Online Lecture and Q&A with Sir James MacMillan, January 17: “Setting the Words of the Mass to Music in the Secular Environment of Our Time”

The composer’s challenge of writing a Mass setting in the sixteenth century presented itself on a more local level - a setting to be sung in a certain place and time, mindful of the wishes of a patron, and perhaps with a mind towards publication and use elsewhere. Received in an environment integrally linked to liturgical practice, a Mass did not have to make a case for its existence. Even in the nineteenth century, the liturgical practice yet served as a justification for the text which might now be set for a concert setting, aimed at dramatic effect, particularly in the Requiem.

What can be said today? Mass settings are heard in the liturgical context only by a small subset of people. The average Catholics who regularly attend Mass rarely hear something approaching the artistic integrity of a Mass by Palestrina or Rheinberger. The average concert-goer, too, rarely hears a Mass and then usually only the occasional Requiem which, for them, has lost its cultural cachet as something used in religious practice. The Mass presents in our time as an artifact of some long-lost culture, perhaps interesting as a museum piece or an homage to a bygone era. Catholic practice for the average parish, too, is often yet bereft of the hearing of artistically substantial works, presenting a challenge for the intrepid music director to help Catholics feel at home in beautiful works which might seem to them as “a concert at Mass.” There are many miles to be traversed to plant the seeds of a rich culture for reception of the Mass, and certainly readers of the NLM know and are engaged in this project of the re-Christianization of culture and the re-sacralization of liturgical practice.

The current culture presents a particular challenge (and opportunity) for the modern composer: can one compose something that stands on its own as artistically significant in a concert setting so as to draw people into the mysteries bespoken, and yet can it be actually used in a liturgical setting, fulfilling the purposes and qualities of sacred music the Church requires? Or, perhaps the concert aspect is to be shriven altogether, focusing again on the local instantiation as in olden times, again focusing on a culture of lived liturgical practice.

Sir James MacMillan has been writing Masses for a long time in his illustrious career, and is uniquely skilled in our time at writing which makes a case for the Mass, preaching the mysteries of the Mass to the concert-going audience and yet writing for parish and cathedral choirs music the Church gladly receives as part of the treasury of sacred music.

MacMillan’s Missa Brevis, written when he was just 17 but not premiered until 30 years later, displays the remarkable skill of a young composer.

The Catholic Institute of Sacred Music is happy to invite you to the first event of its spring term of its fourth annual Public Lecture and Concert Series to explore this topic with Sir James. The lecture, available online for free or a suggested donation of $20, will feature some of Sir James’ movements from Masses and an opportunity for Q&A. The lecture will be held online via Zoom; an RSVP is required.

Saturday, January 17th

10:00 a.m. PST | 1:00 p.m. EST

Registration available here.

We hope to see you there!