Repertoire 7: Singing in Harmony with the Angels
Adoration of the Magi (detail), 1488 Tempera on wood, Spedale degli Innocenti, Florence
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
(Luke 2:13-14)
In our journey through all the sung parts of the Mass, we now come to the Gloria in excelsis Deo – “Glory to God in the highest” - which in our Roman Rite is heard in every Sunday Mass outside of Advent and Lent. In the Byzantine Rite, this same text is sung in the Orthros (Matins) service on Sundays and feast days. The opening words of this hymn are those of the “multitude of the heavenly host” (= angels), as they respond to another angel's “tidings of great joy” at the birth of Christ, witnessed by the shepherds tending their flocks outside of Bethlehem. Based on this angelic message, a longer hymn was composed in Greek, sometime in the early centuries of Church history. While we do not know the name of the author of this extended Greek text, its translation into Latin - which has been the standard for its use in the Roman Rite – has been traditionally attributed to St. Hilary of Poitiers (c. 300 – 368 A.D.)
It is of interest to note that neither in the Greek New Testament or in the Hebrew Old Testament is the word for “singing” used to describe the way in which angels praise God. However, such words are used by the early Church Fathers, and in the sacred liturgical traditions of both East and West. St. John Chrysostom (c. 347 – 407), for example, says:
Above, the hosts of angels sing praise; below, men form choirs in the churches and imitate them by singing the same doxology. Above, the seraphim cry out in the thrice holy hymn; below, the human throng sends up the same cry. The inhabitants of heaven and earth are brought together in a common assembly; there is one thanksgiving, one shout of delight, one joyful chorus. [i]
and
Just think with whom you are standing, with whom you will invoke God: in the company of the Cherubim! Consider those who form this choir with you, and to make you vigilant, it will suffice for you to remember that, though clothed with a body and tied to the flesh, you have nevertheless been judged worthy to celebrate together with the bodiless host the common Master of all. [ii]
In the Liturgy of St. Mark – the Eucharistic Liturgy of the Coptic and Ge'ez Rites of Africa, the priest says the following words before the Sanctus is sung:
Round You stand ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of holy angels and hosts of archangels; and Your two most honored creatures, the many-eyed cherubim and the six-winged seraphim. With two they cover their faces, and with two they cover their feet, and with two they fly; and they cry one to another for ever with the voice of praise, and glorify You, O Lord, singing aloud the triumphal and thrice-holy hymn to Your great glory...
In the Maronite Liturgy, the following hymn is sung during Communion:
The host of angels have come to stand with us at the holy altar. They sing in chorus and carry Christ, the Lamb, sacrificed before us...
And in the Roman Rite we hear, for example, in the Preface for the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael:
Through him [Christ] the multitude of Angels extols your majesty, and we are united with them in exultant adoration, as with one voice of praise we acclaim...
How do we reconcile this apparent discrepancy between Scripture and Tradition, as to how the angels communicate their praise of God? One might first note that words such as “saying” and “crying out” are general terms, which can denote either musical or non-musical expression. Before the Lord's Prayer, although the priest says/chants “we dare to say” (in Latin, dicere), the subsequent prayer has been sung in the solemn celebration of the Mass throughout the centuries.
But there is a deeper reason which unifies the words of Scripture and Tradition in regard to the way in which the angels praise God. In fact, as they worship in their non-corporeal nature, they obviously do not have human vocal cords with which to express their praise. But they do have their own glorious spiritual way of praising God that is analogous to our singing, and thus can be denoted as such for lack of a more precise term. And just as angels throughout history have often appeared to people in human form, it seems reasonable to assume that they also have the capacity to “translate” their pure spiritual praise into music of great beauty which can thus be apprehended by human beings.
Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven (detail), Fra Angelico
There is, however, a problem when it comes to applying all of this to our singing “with one voice of praise” with the angels in the Liturgy. For while there is an abundance of testimony in the Bible, Sacred Tradition, and Church history (including in our own lifetimes) regarding the reality of the angels and their presence in human affairs, most people do not seem to have a direct sensible experience of these beings in their day-to-day lives. If angels do exist and act as recounted by the Scriptures and Tradition (as we believe) , they nevertheless have the habit of hiding themselves from our normal human powers of perception. How then can we possibly sing “in harmony” with them, if we cannot easily see or hear them?
We do so by attentively orienting our hearts, minds, and voices to the same point of reference as they do, in the love and reverent adoration of God. Being aware of the majestic splendor, purity, intelligence, power, etc. of the angels helps us to be aware that the God whom we are worshiping together is not only immensely “great and good” (as the holy angels are), but as their Author is also “far above” such created greatness and goodness: He is infinite Goodness, Power, Wisdom, Beauty, and Love. We must keep a keen sense of this fundamental reality, and the healthy “fear of God” which it must inspire, even as we are called to reconciliation and friendship with this infinitely good God through Christ. As the above-mentioned Preface also proclaims:
For the honor we pay the angelic creatures in whom you delight redounds to your own surpassing glory, and by their great dignity and splendor you show how infinitely great you are, to be exalted above all things, through Christ our Lord.
To worship God in harmony with the angels, therefore, does not require some kind of esoteric knowledge on the one hand, or an imaginative representation of how angels might sound (such as might be appropriately used in operatic or film music), on the other. Rather, we are called to humbly, peacefully, and diligently use the gifts which we have been given, which thus become our own uniquely beautiful contribution to the great unified choir of angels and men. These gifts have three essential dimensions for all church musicians who would seek integrity in their stewardship of the Church's liturgical music:
Wisdom – in understanding the principles of our sacred music traditions, so as to choose repertoire and approach challenges according to these principles;
Artistry – in developing and employing, to the best of our ability, the vocal and musical skills which are vital components to the dignity of our sung praise; and
Spirituality – in fostering a reverent, prayerful, faith-filled, fervent approach, which constantly looks to the Holy Spirit for power and guidance.
These three dimensions correspond to the great commandment to love God with all of our heart (spirituality), soul / strength (artistry,) and mind (wisdom.) And in those instances when they are diligently cultivated and bear fruit in beautiful sacred music, it is not unusual to hear the comment that the choral singing has been experienced as “angelic”! Is this not because in devoting ourselves to be good stewards of our sacred liturgical music, through the grace of God, we are able to unify and harmonize our voices with all of creation, including the angels, in their glorious worship of the Divine Majesty?
There are many more aspects that we could explore about the angels and their role in our life and worship, based on the Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. But for now we must return to the practical question of how to choose appropriate settings of the Gloria in the celebration of our own parish or community Masses. Let's review some of the fundamental principles that apply to all the sung parts of the Mass, and then return to specific possibilities for the Glory to God:
The text must be the actual sacred text of the Mass, rather than someone's creative interpretation of this text.
The human voice must be the dominant instrument, as the essence of sacred liturgical music is in its clothing of the sacred text. The organ and other appropriate musical instruments can be used when needed as a discreet support, but never in a dominant role.
The character of the music must be clearly sacred: consonant with our living traditions of chant and polyphony, whether the music be new or old.
The level of difficulty of the music must be well within the capacities of those who are to sing it, including the cantor, choir, and congregation as they sing their respective parts in alternation.
The music must have the capacity to resonate in the “ordinary” people of good will who hear it, drawing them into the reverent worship of God. This should never mean “dumbing down”, but it does mean that we rise to the challenge of integrating holiness, beauty, and a noble “accessibility” in our choice of liturgical music.
The various sung parts of the Mass must flow from one to the other in a unified whole (rather being a string of disconnected parts,) so that the faithful can fully enter into the spiritual depths of the Liturgy.
It is often not easy to fully integrate all of these principles at the same time - but this is the task which we can and must pursue, with confidence in the grace of God who calls and empowers us to be faithful stewards.
