Here is a reminder and more information on what promises to be a fantastic occasion in DC later this month.
Paul Jernberg, who founded the Magnificat Institute, is the composer of the music for the Mass for Blessed Karl that will premiere at this conference. He told me:
The idea for this new composition, and for this conference, began with my “coincidental” meeting with the great-grandson of Blessed Karl (aka Charles 1 of Austria - the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) a couple of years ago. The more I read about him and his wife, Zita, the more I was inspired by their radiant model of great leadership - characterized not by the desire for power but by the pursuit of wisdom and a faithful, self-sacrificial love for his people.
We are very glad to share this message from Catholic composer Paul Jernberg, regarding a conference and musical premiere which he will host in Washington, D.C. in October in honor of Blessed Karl of Austria. (Click images to enlarge and to use the QR codes.)
It is a joy for me to let you know about, and invite you to, a great conference which I have been helping to organize. It will be held October 18-20 in Washington, DC, on the theme of “Blessed Karl of Austria - A Light for Our Times". The conference will feature many inspirational speakers, and beautiful choral and orchestral music in honor of this saint, including the premiere of my Mass in Honor of Blessed Karl.
The idea for this new composition, and for this conference, began with my “coincidental” meeting with the great-grandson of Blessed Karl a couple of years ago. The more I read about him and his wife Zita, the more I was inspired by their radiant model of great leadership - characterized not by the desire for power, but by the pursuit of wisdom and a faithful, self-sacrificial love for his people.
It would be wonderful if you could join us in DC in October! But whether or not you are able to be there in person, please pray for us as we seek to share the light of Blessed Karl’s life and legacy with a broad audience from throughout the US and abroad!
Thank you to composer Paul Jernberg of the Magnificat Institute for bringing this to my attention: his newly composed Mass will be premiered this weekend, with himself conducting the choir. For further information about the event, contact Suzanne Pearson at sdpearson@verizon.net.
Blessed Karl of Austria was the last Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ascending to the throne in 1916. He died in 1922, and his cause for canonization was opened in 1949.
This June, the Catholic Sacred Music Project, run by Peter Carter, offers three separate residential workshops on the beautiful campus of Princeton University in New Jersey. They will be led by a stellar team of composers, conductors and composers: Sir James MacMillan, Gabriel Crouch, Paul Jernberg, Dr James Jordan and Dr Timothy McDonnell.
In the week of June 9-15, the CSMP Composition Institute and CSMP Choral Institute will occur simultaneously, culminating in the choristers singing the new works by the composers. The following week, the CSMP Conductors’ Institute will take place, June 16-21.
Details are given in the three posters below, one for each workshop; also see the Catholic Sacred Music Project website: sacredmusicproject.org.
The Catholic Sacred Music Project was founded in 2021 to provide spiritual and musical formation for Catholic musicians in order to effect a widespread renewal of sacred music in the Church.
Paul Jernberg, composer-in-residence at Wyoming Catholic College and director and founder of the Magnificat Academy is running a residential workshop for parish choir directors, singers and composers this coming summer. He is focussing on the principles that define sacred music and directing people to resources ancient and modern that exmemplify what he describes. It is offered in conjunction with the Scintilla Institute
Here are the details as supplied. More will follow:
Who is it for? singers, composers, parish choir directors and any with a love of sacred music.
When? May 31 – June 3, 2023
Where? Coronation of Our Lady Parish, 13000 Bennington Avenue, Grandview, Missouri
Workshop components: Principles and Resources for faithful stewardship of Sacred Music in our parishes and communities; lively conversation with Catholic church musicians; rehearsals and sung Liturgies
Schedule: We will begin with a reception and short conference at 7pm on Wednesday, May 31st, and conclude with a sung Mass on Saturday morning, June 3rd, followed by lunch. A more detailed schedule will be provided soon to all participants.
Further information, Cost, and Registration: contact our event coordinators at yourfriends@scintilla.institute. Emails will be handled promptly within 1-2 business days; for urgent questions you may call (913) 687-3801.
Here is a recent YouTube release of a glorious new sung Mass which was filmed and recorded last October 21st at St. John's Parish in Clinton, MA: here is the link in You Tube.
The film title is taken from the Beatitudes: Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. The format is similar to our previous film The Fire of Your Love, although almost all of the music is newly composed for this special Liturgy, a Mass for Persecuted Christians.
