To the editor:
I wanted to take a brief opportunity to respond to two recent letters (both November 1, 2012), by Mr. Paul Krogman and Mr. Bill Wambach. As I read them, I was saddened because they both seem to have been offended by the articles of Mr. Nico Fassino and Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo regarding liturgical music.
To the editor:
Thank you for publishing Nico Fassino’s article in a recent edition of the Madison Catholic Herald, and also the excellent articles on the authentic role and scope of sacred music by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. In the other letters to the editor that I have recently read, I have seen many fallacies and inconsistencies relating to the role of music in the liturgy in regard to our role in the liturgy that I feel I must address.
The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, makes clear in §116 that Gregorian chant is the primary form of music for the Mass, having first place among liturgical music, alongside the great repository of sacred polyphony.
To the editor:
Since you permitted Nico Fassino to use your pages of October 12 for a Guest Column titled: “Why I hate bad Church music,” I hope you will allow me to express my opinion, honed over 87 years.
Nico expresses HIS personal opinion that: “The value of proper liturgical music has nothing to do with . . . what your personal opinions are about music.” Is he saying “his” is more important than others? Or, does his personal opinion ALSO have nothing to do with the value of liturgical music?
To the editor:
Since you permitted Nico Fassino to use your pages of October 12 for a Guest Column titled: “Why I hate bad Church music,” I hope you will allow me to express my opinion, honed over 87 years.
Nico expresses HIS personal opinion that: “The value of proper liturgical music has nothing to do with . . . what your personal opinions are about music.” Is he saying “his” is more important than others? Or, does his personal opinion ALSO have nothing to do with the value of liturgical music?
To the editor:
On October 18, Adam Lewandowski responded to the column on sacred music by Sr. Joan Roccasalvo, C.S.J., invoking the image from chapter 6 of 2 Samuel of King David dancing “with abandon” before the Ark of the Covenant as it was being moved.
To the editor:
In the article “Rebuilding Catholic Culture,” Sr. Joan Roccasalvo, C.S.J., argues that much contemporary liturgical music is of lower quality than traditional forms and has a destructive effect on the human spirit. Her complaints against the contemporary liturgical songs are that they are “trite,” “romanticized,” or having “jerky, heavy, frenzied rhythms or dance rhythms.”