While not necessarily being feasible in many parish Liturgies, it is important that church musicians be aware of (and find the opportunity to sing, if at all possible) some of the most prominent repertoire of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony for the various parts of the Mass. This is our patrimony, and without a solid foundation in this repertoire, how can one hope to be a worthy contributor to its continued cultivation and growth? Wherever possible, it is also important that those cathedrals, parishes, and communities who are able to do so, provide regular Liturgies in which our sacred music patrimony is presented with the artistry and spirituality which belong to its nature. How else can the clear authoritative call of the Church – that “the treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care”[iii] - be accomplished?
For the Gloria, there are nineteen traditional chant settings found in the Graduale Romanum (Gregorian Missal.) Two of the most widely sung among these are from the Missa de Angelis (no. VIII) and the Missa Orbis Factor (no. XI.) And there are an abundance of polyphonic settings of the Mass Ordinary, each with its uniquely beautiful and worthy Gloria. Great composers such as Josquin des Prez, Palestrina, Victoria, Byrd, Tallis, and many others have contributed prolifically to this virtually inexhaustible treasure. A list of the most prominent among these would be too long to include here, but a few worthy starting points might be Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli and Missa Brevis, as well as Byrd's Mass for Five Voices.
While the preservation and cultivation of this heritage of chant and polyphony is a great need as well as a mandate from the Church, it is most often the case that ordinary Catholics have become almost completely alienated from this heritage. Such sacred music, and the Latin texts to which it has been united, have effectively become foreign entities to most of the faithful, understood and appreciated only with difficulty. Thus, when they are used in the celebration of the Mass, it is essential that they be done well, and with proper catechesis and translations, so as to facilitate the discovery by many of their beautiful musical and spiritual content.
But would this be an appropriate goal for most parishes to pursue at every Mass? Most likely not: not only because it usually takes much time to learn foreign “languages”, both verbal and musical, but also because the Church has in fact asked its musicians to develop new musical forms which meet our contemporary needs, as “a new part in the musical heritage of the Church, not unworthy of its past.”[iv] This is a formidable task for composers and church musicians, which demands great humility as well as untiring diligence. While it would be presumptuous of anyone to claim to have attained to the artistic and spiritual heights of our 2,000 year old sacred music patrimony, at the same time we are impelled by the love of God and neighbor to aim for these heights to the best of our abilities, with confidence in God's gracious help.
Which brings us back to our step-by-step journey through our Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit, in which we sing the Glory to God from the Mass of St. Philip Neri. This is one of many settings which are the fruit of my own efforts to fulfill the above call. Here is the link to the YouTube recording of this piece, and the choral score is also copied below. I again invite you to join us in learning and singing this setting! Over the past ten years it has been warmly received in our own parish and in many other parishes throughout the U.S. and abroad – especially in those who have earnestly desired to foster the kind of holy integration between the old and new of which we have been speaking.
And so whether it be in preserving our great patrimony or in cultivating new works to the greater glory of God, let's keep asking the holy angels to help us in the quest to be faithful stewards. And let's keep pursuing this quest, and singing the Liturgy, in a way that will truly harmonize with their glorious angelic praise!
[One last note: both the Full Score and CD Recording of this Mass setting - “The Fire of Your Love” - are now available for purchase on our website, here.]
[i] Homilia I in Oziam seu de Seraphinis I; PG vi, 97. Translation in James McKinnon, “Music in Early Christian Literature”; Cambridge Readings in the Literature of Music (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1989), 89.
[ii] “Sur l'incomprehensibilite de Dieu”, T. 1 (2nd ed., SC 28bis: Paris, 1970), introduction by J. Danielou, critical text and notes by A. M. Malingrey, translation by R. Flaceliere. Quoted in Pott, Thomas, Byzantine Liturgical Reform, A Study of Liturgical Change in the Byzantine Tradition (SVS Press, Crestwood, NY, 2010), 93.
[iii] Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 114
[iv] Instruction on Music in the Liturgy, Musicam Sacram, art. 59.