Catholic Music… What Would That Be?

This question was asked on FishEaters Forum.

Gregorian chant only? Would classical pieces count, like Ode To Joy (Beethoven wasn't Catholic, sooo... ?), or Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart? Could a song be written and performed in a more contemporary style that you would consider Catholic?

It was answered, in detail, by a Fishie who obviously knows far more about music than the average man! Here is his answer: 

"Catholic" music can be distinguished in several ways: 1) liturgical music, and 2) religious music. 

Liturgical music is firstly music integral to the liturgical action, namely, the chanting of the propers and ordinary. These were absolutely necessary in the TLM in order to have any sung Mass or more solemn form. In the Novus Ordo, the singing of the propers and ordinary are entirely optional since the distinctions between solemn and spoken Masses was destroyed. Instead, the principle of "progressive solemnity" was introduced, which actually renders music superfluous to the Mass.

The purpose of liturgical music is one with the liturgy itself, i.e., the glory of God and the sanctification/edification of the faithful. Because it is art, and because it developed together with the Roman Rite, there is a degree of "arbitrariness" insofar as it is the Church who determines what is proper music for her liturgy. She codifies these in her rubrics and liturgical documentation. This can theoretically change (and in fact, has), but if one respects the integrity of the history of the Roman Rite and its nature, one will see how clear the following hierarchy is:

• The highest form of liturgical music in the Roman Rite (since there are different types of liturgical music proper to each rite in the Church) is Gregorian chant.
• Secondly, there is polyphony in the classic "Roman style," exemplified by Palestrina. Johann Fux codified the principles of Palestrina's counterpoint in his famous textbook, Gradus ad Parnassum, and this book is still used in teaching traditional counterpoint today.
• Thirdly, there is organ music (and within limits, some other instrumental music), which strictly speaking is superfluous to the liturgical action since it has no words. It can nevertheless be liturgical music insofar as it accompanies and adorns the liturgical actions with splendor or supports true liturgical music, such as the chant. But even with instrumental music, it must follow the principles of true liturgical music as St. Pius X lays out below.

St. Pius X laid out the philosophical principles that guide the fittingness of liturgical music for the Roman Rite in three qualities: 

1) holiness: i.e. excludes any savor of profanity or secularism both in itself and in its manner of execution; the closer a musical composition resembles chant, the more it possesses innately the quality of holiness;

2) beauty/true art: it must be music of the highest quality, conforming to the principles of the traditional Western canon of music composition, which were still standardly taught until about the 1940s;

and 3) universality: i.e. even if a piece is composed in a local/native style, it must be adapted sufficiently to the above principles so that it can be used universally without overwhelming by its idiosyncratic/local qualities.

Later Church documentation changes how it characterizes liturgical music as whatever accompanies the liturgical action or, as in the USCCB document "Sing to the Lord," any music that satisfies the threefold qualities of being liturgical, pastoral, and musical. While at first glance these other definitions seem to complement what St. Pius X lays out, upon closer examination one will easily see that they are entirely insufficient and actually can be used to smuggle in any form of music as long as it meets the subjective criteria of "liturgical, pastoral, musical" or "accompanying" etc. Which in fact is how they have been used. In these later characterizations, Gregorian chant no longer is the exemplar and music proper to the Roman Rite, the music that developed together with the rite as an integral part. Rather, any music that "satisfies" these "judgments" (as Sing to the Lord calls them, which again reveals their subjectivity rather than objectivity) is appropriate for the Roman Rite. These are literally modernist intrusions into the Roman Rite—subjective considerations placed above the objective for evaluating a "religious experience." 

Religious music is any music that deals openly or by association with religious/sacred themes and topics. If there are words, these could be motets or pieces with religious themes. If there are no words, then anything that connotes religious/sacred topics would also count as religious music.

Some religious music also is fitting for liturgical use, but not all. This could be because of the style of composition, the treatment of the religious themes, the length, the manner of execution, the language used (Latin, vernacular), the popular connotations of the music, etc. Hence, for example, even though a song like Leonard Cohen's "Halleluja" may deal with "religious themes" in the lowest-common-denominator sense of that phrase, because it is associated in the popular mind as a secular piece and is written in a common, secular pop style, it is entirely unfitting for liturgical use. On the other hand, something like Beethoven's Missa Solemnis would also not be fitting for almost every liturgy because it would too easily overwhelm the liturgical action and in fact make the liturgy secondary to the music, as if one were listening to a concert, whereas, as the Church teaches, the music must be the handmaiden of the liturgy.

Lastly, we could speak of all music being "Catholic" music in the broadest metaphysical sense, that is, being a creature, it is nevertheless sustained by the power and goodness of God and insofar as it reflects some beauty, it is a reflection of God's attributes. However, even here, we should be careful to distinguish. Even within creation, we have sin, which is not of God, but being evil, is a privation and a perversion of goodness. So too there is plenty of music that is evil, either directly in its words, its style of composition, its performance, or its cultural associations. Music that praises Satan, for example, is positively evil.

While one can distinguish between the lyrics of a song and the instrumental accompaniment, this distinction can go only so far since the accompaniment is at the service of the lyrics and is therefore associated with it. In the philosophy of art, we consider a work of art to be an integral whole according to the mind of the artist; hence the music and lyrics go together just as, for example, with a chair, there is the form (chair-ness) and matter (wood, metal, plastic, etc.). Yes, we can distinguish matter and form, but considered in itself, the created thing is an integral whole and in moral considerations should firstly be analyzed from that perspective.

My commentary on your specific questions in the OP:

Beethoven Symphony 9 is not "Catholic" in any meaningful sense except the metaphysical sense I spoke of above, nor religious in the Catholic sense but neo-pagan insofar as it is a paean to Enlightenment humanism. This is why even today the European Union can make the "Ode to Joy" its official anthem, and no one would bat an eye. Nevertheless, it is one of the greatest works in the Western canon. The reason being that its form is intrinsically beautiful, exemplifies a perfection of the symphonic form that only a genius can bring, and lays a foundation for all following music, much in the same way as Bach was the capstone of the Baroque and foundation for all tonal music after him.

Mozart's Ave Verum was written as a liturgical piece and is one of the most beautiful and fitting pieces for the Roman liturgy from the polyphonic corpus. It is one of his last works and is an example of his mature mastery of counterpoint and a respectful treatment of the liturgical spirit. Not only does it embody the main qualities of the Classical era, but it also respects the text itself, for example emphasizing the accents of the words within the musical accents.