Mass (music) - Musical Reforms of Pius X

Musical Reforms of Pius X

Pope St. Pius X initiated many regulations reforming the liturgical music of the Mass in the early 20th century. He felt that some of the Masses composed by the famous post-Renaissance composers were too long and often more appropriate for a theatrical rather than a church setting. He advocated primarily Gregorian plainchant and polyphony. He was primarily influenced by the work of the Abbey of Solesmes. Some of the rules he put forth include the following:

• That any Mass be composed in an integrated fashion, not by assembling different compositions for different parts
• That all percussive instruments should be forbidden
• That ideally the choir should be all male
• That the congregation itself should ideally be trained to sing the various modes of Gregorian chant along with the choir.

These regulations carry little if any weight today, especially after the changes of the Second Vatican Council. Quite recently, Pope Benedict XVI has encouraged a return to chant as the primary music of the liturgy, as this is explicitly mentioned in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, specifically Sacrosanctum Concilium 116.