I would start with the most local recent documents, especially the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. For example, #53 (emphasis mine):

The Gloria is intoned by the priest or, if appropriate, by a cantor or by the choir; but it is sung either by everyone together, or by the people alternately with the choir, or by the choir alone.

There are similar instructions for the Creed, etc.

If the Liturgy IS NOT PRIMARILY about the people, then it doesn't matter whether they sing or how much. So, do some choral music.

If the Liturgy IS PRIMARILY about the people, then the people deserve to get to relax and listen to some lovely music that puts them in the right mood and so forth. So, do some choral music.

Of course, that all makes sense to us musicians. But the committee is lead by an ordained minister of the Church. I know that they are not all the same, some are incredible leaders and inspiring preachers, and also acknowledge the place of appropriate music. But it sounds like you're having to work with a priest whose motto is the respond to the Lords' Prayer:
"For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever." You're a lay person - it's a losing battle.

People have a right to attend a Mass without music.

Since when?

It's called low mass.

One of my favorite memories was hearing Segovia live. I love the guitar and its music, it is truly one of my favorite instruments. I failed to study it only because I was unable to maintain the right hand fingernails.

I should have typed:

Since the guitar strum pattern boom-chicka-boom was invented.

This is the term the guitarists I worked with last year used to describe their default pattern which they were truly unable to break away from. They looked upon it as a sort of thing of honor that they were indelibly associated with.

And there are organists that play the same way, I know.

I began to type on another thread about guitar and deleted it today (I find myself doing that more and more) and wanted to say that I think that you, Charles, SHOULD write guitar accompaniments for chant BUT you also need to record them and score them so that guitarists can play them as you hear them in your head. Continuo is beautiful which is why I took up the cello. I would enjoy doing a baroque work with guitar in place of harpsichord or organ. But they would need to play the style.

PEOPLE should not be subjected to bad music poorly played on guitar, organ, piano, accordion.

NOR THIS:



NOR THIS:

And this: Book

That's a hoot! I was there in the audience. The guitarist to Dr. Shoske's right (mostly hidden behind a cellist) is my boss, Stephen Toombs.

I was wondering if we were treading on your turf, Jeffrey. I used to have an office on Magnolia, but spent most of my time in the snack shop out back at the pinball machine...and the french restaurant was always fun.

This may be more magisterial than usual, because it's the Pope teaching the meaning of a Vatican II document.

Greeting of the Holy Father at the blessing of the new organ at Regensburg's Alte Kapelle:

"Gregorian chant and classic choral polyphony were integrated into the liturgy. The attention given to liturgical sacred music in the “Old Chapel” was so significant that it reached far beyond the confines of the region, making Regensburg a centre for the reform of sacred music, and its influence has continued to the present time.

In the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium), it is emphasized that the “combination of sacred music and words … forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy” (No. 112). This means that music and song are more than an embellishment (perhaps even unnecessary) of worship; they are themselves part of the liturgical action. Solemn sacred music, with choir, organ, orchestra and the singing of the people, is not therefore a kind of addition that frames the liturgy and makes it more pleasing, but an important means of active participation in worship.

...Psalm 150, which we have just heard and interiorly followed, speaks of trumpets and flutes, of harps and zithers, cymbals and drums; all these musical instruments are called to contribute to the praise of the triune God. In an organ, the many pipes and voices must form a unity. If here or there something becomes blocked, if one pipe is out of tune, this may at first be perceptible only to a trained ear. But if more pipes are out of tune, dissonance ensues and the result is unbearable. Also, the pipes of this organ are exposed to variations of temperature and subject to wear. Now, this is an image of our community in the Church. Just as in an organ an expert hand must constantly bring disharmony back to consonance, so we in the Church, in the variety of our gifts and charisms, always need to find anew, through our communion in faith, harmony in the praise of God and in fraternal love. The more we allow ourselves, through the liturgy, to be transformed in Christ, the more we will be capable of transforming the world, radiating Christ’s goodness, his mercy and his love for others."

Pope B's Address at the conclusion of a concert of songs, July 2007:

"Learning to sing, in choral singing, is not only an exercise of physical hearing and of the voice; it is also an education in inner hearing, the hearing of the heart, an exercise and an education in living and in peace. Singing, whether in unison, in a choir and in all the choirs together, demands attention to the other, attention to the composer, attention to the conductor, attention to this whole that we call music and culture.

Hence, singing in a choir is an education in life, an education in peace, it is 'walking together', as His Excellency said in reference to the Diocesan Synod."

May 2008 General Audience talk on St. Romanus the Melodist, who sang his homilies: "This great poet and composer reminds us of the whole treasure of Christian culture, born of faith, born of the heart that has encountered Christ, the Son of God. Culture, the whole of our great Christian culture, is born from this contact of the heart with the Truth who is Love. Nor, if faith stays alive, will this cultural inheritance die; rather, it will remain alive and present. To this day, images still speak to the hearts of believers, they are not relics of the past. Cathedrals are not mediaeval monuments but rather houses of life in which we feel "at home" and where we meet God and one another. Nor is great music - Gregorian chant, Bach or Mozart - something of the past; rather, it lives on in the vitality of the liturgy and in our faith. If faith is alive, Christian culture can never become "obsolete" but on the contrary will remain alive and present. And if faith is alive, today too we can respond to the imperative that is ceaselessly repeated in the Psalms: "O Sing to the Lord a new song" (Ps 98[97]: 1). Creativity, innovation, a new song, a new culture and the presence of the entire cultural heritage are not mutually exclusive but form one reality: they are the presence of God's beauty and the joy of being his children."

Also not binding, but important:

"Introductory Rites Unite Priest and Congregation", a 2010 document by the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff explaining Latin Rite introductory rites:

"On a Sunday, feast or special occasion, the priest then intones the Gloria, the song of the angels, which is taken up by those present or sung by the choir which represents the faithful."

Alternately, you could always take Father at his word, and point out that obviously all congregations should be taught to sing four-part harmony, Gregorian chant, sightsinging, antiphonal singing of the psalms, and all the great traditional hymns of the Church, from "Alma Redemptoris Mater" to "Virgo Virginum Praeclara". But I don't advise that! :)

... but don't forget the things where our current Pope eloquently pointed out that our choirs symbolize the always-present-at-Mass choirs of angels.

Do the "always-present-at-Mass choirs of angels" sing the Mass of Glory with us, when such a setting is chosen to be done?

Hmmm, I wonder if they'd "belt" and use finger snaps, too, then.

Fantastic quotes there, Maureen… thank you!