Course Goals and Objectives
Course Goals
This course is designed with two goals in mind:
- first, to offer an experience of and appreciation for the contributions of Catholic Church music to western culture;
- second, to offer an understanding
- of some of the issues surrounding major changes in the music of the Catholic Church,
- of the major changes in Catholic Church ritual as they relate the the Church's music,
- of the basic rudiments of chant as the music of the Catholic Church,
- of the principal characteristics of music from the major artistic periods of development of the Church's music.
To achieve these goals, there are four principal (required) objectives and four secondary (optional) objectives. These objectives are listed below, with each objective followed by the number(s) of the assignment(s) that fulfill(s) that goal:
Required Objectives
(Note: Not every assignment listed under each of the required goals will have to be completed. You will have options. The assignments listed are simply all those that fulfill a particular objective. See the Assignments link for more details.)
- Demonstrate a familiarity with issues
surrounding major changes in the music of the Catholic Church, such
as, the use of the vernacular,
use of popular music styles, and the role of music in faith
formation (in both historical periods and the present).
- Assignments: 1, 11, 16, 17.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the major
changes in the Church’s ritual (from Tridentine to Novus Ordo)
particularly as they relate to the music of the Church.
- Assignments: 1, 8, 10, 13, 18.
- Show a basic understanding of the rudiments of
chant as the music of the Catholic Church (i.e. characteristics and
history) (Not necessarily
the ability to read the music.)
- Assignments: 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.
- Demonstrate the ability to articulate some of
the principal characteristics of music from the major artistic
periods of development of the Church’s music.
- Assignments: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17.
Optional Objectives
- Demonstrate the ability to read
- Assignments: 19.
- Demonstrate an ability to sing selected chants
of the
- Assignments: 8.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the Liturgical
Calendar and the ability to select music for the Catholic Mass based
on the Proper of the Mass for particular days of the year.
- Assignments: 14, 18.
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of the
structure of modes and modal melodies.
- Assignments: 12.