Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast
Summary: You’ve got questions about sacred music? Here’s your chance to learn what the Church teaches and envisions for music in the sacred liturgy. Welcome to Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast with your hosts Peter Carter and Dr. Jennifer Donelson. We address topics of interest both to priests and liturgical musicians, as well as a general audience of Catholics interested in learning more about the Catholic Church’s teachings and treasury of sacred music. Our topics range from discussion of Church documents on sacred music, to the music of certain composers or eras, Gregorian chant, the role of music in Catholic education, and techniques for directing a better choir rehearsal. We’ll interview bishops, priests, music directors, composers, teachers, philosophers, and theologians. We’ll talk to people who found a home in the Catholic Church because they heard the call of Christ in the Church’s sacred music. We’ll ask questions about how really great music programs are doing their work. We’ll introduce you to Catholics who love their faith and, through sacred music, offer all their efforts for his glory and the sanctification of all who hear them. We aim for our podcast to be thoughtful, encouraging, and informative. We hope, too, that it will inspire and motivate you to work for the renewal of authentic beauty in sacred music—whether you’re a working church musician or an average Catholic in the pews wondering what’s going on. With the prayers of our patronesses, Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom and Saint Elisabeth of the Trinity, we hope to help draw souls to Christ through the beauty of the Church’s sacred music.
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What are the top five things that people don't understand when it comes to sacred music? In this first part of a two-part episode, we take time to give a substantive response to what many Catholics might not know or don't get right about music for the sacred liturgy. We look at liturgical and philosophical principles that have been fleshed out through the centuries as the Church has guided musicians in building up the treasury of sacred music, and spend some time on insights from Church documents.
On this episode, we discuss matters of liturgical formation, both for musicians, as well as for those we serve. Dom Alcuin Reid is the founding Prior of the Monastère Saint-Benoît in the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France, and a liturgical scholar of international renown. His principle work, The Organic Development of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 2005) carries a preface by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
Are you looking for an authentically Catholic curriculum and method for teaching music to children? Something that's practical, fun, and helps children to grow in love of the Church's sacred music? This bonus episode looks at the history of the development of the Ward method, its underlying educational principles, its place in Catholic education, and the experience both of those who learn to teach with the method, as well as that of children who learn music using the method.
Franz Liszt, haunted by the spectre of God's grace, was never able to fully shake off his Catholic faith. Our guest, Dr. Jay Hershberger, the president of the American Liszt Society, shares with us a Catholic portrait of the pianist and composer's life, highlighting his story of conversion, his later years in fervent practice of his faith, his compositions about various Catholic topics and music for the liturgy, and even about his non-musical writings about the theological issues of the day.
An opinion piece published in the New York Times on May 8, 2020, entitled “Christianity Gets Weird,” highlights for readers the attraction of beauty and mystery for the young, and how that attraction leads to an embrace of the Faith, even in spite of (perhaps because of!) the countercultural nature of it all. This interview with Fr. Gaurav Shroff, a priest of the archdiocese of Atlanta, is likewise a testament to the power of beauty, mystery, and sacred music to attract.
We feature a conversation with Dr. Timothy McDonnell of Catholic University in America looking at the near-term future of music making in the Church. Our conversation presents music directors with ideas that they can implement to improve their skills in conducting, vocal pedagogy, and ear training now, and what the current situation means for the future of our parish music programs and profession. We offer ideas that you might implement in pared-down music programs under phased restrictions.
We set the stage for a deeper understanding of the principles in Pope Pius X's 1903 motu proprio Tra le Sollecitudini by taking a look at the musical scene in which the motu proprio appeared and the evolution of the document. Our guest is Dr. Susan Treacy, a convert to the Catholic faith, and musicologist who has inspired many Catholic university students to love the Church's treasury of sacred music through her years teaching at Franciscan University of Steubenville and Ave Maria University.
How did medieval monks create illuminated manuscripts? What's behind the symbolism in all their visual elements? Why were they an important part of the monk's life and work? What do they have to do with my prayer life and understanding of sacred music now? Mrs. Elizabeth Lemme of Pelican Printery House shares with us a little bit about her own growth in faith through this artistic medium, as well as her expertise in all their details.
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a Catholic musician under the reigns of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I? Are you interested in learning more about what makes Tudor era polyphony tick, or how Byrd's music evolved throughout his life? Take a deep dive on the music and life of composer William Byrd with our guest, renowned expert on these topics, Dr. Kerry McCarthy.
We welcome an inspiring and wise guest on the show to talk about the perception of beauty, the effect of beauty on the soul, and how to form oneself and children in beauty. Dr. Alice von Hildebrand focuses on what she believes are the key virtues for every person: reverence and humility. Tune in to hear her words of encouragement for musicians and parents. To read the article we mention in the episode, "Wrong Approaches to Art," visit: www.alicevonhildebrand.org/wrong-approaches-to-art.
Join us for an update on the current situation with the organs at Notre Dame in Paris, following the April 15, 2019 fire. Our guest is the fantastic titular organist of Notre Dame, Olivier Latry, who gives us an assessment of the damage and what to look for in the road ahead. He also discusses the development of the instrument and its role in the sacred liturgy and the development of organ repertoire.
Dr. Nathan Knutson, the Director of Sacred Music at St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia, joins us for this episode on the Church's esteem for the pipe organ. We cover the history of the organ in the Roman rite, the basics of its construction, and the theology of its inclusion into a religion which takes the voice as its first instrument. And if you're an organist thinking about how to explain your role to parishioners, we hope you'll find something helpful here, too.
We're learning about one of this podcast's patronesses in this episode - St. Élisabeth of the Trinity, who described herself as "laudem gloriæ," the "praise of glory." Discover why St. Élisabeth is an excellent spiritual model for musicians, and get to know her as a spiritual friend eager to help in all your life's struggles. Our guest is an expert on St. Élisabeth, Dr. Anthony Lilles.
We're taking a look at the Catholic way of reading, understanding, and praying the book of Psalms. Our guest is Dom Benedict Andersen, who is a Benedictine priest-monk and founding member of Silverstream Priory, in Stamullen, County Meath, Ireland. He is currently preparing for doctoral studies in the area of patristics. His passions include typography, the psalms, and well-behaved pit bulls. To donate to Silverstream Priory's project of building an oratory, click here: https://www.cenacleosb.org/help.
James Monti is an author in the fields of Catholic liturgy and hagiography. His books include A Sense of the Sacred: Roman Catholic Worship in the Middle Ages, The King’s Good Servant but God’s First: The Life and Writings of St. Thomas More, The Week of Salvation: History and Traditions of Holy Week, and In The Presence of Our Lord: The History, Theology, and Psychology of Eucharistic Devotion, the latter co-authored with Father Benedict J. Groeschel, CFR.