Paul told me: ‘The impetus to compose this music came from my conversations with Fr. Benedict Kiely, founding director of Nasarean.org, who spends much of his time in the Middle East and who seeks to raise awareness and support for those whose plight there has been almost completely neglected by the Western media. But I also found much inspiration for these compositions in reading and reflecting upon Michael O'Brien’s epic novel Island of the World, based on true accounts from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the mid-20th century.’
For more information on Paul and his music contact: Magnificat Institute of Sacred Music, 315 Main Street, Suite 5, Lander, WY 82520; (307) 206-5240; magnificatinstitute.org; pauljernberg.com
Many NLM readers will need no introduction to Paul Jernberg, whose beautiful music has been mentioned in the past by my colleague David Clayton. Jernberg’s work is characterized by a Byzantine flavor of harmonization that he brings to settings of both Latin and vernacular liturgical texts.
Tell us about your musical background: when and how you began singing or playing instruments, your most influential teacher, how your interest in composing sacred music was enkindled.
Born in Chicago in 1953, my earliest musical formation came from being immersed in beautiful music in my home and church. My paternal grandmother was a concert violinist, my father was also a fine violinist, and several of my aunts, uncles, and cousins were accomplished musicians. In the Baptist church which we regularly attended, there was always inspirational singing by the choirs and the congregation. Whenever our family gathered for holidays, there was also much singing and music making!
I began piano lessons at six years old, studied and performed throughout high school, and then continued as a music and piano performance major in college. While still in high school, I also began studies in music theory and composition at the American Conservatory of Music in downtown Chicago. It was my great privilege to study privately there with the great Irwin Fischer, himself a student of Nadia Boulanger and Zoltan Kodaly. Although at this time I had no thought of composing Catholic sacred music, Mr. Fischer helped me to discover the greatness of Palestrina and all the Renaissance masters, through my classes with him in Modal Counterpoint. At this point the composing which I did was generally as homework; it wasn’t until many years later that the sense of a vocation to compose music for the Sacred Liturgy became clear.
Salve Regina
Is there a sacred music composer—or are there several composers—whose work you find most captivating, either as a source of delight, or as direct inspirations and models for your own work?
It is true that as a source of musical delight, I continue to be captivated and transported by the sacred works of the great composers of our Art Music tradition: Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, etc., and their many brilliant successors up until the present. However, as I began to discover the Catholic Liturgy during my time living and working in Sweden (1983-1993), I realized that the great patrimony of Gregorian Chant and Byzantine Chant has a specific genius, distinct from (though related to) the glory of Art Music, for drawing us into the contemplative dimension of the Mass. Part of this genius is in its discreet, sacred character which while beautiful is always pointing away from itself to the Mystery.
In the West, from the Renaissance and onward, the culture became increasingly oriented toward the flourishing of human artistic capacities in secular venues. This new cultural movement was in itself a magnificent thing, strongly influenced by its Christian, Catholic roots, and capable of reflecting the glory of God. Nevertheless, the standard parameters of music composition made a significant shift away from their traditional orientation to the Liturgy, to a new orientation to the secular venues of the opera hall and concert stage. This secular cultural orientation has continued to our present day. Even though there have been many devout Christians and Catholics who have contributed their extraordinary talents to the service of the Liturgy, the standard formation for serious musicians – including these church musicians – has continued to be based upon the Art Music tradition. While such a formation is a good and praiseworthy thing, it is nevertheless distinct from a thoroughly liturgical formation.
By contrast, the great composers of Eastern Europe, while participating in the Art Music movement, tended to maintain a clearer distinction between sacred and secular composition. In this regard I find the liturgical works of Russian Orthodox composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Rachmaninoff to be particularly inspiring. Among the several brilliant Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic composers of our own day, I am particularly influenced by those who aim to maintain this “Little Way” of inspired simplicity. One of the greatest of these, in my view, is my friend Roman Hurko. He is a Ukrainian-Canadian composer living in New York; his Liturgy No. 3 (in English) is a magnificent example of the integration of artistry and spirituality in an authentically liturgical style.
But having said all of the above, my own musical identity is deeply rooted in the Roman Rite, and most especially in our patrimony of chant and polyphony. It has been both a duty and a delight for me to be immersed in both of these great forms, which provide an indispensable foundation for anyone who aspires to integrity in composing music for the Mass.
The Lord’s Prayer (from the Mass of St. Philip Neri)
If you were given an unlimited budget for musicians for a solemn pontifical Mass, what works would you put on the program?
