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Contents:
DDD 74:54 Recorded: St Jude’s, Hampstead, London 2–4 April 2003 Musicae traditio Ecclesiae universae thesaurum constituit pretii inaestimabilis, inter ceteras artis expressiones excellentem". (The Church's musical tradition represents an invaluable treasure, which excels amongst all artistic expressions). Thus begins the chapter about sacred music in the Liturgical Constitution of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), which, later, adds: Thesaurus musicae sacrae suma cura servetur et foveatur. (Let the treasure of sacred music be preserved and promoted with utmost care). The changes introduced by the Council into the rites of the Catholic Church - the replacement of Latin with the vernacular in the liturgy being just one of the most spectacular - caused a controversy between musicians, who feared for the legacy of more than a millennium of sacred music, and those who wanted to introduce a populist feel into the liturgy and get rid of "archaic" forms. In Spain, during the 20th century, the figure of the professional church composer (attached to a music chapel and frequently acting as teacher, organist and singer) gradually disappeared. Subsequently every personal effort to write quality sacred music was an islet in the ocean of amateur or, even worse, canned music. Although looted and set ablaze by Napoleon's troops, the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat in Catalonia had been a haven of religious creation and performance since the 11th century. Many composers conceived music for Montserrat: cellist Pau Casals (1876-1973), Frederic Mompou (1893-1987) and Joaquin Homs (1906), three of an illustrious string of 20th century Catalans, notably including Xavier Montsalvatge (1912-2002). In his encyclical letter of 1903, Motu Proprio, Pope Pius X had re-established the importance of sacred music and liturgical chant, which in Spain gave rise to three consecutive congresses on religious music (1907,1912 and 1928). The first was promoted by Nemesio Otaño (1880-1956), a Basque Jesuit and organist at the Basilica of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Other notable Basque composers were Capuchin José Gonzalo Zulaica y Arregui, better known as José Antonio Donostia (1886-1956), an important folklorist and musicologist, and organist Jesús Guridi (1886-1961), a creator of Basque opera and zarzuela. The importance of the organ in sacred music would later be reinforced by the Second Vatican Council in its Liturgical Constitutional: "In the Latin Church, let the pipe organ -a traditional musical instrument- be held in great esteem, for its sounds can add a notable splendour to the ecclesiastical ceremonies and lift in a powerful way the souls towards God and the celestial things". Between the last Spanish congress of 1928 and the Second Vatican Council of 1962, the Civil War of 1936-39 would change forever the lives of all Spaniards and their descendants. It cut off, in its prime, the life of the Generación del 27. Young composers such as Fernando Remacha (1898-1984), from Navarra, and the brothers Rodolfo (1900-1987) and Ernesto Halffter (1905-1989) from Madrid had difficulty pursuing their careers. Just as Luis de Góngoras’ classical verses had inspired writers like Federico García Lorca, these composers found inspiration in Manuel de Falla, with Ernesto Halffter completing Falla’s posthumous masterpiece, the oratorio Atlántida. Nobody had an easy professional life: some chose silence, some exile. Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999), from Valencia, had left Spain in 1927 to further his music studies and returned in 1939. By seeking inspiration further afield, another group of composers, the Generación del 51, sought to breathe new life into classical music that had, until then, been rooted in popular Spanish themes. Of this generation, the madrileño Cristóbal Halffter (1930), nephew of Ernesto and Rodolfo, and Antón García Abril (1933), from Aragón, formed in Madrid in 1958 the short-lived "Grupo Nueva Música". Younger Spanish composers like the self-taught Basque Javier Busto (1949) and, César Cano (1960) of Valencia continue in this spirit. Due to the Civil War, many Spanish composers sought refuge in Latin America (Falla, Casals, Julian Bautista, Rodolfo Halffter and Aldolfo Salazar amongst others), whilst some Latin American artists found temporary exile for social, cultural or political reasons in the U.S.A. For example, in 1944 Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) embarked on his first American tour as a conductor. One year later, the Argentine Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983) left for New York having been removed by Perón's government from his official teaching position. Whilst there he wrote his Lamentations of Prophet Jeremiah, a true symbol of the Zeitgeist of a century which has ended with as many musical and social uncertainties as those with which it began. During its last decades, a new and unexpected spiritual search has generated some truly popular phenomena, reflected in millions of sales, such as the "mystic minimalism" of Pärt and Tavener and - who could have predicted it - the revival of plainsong. What will the 21st century bring?
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