The Choral Vespers worship service presented by the Cathedral Schola Choir has become a longstanding Lenten tradition in Macau and this year will be no exception. The Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady hosts this Saturday “a sung meditation on the Lord’s Passion”. The one-of-a-kind worship service starts at 7pm.
Alberico Vitalini is a musician whose artistry was embedded in his faith. The effect being that he not only produced wonderful liturgical music, he also represented his Catholicism with graciousness that belied the notion of the unpredictable artist.
Music is the way we speak to God and the way He speaks to us. We should not waste this privileged way of getting in touch with Him. Sacred music becomes incessant prayer that borders, in the most fortunate cases, with mysticism, with the deepest form of elevation to God. It may happen that while listening to a motet by Victoria you feel plunged into something in which you seem to get lost. This is because, going back to Augustine again, to fill ourselves with what we are empty of, we must empty ourselves of what we are full of.
In recent decades, the use of the term “sacred music” to denote the music that is used for the liturgy has often been contested, preferring terms such as ritual, liturgical music and so on. Certainly, for some the term “sacred music” meant the monumentalization of certain repertoires as untouchable or intangible, not as models as they should be.