An unlimited budget would not necessarily be a good thing, just as winning the Lottery has often been highly problematic for many people! St. John Vianney’s holy extravagance towards all that was related to the church building and the Liturgy is a radiant model for us; however, this prodigality was in the spirit of the poor widow giving her mite. He gave everything he had out of his poverty, rather than from a surplus of resources. And I am convinced that a vitally important dimension of our work is in recovering the sense of holy littleness that characterizes Our Lady’s Magnificat.
Having said this, I have actually been very blessed, through the generous support of others, to prepare a number of Liturgies in which we have been able to pursue such an “ideal” program. These have always included a combination of Gregorian chant, classic polyphony, and new works which are able to “harmonize” deeply with this chant and polyphony. We have also been able to sing the entire Mass, with Priest, Deacon, Cantor, Choir, and Congregation fulfilling their respective parts of the Ordinary and Propers. In February 2019 we recorded one of these Masses – a Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit – which can be viewed and listened to here:
Or for a one-minute taste:
The language of sacred music, as of Catholic worship in general, remains a controversial subject. What are your thoughts about the place of Latin in the liturgy?
Latin was and is the traditional liturgical language of our Roman Rite. As a healthy piety calls us to honor our liturgical patrimony, it also calls us to honor the language which is an integral dimension of this patrimony. Sadly, most Catholics have now been effectively cut off from this treasure, just as our Western culture has generally been cut off from its vital connection to its linguistic roots in Latin and Greek. This poses the question of how to move forward in a way that integrates piety, prudence, and charity.
In affirmation of the direction of Pope Benedict XVI in this regard, I would advocate an approach that facilitates a robust renewal of the study of Latin, and of its use in the Sacred Liturgy. And the resurgence of the TLM is a sign of such a renewal in those communities which have embraced this form. Beyond this, it seems evident that those who are charged with the formation of priests, deacons, and church musicians have a responsibility to provide them with a thorough immersion in our great Latin liturgical and sacred music traditions. And as they teach them how to do and sing them well, they also need to communicate the fire of love which is at the heart of these traditions.
Having said all this, it is also important to realize that Latin itself was once “secular” in relation to the Sacred Liturgy. It required a long period of holy adaptation, from its Aramaic and Greek precedents, so as to become the great liturgical language that it is. Furthermore, this same process of holy adaptation has taken place in many of the other Rites of the Catholic Church, producing other venerable sacred languages such as Coptic, Ge’ez, Armenian, and Church Slavonic.
The use of the vernacular in the Mass of Paul VI has often caused concern among those who would preserve the integrity of the Roman Liturgy, because of the extent to which it has been used as a tool of desacralization. On the other hand, the longstanding witness of the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches indicates that it is possible – however long and difficult the task may be – to adapt and sanctify our vernacular languages for their holy liturgical use.
As a musician, I am grateful to have participated in both of the above dimensions of liturgical renewal: singing, conducting, and composing for the Latin liturgy, but also working within the vernacular (primarily English, but also Spanish, French, and Swedish) to develop a holy repertoire that is worthy of our great heritage.
Lamb of God (from the Mass of St. Philip Neri)
In recent years many have been pointing out the strong generational dynamics in the Catholic Church: older people seem to want the popular or secular styles of art, while (at least some, generally the more serious) younger people are intrigued by traditional forms that have an archaic feel to them. Would you agree or disagree with that assessment?
I would phrase it a bit differently. From my own experience it does seem indeed that the “Vatican II generation,” those of us who are now in our 50’s and older, have often grown accustomed to the “new way” of celebrating the Mass, which has often been permeated by elements of desacralization, unsound teaching, and moral compromise. If this has been our steady liturgical diet, how could we avoid its having had a strong impact on our general approach to culture and art? Thankfully, there have been many notable exceptions to this generational tendency, who have faithfully pursued integrity in their approach to the Liturgy and culture.
Regarding younger people, we see a multitude who have abandoned the Faith altogether – and consequently, any sense of Christian culture – which in my mind is one of the most tragic, devastating effects of the disintegration of the Liturgy. For those who have returned or remained faithful, I do see a tremendous longing for integrity, for the robust pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty. This holy longing, and this pursuit, is manifested in a variety of ways. Many young people are indeed attracted to more traditional forms of the Liturgy and Art; others are more naturally attracted by opportunities to deepen their philosophical, theological, biblical, and spiritual formation. While none of the above are mutually exclusive, in practice one does see how different personalities and temperaments tend to be drawn to different expressions of the same fundamental aspiration.
If you have experience with the “traditionalist” movement, what are some strengths and weaknesses you see in it, particularly from a musical point of view?
