Excerpt from
Liturgy and Music
Lifetime Learning
Robin A. Leaver and Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S., Editors
© The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced by any means, without the written permission of The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321.

Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction by Robin A. Leaver and Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S.
Part 1: Worship/Liturgy
What is Liturgical Worship? by Mary M. Schaefer
The Liturgical Year by Thomas J. Talley
Liturgical Assembly: Who Is the Subject of Liturgy? by Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S.
Putting Heart into Liturgy by William Cieslak, O.F.M. Cap.
Symbolic Actions in Christian Worship by Patrick Byrne
Ritual: Straight Jacket or Dancing Shoes? by Joseph J. Fortuna
Must Eucharist Do Everything? by John F. Baldovin, S.J.
Theology, Styles, and Structure of the Liturgy of the Hours by Austin H. Fleming
Homily as Proclamation by Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S.
General Intercessions by Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S.
Liturgical Spirituality: Living What We Sing About by James Dallen
Liturgy and Worship: A Select Pastoral Bibliography by Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S.

Part 2: Liturgical Music
What Is Liturgical Music? by Robin A. Leaver
Liturgical Music as Music: The Contribution of the Human Sciences by J. Michael Joncas
Liturgical Music: Its Forms and Functions by Raymond F. Glover
Liturgical Music as Liturgy by William T. Flynn
Liturgical Music as Prayer by Kathleen Harmon, S.N.D. de N.
Liturgical Music as Corporate Song 1: Hymnody in Reformation Churches by Robin A. Leaver
Liturgical Music as Corporate Song 2: Problems of Hymnody in Catholic Worship by Frank C. Quinn, O.P.
Liturgical Music as Corporate Song 3: Opportunities for Hymnody in Catholic Worship by Michael James Molloy
Liturgical Music as Homily and Hermeneutic by Robin A. Leaver
Liturgical Music, Culturally Tuned by Mark P. Bangert
Liturgical Musical Formationby Don E. Saliers
Liturgical Music as Anamnesis by Robin A. Leaver
Liturgical Music: A Bibliographic Essay by Edward Foley, Capuchin
Contributors
Acknowledgments
Earlier versions of chapters 3–4, 6–9, 11, 18–19, and 25 appeared in liturgical ministry, a thematic quarterly also published by The Liturgical Press.

Introduction
Psalm 147 proclaims “How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting” (v. 1, NRSV). This is only one of over a score of psalms that explicitly connect singing with praising God. If liturgy is to praise God, then surely music amplifies that praise and, indeed, connects us with that whole heavenly choir constantly offering hymns of praise to God. As that golden-tongued preacher John Chrysostom said so long ago: “Above, the hosts of angels sing praise; below, men [sic] form choirs in the churches and imitate them by singing the same doxology.... The inhabitants of heaven and earth are brought together in a common solemn assembly; there is one thanksgiving, one shout of delight, one joyful chorus.”1 What marvelous affirmation of the use of music during worship! What encouraging endorsement of those dedicated to church music ministry!

That music is an essential element of worship is predicated by its inexorable presence—in the religious practices of antiquity to the present, cutting across all cultures. Even those persuasions that cultivate a kind of quietism in their worship still “sing praise” to God in their very silence, attesting to the many contours music can take. Speaking with one voice together as assembly soon takes on a cadence and tonality that reminds us more of singing than speaking. The rhythms of processions and the fluidity of gestures are embodied expressions of the heart’s song. Everything about worship elevates us to a realm where full-throated praise is the only fitting utterance. But beyond these very important, broader considerations of music and worship loom the more narrow genre of liturgical music as such. Hymns, service music, preludes and postludes, devotional music, and various forms of chant all find their place in worship, and these are the focus of this volume.

