Insights and Hope for Sacred Music and the Church

The online Catholic news portal Aleteia has published a three-part series of interviews with alumnus Dr. Peter Kwasniewski (’94) about one of his great loves and areas of expertise: sacred music.

In the interviews, Dr. Kwasniewski — a professor of theology and philosophy, an instructor of music, and the choirmaster at Wyoming Catholic College, as well as a professional composer and cantor — discusses why there is always a need for new sacred creations and why such works must always be grounded in the tradition of the Church. “Every generation should have something beautiful that it can add to the treasury, because every generation wants to make an offering to God,” he says, yet “whatever is ‘modern’ in the piece should not overshadow the whole character of it so that it seems only modern and cut off from the past. … If you’re a composer, you try to learn from the great composers; you don’t ignore them and think you can do better than they have done.”

He also speaks about the role of his alma mater in his musical career:

“When I arrived at Thomas Aquinas College, I had the good fortune to be asked by the main choir director, who lived quite a distance from the college, to be the assistant choir director. I started leading choir practices and even leading the choir at Mass on Sundays. It was a kind of total immersion experience, like being thrown into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim very well. But the four years in college of working intensively with the choir really fired my imagination.”

The interview is broken into three parts: Part I examines Dr. Kwasniewski’s work as a church musician; Part II explains the Church’s teaching on sacred music; and Part III explores practical ways that the faithful can introduce sacred music into their parish. Many of Dr. Kwasniewski’s musical composition are available in his recently published collection, Sacred Choral Works, and some can be heard via his YouTube channel.

“Music is the most obvious element of the liturgy, even if it’s not the most important. It’s the thing that hits you most, affects you most immediately. If it’s wrong, the whole experience is wrong, and the meaning of the event will be compromised, too — maybe even corrupted,” Dr. Kwasniewski observes. “But if it’s right, it gives glory to God and assists in the sanctification of the faithful. What a noble ministry, what an immense responsibility!”