The first great strength, as I see it, is the rediscovery and cultivation of our great liturgical and sacred music traditions. Secondly, for many people it has given a holy framework of Liturgy and life that has been a life-saver in the midst of a sea of irreverence, corruption, and secularization.
The weaknesses, in my opinion, are not inherent to these traditional forms, but rather the result of our human frailty – and as such they should be addressed and remedied as much as possible. I have observed at times a tendency toward formalism; by this I mean an emphasis on the external observance of the (necessary and holy) forms, without a corresponding emphasis on the spiritual, intellectual, and apostolic vitality of the faithful. In some notable cases, an apparent coldness and insularism among the traditionalist faithful has pushed away seekers who would otherwise be open to discovering the beauty of our sacred liturgical traditions.
Regarding the music of the TLM, I have witnessed some magnificent examples of integrity and artistry over the past ten years or so. However, I think we need a continued vigorous cultivation of both the artistic and spiritual dimensions of the music in the TLM. Without such efforts, the music can easily be “correct” but not particularly inspired or edifying. With such a movement, the singing can become more faithful to the Divine Love which is at its heart, and draw people more effectively to the Mystery which it is meant to serve.
What are you doing now in the realm of sacred music?
I am presently the director of the Magnificat Institute of Sacred Music, based in central Massachusetts, whose mission is to promote an authentic renewal of sacred music in the Roman Rite. This is a full-time job as well as a labor of love, for which I am profoundly grateful. My work consists in composing, conducting, recording, writing, teaching, consulting, and a variety of other related tasks.
What are some of your future plans as a composer? How can people get in touch with you?
Within the coming year I am planning, Deo volente, to publish and record several more of my completed compositions for the Liturgy. These include a Missa Parva (a setting of the Latin Ordinary), the Mass of St. Monica, various settings of Vespers and Compline, many settings of the Mass Propers, and music for numerous other sacred texts in both Latin and English.
Beyond all these, I am also well under way on a new Mass setting – Misa del Camino - that has been inspired by my son’s recent pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. I hope to be able to share more details about this within the coming months. And as if all of this were not enough, I am always open to requests and commissions for new compositions.
I would ask all of your readers to pray for me, and for the work of our Magnificat Institute. I can be reached through either one of our websites, magnificatinstitute.org or pauljernberg.com. And thank you so much, Peter, for this opportunity to participate in the ongoing conversation on NLM!
To listen to more of Paul’s wonderful music, visit his SoundCloud page.
I once saw a headline in the culture section of a British Sunday newspaper that ran, “Modern Music - It’s Not as Bad As It Sounds.” The point that the journalist was making was that once you understand the theories behind the use of dissonance, then you will recognize it’s goodness. The whole premise highlights for me one of the absurdities of many modern intellectuals’ approach to the culture: that it is something to be understood more than something to be appreciated or enjoyed. This puts the onus on the listener to be intelligent enough to appreciate what is good.
For the most part, the intellectuals in the modern conservatory have been so successful in pushing this line of argument that many people do in fact accept that they don’t like modern classical music because they don’t understand it, rather than because it really is every bit as bad as it sounds.
I have seen people in the Catholic world falling into the same line of argument in order to reinforce the value of traditional music too. They will argue, for example, that people ought to like Gregorian chant and polyphony, and justify this with a quotation from St Pius X’s Tra le sollecitudini:
Sacred music should consequently possess, in the highest degree, the qualities proper to the liturgy, in particular, sanctity and goodness of form, which will spontaneously produce the final quality of universality...These qualities are to be found, in the highest degree, in Gregorian Chant, which is, consequently the Chant proper to the Roman Church
The problem with this is that unless we can narrow down the musical criteria of what these terms actually mean, it simply becomes a matter of personal judgment as to whether or not a particular piece of music is authentically sacred, good in form and so universal.
You are then left with a choice: either you follow Pius X in a limited way and only allow ancient compositions of Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony for fear of getting it wrong; or you admit modern compositions in your Sunday repertoire and risk the music director arguing that in his opinion, the compositions in the common pew missalette possess these qualities. You and I might think this an absurd assertion, but if we can’t say why precisely in terms of musical structure, then it’s just a conflict of personal opinion.
Neither of these is choices is acceptable. Gregorian chant and polyphony will not connect with “the many” unless there are modern, noble and accessible compositions that they can connect with more easily. These modern compositions will then very likely act as doorways into the traditional canon, which will then be appreciated more deeply by more people. This is the pattern of all vibrant traditional cultures.
