Bravo! Blessed John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music

Very good news from the Birmingham Oratory webiste:

Archbishop Longley seems to understand the importance of Church Music

"The first task of the new Institute of Liturgical Music will be to introduce the singing of the texts of the new ICEL translation of the Missal, and of the Graduale Parvum, in both Latin and English, to clergy and laity alike, as part of the general renewal of liturgy which is the major desideratum of the inauguration of the new English translation of the Missal. The Institute will be launched at the Birmingham Oratory by Archbishop Longley of Birmingham on Saturday September 17th, the first anniversary of Cardinal Newman's beatification. The principal event of the launch will be the 11 a.m. Mass, which has become the weekly Pilgrimage Mass to the Shrine and Church of Blessed John Henry Newman since his beatification. This Mass, celebrated by the Archbishop, will also provide a showcase for the Graduale Parvum.

Sessions of the Institute will take place, at least during the first year of its life, either as day-courses held for laity on Saturdays, or as evening classes for the clergy, at the Oratory in Birmingham. It is hoped that as the Institute develops, it will become possible to extend the courses to residential weeks at other locations and study days for those who live too far to reach Birmingham for a day. However, during the first term leading towards Advent and the inauguration of the new ICEL translation of the Missal, courses will be taught in the performance of the chants of the new missal and of the Graduale Parvum in Latin and English, so that clergy, cantors, choirs and congregations may all be able to sing those parts of the Mass contained in the Missal and the Gradual.

The work of the Institute will be directed not only towards the needs of clergy and laity alike, but also to all persons, skilled or unskilled, according to their needs and capacities, who are interested in learning about sacred liturgical music, from a practical and historical point of view. The principal aim of the Institute is in any case the enhancement of the Liturgy in English Parish Churches on Sundays and holydays. Therefore, although the Institute will not be restricted to dealing only with the Ordinary form of the Roman Rite, this will be the principal focus of its work, since it is intended to address the needs of the average parish. There will of course be some guidance on singing the Extraordinary Form of Mass for those who wish it, though since there are several fora designed to assist those who sing the Extraordinary Form already in existence, the Institute will concentrate its efforts mainly on that Form of the Mass which most people are likely to experience in their own churches."