The title Liturgy and Music delimits the subject, structure, and intended primary audience of this volume. The contributors all come from Christian mainline, sacramental denominations. Although some of the theory and principles addressed may well apply to non-Christian religions or non-sacramental Christian ones—and, hence, make the volume useful to a wider audience—the discussion is intentionally more restricted. This choice allowed the contributors to be more focused, more nuanced, and more specific in the development of their chapters. Although the primary audience is professional liturgical musicians or those preparing to be so, nonetheless pastors, liturgy planners, liturgy committee members, professional liturgists, and anyone who takes their worship seriously would all benefit from perusing these chapters. The preference for “liturgy” rather than “worship” in the title underscores the ritualized, sacramental nature of the worship we are exploring.

The book is divided into two parts with the individual chapters in the two parts roughly paralleling each other. Part 1, as the title indicates, offers a basic introductory knowledge of various issues in liturgy. Part 2 is a solid introduction to the scope and role of liturgical music and musicians in Christian sacramental denominations. Each part concludes with a bibliographic chapter (the reader should, however, also take note of the bibliographical citations, either in the text and/or notes, in other chapters since not all the bibliographic sources are repeated in the summary bibliographies). By this means we hope to underscore the intent of the subtitle, that coming to an appreciation and understanding of musical liturgy is a lifetime learning process, both for those professionally responsible for the planning and execution of music during liturgy and for all members of the liturgical assembly. Each chapter can be studied or read on its own, independent of the others. There has been no attempt by the editors to smooth out denominational references and differences in practices. One of the blessings of ecumenical dialogue has been that we have emphasized the convergences rather than the divergences, and have come to appreciate the fact that we can all learn much from each other and from the differing ways of interpreting and implementing liturgical tradition. This is perhaps one of the most unique contributions of the volume.

The reader will notice that many of the contributors draw on references from Sacrosanctum Concilium, “The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,” from the Second Vatican Council. This was a Roman Catholic Church Council and, therefore, its proceedings reflect this tradition; nevertheless, Sacrosanctum Concilium has served as a blueprint and impetus for liturgical renewal among virtually all Christian sacramental denominations. So much so, that we can rightfully say Sacrosanctum Concilium has become, truly, an ecumenical document. If the reader has not studied this document, we strongly urge her or him to do so and believe that this would be time well spent. Some of these chapters (especially in the first part on foundations of liturgy) originally appeared in liturgical ministry, a thematic quarterly periodical published by The Liturgical Press. This volume grew out of the desire of the editors to make more readily accessible the theology and pastoral applications contained in those original articles. Drawing together this foundational material and paralleling it in the musical domain also guided the development of the second part, most of which is newly written material for this volume. This points to another unique feature of this work: Liturgy and music are not presented as two domains isolated from each other but rather are interpreted from the premise that foundational issues in liturgy have their interrelated counterpart (and counterpoint) in music. So much so, that we can rightfully say we have musical liturgy rather than music during liturgy. In practice, approaching liturgy as musical liturgy encourages liturgical music ministers to take their legitimate place alongside and be as important as all the other liturgical ministers. It dispels any notion of a hot summer’s Sunday liturgy being “quiet and barebones, let’s finish and beat the heat” (with the implication that the whole choir doesn’t go on vacation during the summer months). It means that the choir, organist, cantor, and other musicians are not there to entertain, but to help lead the liturgical prayer. Musical liturgy uniquely highlights not only the importance of the use of music at worship, but also the intimate bond between making music and praying.

Our desire is to offer a comprehensive theological approach to liturgical music. Obviously, not every topic important for the practicing liturgical musician is covered. For example, anyone working professionally with a worship community today must be knowledgable about and sensitive to the inclusive language issue. Another example: it is assumed that the liturgical musician is competent musically, so no issues regarding building musical skills are included. The bibliographic chapters suggest readings in some of these other areas, knowledge of which is essential to good ministry and good music practice.

We are excited in that we believe this volume breaks new ground for both a theology of liturgy and a theology of liturgical music. It is a lifetime learning process continually to discover new ways that musical liturgy can raise us up to encounter our God in praise and thanksgiving. We editors will be grateful if this volume leads liturgical music professionals and others to a more full-throated expression of their worship of God. We editors will be humbled if this volume leads those whose ministry is music—together with those to whom they minister—to sing with the psalmist:
My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and make melody.
Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among
the nations. (Ps 57:7-9)