Paul is one of the few people who can explain in layman’s terms the essential musical characteristics of Gregorian chant in such a way that they can then be applied to other forms of music. Furthermore, he knows how to do it himself; he composes music that is not chant or polyphony, but it is nevertheless sacred.
The evidence that convinces me of this is not simply that I like his music and judge it to conform to these criteria (which I do), but also I have seen the effect that it has on ordinary congregations many times. People want to sing it and it leads them into a prayerful approach to the liturgy. Choirs that ordinarily sing chant and polyphony want to sing it too.
Here are a couple of examples:
First, I know of a traditionally inclined church in England that focussed almost exclusively on chant and polyphony for its repertoire. When I used to attend it, the pastor was so wary of modern compositions for the Mass that he forbade anything that postdates World War One. This same church now performs Jernberg’s Mass of St Philip Neri regularly - at one point it was doing it weekly at one of its Masses.
Second, we sing his Our Father in a group that regularly sings Vespers where I live, and those in attendance have learned the four-part harmonies and all sing the melody. This group includes all levels of musical ability. There are trained singers (one of whom sang in William Mahrt’s choir in Menlo Park), there are others who normally avoid singing in the congregational setting under any circumstance, and there are even small children. All sing heartily, but prayerfully. A three-year-old mimics her elders by insisting on holding a score and then sings as she hears it (including the phrase, “Halloween thy name”!)
Third, someone who heard his St Philip Neri Mass, which was composed for the vernacular, was so taken with the music that he commissioned a Mass for the Ordinary of the Latin Mass, which is about to be published. Paul’s podcast explores these issues surrounding the question: how can the music heard in the Catholic Church today be renewed so as to faithfully fulfill its traditional role – to proclaim the divine dignity of the Mass, and to draw people into its contemplative dimension of reverent adoration, transformation, and loving communion?
Composer Paul Jernberg recently completed a video production at the magnificent church of St John the Guardian of Our Lady in Clinton, Massachusetts, showing a fully sung Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit, celebrated in English by Fr Marc Crilly, OSB of the nearby St. Benedict Abbey in Still River.
The project, sponsored by the Magnificat Institute of Sacred Music, features Mass settings by Mr. Jernberg and works by Roman Hurko and Thomas Tallis. It aims to encourage pastors and church music directors with the beautiful possibilities of the sung Mass. A short preview video is available on-line, and the full video (an hour in length) is here.
I encourage all NLM readers to consider the sacred music workshops offered by the Magnificat Institute which are taking place June 24-19 in beautiful rural New Hampshire at the campus of Northeast Catholic College, in the town of Warner.
Headed by founder, the Catholic composer Paul Jernberg, the Magnificat Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to the renewal of sacred music in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. We aim to help parishes and communities of humble means, as well as those with an abundance of resources, to recover the dignity, depth, and grace that have characterized the great traditions of Catholic sacred music.
The workshop is for clergy and church musicians, as well as laity who wish to participate in the renewal of Sacred Music in the Catholic Church, and will be conducted by Mr Jernberg. He will present an overview of the newly-formed Magnificat’s program for formation in Catholic sacred music and its renewal today, as well as a wide-ranging repertoire which can be used in parishes, with a special focus on those with humble or modest resources. This repertoire includes new works by Mr Jernberg himself, as well as beautiful traditional chant and polyphony.
For those who wish to know more about the workshops and the Magnificat Institute, their website is here. I have been talking to Paul about his insights and practical ideas for saving sacred music in parishes in a series of podcasts at thewayofbeauty.org.
A CD of the Mass of St Philip Neri composed by Paul Jernberg is now available from www.pauljernberg.com. Paul is Composer in Residence and Choir Director at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts and Musical Director at St Lucy's and St Monica’s churches in Methuen, Massachusetts.
The whole Mass is sung - so the priest intones, and the choir responds on behalf of the congregation. The recording has been done by the Chicago-based Schola Cantorum of St. Peter the Apostle, under the direction of conductor J. Michael Thompson.
This has been released to rave reviews from his fellow musicians; see for example comments from musicians and bloggers, including our own Peter K at the Chant Cafe, here. Charles Culbreth, a nationally respected choir director and composer, who has been a regular contributor at Chant Cafe and an important voice over the years in the Church Music Association of America commented ‘With the consistency of his expertise with Byzantine homophony, combined with near perfection and sheer genius of the harmonic/melodic construct of Paul Jernberg’s setting, it cannot be just coincidence that Palestrina’s patron bears the dedication of this Mass.’
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