Uploaded on: 06/24/2007
Ethnic music enhances connection to universal church
By Erica Hartmann
The Catholic Spirit
Ethnic music can sound unusual to American Catholic ears familiar with traditional Latin hymns, psalms and chants. But when ethnic music is incorporated into the Catholic liturgy with care and authenticity, it can enhance communal worship and remind American Catholics of their connection to the universal church.
Ethnic music also can invigorate personal spirituality, said David Barkhymer, liturgical music director at St. John Neumann in Eagan and an ethnomusicology student at the University of Minnesota.
“Just as a sung Ave Maria, a Gregorian chant, or a praise and worship song . . . can help someone to a deeper spirituality, so can ethnic music,” Barkhymer said. “Ethnic music is just another tool that we can use to lead people.”
African drum beats, Spanish instrumentation, Asian tonalities and other ethnic influences have crept into the American Catholic liturgy since Vatican II, when the church allowed ethnic music — the traditional music of a people — to supplement traditional liturgical music.
Michael Silhavy, associate director of the archdiocesan worship center, said the integration of ethnic music has been a conscious focus for Catholic liturgical directors since the 1980s.
Hymnals such as “Gather” illustrate the integration of ethnic music. The first “Gather” hymnal, published in 1988, contained no foreign-language hymns, aside from a few traditional and Taizé Latin texts. By 1994, the “Gather” hymnal included three dozen foreign-language pieces and two dozen foreign melodies with English text, in addition to the hymnal’s Latin texts.
Today, ethnic refrains like the South African, “Hallelujah! We Sing Your Praises,” and “We Are Marching in the Light of God,” are familiar to many American Catholics.
Although ethnic music has become an increasingly prominent part of the Catholic liturgy, it still receives mixed reviews from many American Catholics. Barkhymer said he has heard a wide range of responses to the ethnic music used at St. John Neumann.
“I’ve had people say that they would rather not sing in any language, including Latin, other than English,” Barkhymer said. “On the other hand . . . some parishioners have told me that they are proud we reach out to others through music and see it as a way to live out the Gospel.”
In some cases, parishioners disapprove of ethnic music because they do not understand why it is being used, Silhavy said.
Although liturgical directors use ethnic music for many reasons, Silhavy listed four common ones:
- Ethnic music calls Catholics to a greater awareness of the universal church. Barkhymer said ethnic music can help parishes become what Archbishop Harry Flynn championed in his pastoral letter on racism: “intercultural communities where people of different cultures become part of one community in which all are transformed in Christ.”
- Ethnic music acknowledges minority groups within parish communities and welcomes minority individuals into parish communities. Often, ethnic music is able to accommodate parishioners and welcome outsiders simultaneously.
- Ethnic music provides musical variety. “Ethnic music should be used in the liturgy simply because it’s one more spice we can put in the pot,” Silhavy said. “We are simply using one more color in the tapestry, one more flavor.”
- Ethnic music can fill gaps in the English liturgical repertoire. “There may be a perfect song in Spanish or some other language that fits the liturgy so well that there’s just not an English equivalent to it,” Silhavy said.
Although the ethnic music can be an invaluable addition to liturgy, the incorporation of ethnic music is not always easy.
“It’s very difficult to perform the music of a specific people without having any knowledge or experience in the culture,” Barkhymer said.
Asian and Indian music use scales and tones totally foreign to Western ears and require instruments not normally found in the parish choir loft. Often, English lyrics do not fit into ethnic melodies and authentic rhythms are lost in translation.
In addition, music directors have to distinguish between “honest and authentic ethnic music” created by ethnic composers, and music that adopts generic rhythms and lyrics in an attempt to simulate ethnicity.
Anne Attea, archdiocesan director for Hispanic ministry, said the successful integration of ethnic music into the liturgy depends on education and communication.
“I can’t just pull out something that’s popular in Vietnamese culture and then sit down and play it,” Attea said, “because that’s tokenism in its most blatant form. There’s a little bit of education and study that needs to go on.”
Liturgical music directors interested in using ethnic music authentically should talk to local ethnic musicians to learn about their culture and the nuances in their culture’s music, Attea said. Directors should also consult the people in their parish they hope to serve through the use of ethnic music.
“We have to be very open to just learning from the natives as it were about their style and give them a chance to teach us,” Attea said. “It’s recognition of the gifts that people bring to the community.”
Barkhymer agreed.
“It is important to realize that in worshiping together, every cultural group must sacrifice something. It isn’t easy and mistakes are made, but relationships will also be developed and all groups will become enriched.”