The oldest (four years) and most comprehensive blog concerning Catholic music on the web is "
Confessions of a Recovering Choir Director" administered by Aristotle A Esguerra. Almost everyone who googles for Catholic music will run eventually run across it, and most people will be impressed by its seriousness and attention to history and the intentions of the Church concerning music at Mass.
But now Aristotle has delivered a
rather shocking announcement: "One of the reasons I left music ministry was because of the tone of the very discussions that have been on this site recently. The memories that these discussions have brought to my mind are not ones I care to relive. Therefore, if the sarcasm, aggressiveness, defensiveness, and unwillingness to listen, on the part of all parties involved, on all sides of the issues -- and we know in our heart of hearts who we are -- do not cease forthwith, this site will be taken down in its entirety. No notice will be given."
Anyone in Church music can understand the emotionalism with which he speaks. Music is intensely important to everyone on all sides of the existing debate, such as it is. For those of us who have lived at the intersect of faith and music from our earliest memories, it is the lens through which we most fully comprehend our faith and it thereby reaches to the very core of our being. The tumult associated with musical debates is a matter of heart, soul, and mind--the sum total of all that makes us tick, so to speak.
The question of why Catholic musical debates are particularly emotional is far too large to explore on a blog post, but let me just offer this. As a quick look at the comment areas of Aristotle's blog reveal, there are very few rules to debating Catholic music, no agreed-upon parameters, few universal principles that guide those who care about the question. Too often what we get instead are expressions of subjective preference wrapped in claims of infallibility backed by threats of excommunication--and he is right that these tendencies exist on all sides. Without rules or guideposts or principle, it's no wonder people get emotional and the debate is always getting sidetracked with name calling and finger pointing.
What this suggests to me is a reinforcement of the priority long drawn attention to in the writings of great Church musicians like Fr. Robert Skeris: namely that the liturgy is not just a text but it is full sensory experience that already includes music as attached to the liturgical year in the form of the chant tradition. An analogy might be that it is an apartment already furnished. That is not to say that there is no room for innovation, subjective preference, or extension, but whatever happens at liturgy must extend from this foundation. This seems like a very good starting point for all discussion, but what percent of Catholic musicians understand this point? Very few, or so it seems to me. In any case, my own first look at the
Gregorian Missal gave me something of a shock to realize that the issues I had been debating for years had already been settled long ago.
To know of the existence of the chant tradition and its relationship to the liturgy may not solve all battles but at least it provides a rational starting place for discussion. Until the time comes when this tradition is better known and understood, we need people like Aristotle who are willing to do the hard work, the ministerial work, of educating people and providing a forum for people to read and discuss during very confusing times. His blog will not solve all problems in the world of Catholic music but we can say with certainty that the chances for genuine renewal will not be improved if his blog disappears. Surely we all need to follow John Paul II's call for an examination of conscience so that beauty will again return to the liturgy.
