A celebrated Italian Catholic composer and conductor is dismayed with what he considers the “very strong decline of the standard of sacred music” in recent decades. 

Aurelio Porfiri’s When the Harps Went Still: The Tragic Decline of Catholic Sacred Music chronicles the history of how this music “once the cornerstone of Catholic worship, has been diminished in modern liturgical practice,” and wants to effectuate a revitalization.

The 56-year-old co-wrote the book with Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan, and Italian academic Guido Milanese. 

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During an interview with The Catholic Register, Porfiri critiqued the “ideology” adopted by parishes that choirs should exclusively sing songs that will encourage congregational participation. 

“I’m not against the participation of the people,” said Porfiri, who has had more than 200 of his musical compositions published in Italy, China, the United States, Germany and France. “I want the people to sing, but this kind of ‘everyone sings everything’ (thinking) is not in the tradition of the Church and is not in the documents of Vatican II.”

Porfiri elucidated his viewpoint by suggesting Catholics are deprived when they are not exposed to the talents of artists skilled at tackling the soaring melodies of Gregorian chant or the elaborate, interweaving harmonies of Renaissance polyphony. 

“The music is a kind of double-edged sword — a double power,” explained Porfiri. “Music that is appropriate can help us to elevate ourselves and make us closer to the divine, but the not appropriate music can (cause) the opposite effect. So that really is a kind of miseducation to the beauty of liturgy, to the beauty of sacred music and to the beauty of the tradition that we inherit from our ancestors.”

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The author of more than 60 books, Porfiri has espoused his love for sacred music using many mediums. He has also passed down his passion as an educator, most notably as director of musical and choral activities at Our Lady of Fatima Girls’ School and Santa Rosa de Lima English Secondary School in Macau, China, from 2009 to 2015. 

Porfiri hails the history of sacred music “as 20 centuries of triumphs and failings,” and said Catholics should be proud of that history. 

“What we can say about the historical element is that we as Catholics have to be very proud because the music of the Church is at the foundation of all the history of Western music,” said Porfiri. “All the things that we like (at) concerts, symphonies, sonatas, concertos or whatever you want to call it, opera, all of this develop from sacred music, develop from our tradition.”

Education is one of the keys to reviving the tradition, said Porfiri. Though aware there are specialized choir schools already engaging in this work, he would like to see churches and Catholic schools en masse collaborating to start treble choirs for children. 

Porfiri said that another necessary step to spark a revival is to “give trust and support to competent musicians.”

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“They can help the congregation to participate not only in singing but also in listening because we have to remember that there are two kinds of participation,” said Porfiri. “The more important is internal because internal is what goes in our soul. I think that is very important that Church leaders understand that if you want a good music program you have to invite competent people to be in charge of this program. I can say in many countries — in Italy, in the United States, in Canada — many competent musicians want also to be supported.”

To learn more about When the Harps Went Still: The Tragic Decline of Catholic Sacred Music, visit sophiainstitute.com.