the sacred atmosphere - turning the church into a concert hall - should be guarded against:

• "Gregorian Chant has always been regarded as the supreme model for sacred music, so that it is fully legitimate to lay down the following rule: the more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savour the Gregorian form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple.
• "The ancient traditional Gregorian Chant must, therefore, in a large measure be restored to the functions of public worship, and the fact must be accepted by all that an ecclesiastical function loses none of its solemnity when accompanied by this music alone.
• "Special efforts are to be made to restore the use of the Gregorian Chant by the people, so that the faithful may again take a more active part in the ecclesiastical offices, as was the case in ancient times."

The wider context of this motu proprio, issued in 1903, was the work of restoration being done in the monastery of Solesmes in France, where careful work on manuscripts was making possible more and more accurate editions of the Chant as it was first written, and not as misunderstood or simplified in later centuries.

Pope Pius X was echoing the teaching of the Council of Trent and many Popes, who had regard for the very special sacral character of the Chant. This is reiterated by the Second Vatican Council in the decree on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium:

• "The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services."

After the conclusion of the Council, in 1974, Pope Paul VI published a small compendium of chants for the 'ordinary' of the Mass, called 'Jubilate Deo', which he sent to the bishops of the world as his 'personal gift', intending this to be a universal, basic minimum of Chant repertoire known by all. In the accompanying letter, Voluntati Obsequens, he explained:

• "Down the centuries, Gregorian chant has accompanied liturgical celebrations in the Roman rite, has nourished men's faith and has fostered their piety, while in the process achieving an artistic perfection which the Church rightly considers a patrimony of inestimable value and which the Council recognized as "the chant especially suited to the Roman liturgy."
• "...the liturgical reform does not and indeed cannot deny the past. Rather does it "preserve and foster it with the greatest care". It cultivates and transmits all that is in it of high religious, cultural and artistic worth and especially those elements which can express even externally the unity of believers."