"Solemn liturgy"
  • Joseph Mansfield
    Posts: 113
    "112. The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy."

    I would like to ask for a serious discussion of the phrase "solemn liturgy", as it is used in the quoted passage. Is all liturgy solemn, so that all liturgy requires music? Or is there a "non-solemn" liturgy which might be celebrated with no music at all? I am asking for a legalistic approach, not one based on what one likes or feels. This question has been on my mind for some years and I do not recall ever seeing a discussion of precisely this question.
  • Ioannes Andreades
    Posts: 311
    Can't have a legalistic opinion without the Latin:
    Musica traditio Ecclesiae universae thesaurum constituit pretii inaestimabilis, inter ceteras artis expressiones excellentem, eo praesertim quod ut cantus sacer qui verbis inhaeret necessariam vel integralem liturgiae sollemnis partem efficit.

    As a result of this query, I'm just now noticing that the word sollemnis and related words are spelled differently throughout Sacrosanctum Concilium.
    Solemn- appears in chapters 35, 66, 95, and 102.
    Sollemn- appears in chapters 100, 112, 113
    Am wondeing whether this is simply a fluke without any additional meaning or shows the different spellings used by the working groups that put the document together. If the latter, am not sure what else could be done with such information. It should usually be spelled with two ll's.
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