Forum on Music and Christian Scholarship

The Liturgical Function of Gregorian Meditation Chants
William Mahrt , Stanford University

The proper chants for the Mass can be classified as processional or meditational. The former are antiphonal chants, neumatic in style (introit and communion); the latter are responsorial chants (gradual, alleluia) or direct psalmody (tract), both melismatic in style. Offertories participate in come of the characteristics of each type. The liturgical function of processional chants is quite clear—to accompany a procession with a rhythm that projects a sense of purposeful motion and solemnity. The function of meditational chants, however, is not so clear; they are most often grouped together without exploring their significant differences. Such a differentiation between gradual, alleluia, and tract also invites comparison with the meditational chants of the Divine Office, the prolix responsories of Matins.

This paper considers the liturgical position and function of the four genres of meditation chants, gradual, alleluia, tract, and prolix responsory, in relation to their musical style. Musical distinctions can be drawn between the styles of the four genres with regard to the extent of melismatic activity and the placement of long melismas, especially on concluding unaccented syllables. On the basis of this analysis, distinctions in liturgical function can be inferred and related to the overall structure of the Mass and of Matins in the case of the responsories. While the chants of the Mass contribute a considerable dynamic quality, even a crescendo of musical activity, to the structure of the liturgy of the Word, the responsories of Matins, while they show a closer link with the lessons they accompany and emphasize their sacred character, do not contribute much to the overall shape of the service.

“Lifting Up to the Throne of Grace”: The Phenomenology of the Church Organist’s Performance as Worship
Vivia Kieswetter, York University

Utilizing primary fieldwork interviews, this research examines “performance as worship” experiences among church organists. Dealing particularly with improvising musicians in a liturgical setting, individual experiences of performing are investigated. It is a phenomenological exploration of the church musician experience, and, to my knowledge, the first work of its kind. The interviews explore issues of musical identity, authenticity in musical performance, music as a means to establish community, and music as a way of both expressing and evoking emotion. All subjects were drawn from liturgy-based Protestant North American congregations. Drawing heavily from the research of psychologist Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, it examines the act of music as worship as a possible gateway to the “flow” experience: which is indicated by a dissolution of clock time and a falling away of the ego. Efforts are made to draw conclusions between this mental state and the “god experience” as described in current neuro-psychology literature.