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Above: Benedict XIV presents his encyclical Ex Omnibus to the Comte de Stainville Étienne François, later the Duc de Choiseul.
350 years ago, on March 31, 1675, Bologna Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini was born in Bologna. He would later become Pope Benedict XIV, a figure whom Pope Pius XII described as “the greatest of his century, to whom the history of the Church will continue to assign a well-deserved place among the most distinguished Successors of Peter.”[1]
Lambertini was appointed Archbishop of Ancona in 1727, created cardinal in 1728, and became Archbishop of Bologna in 1731. After the death of Pope Clement XII, he was elected as the Roman Pontiff on August 17, 1740, concluding a protracted and challenging conclave that lasted six months.
Described in a brief portrait from 1743 as “wise, gentle, and fond of jest,”[2] Lambertini was a man of remarkable integrity, an eminent canonist, and a scholar of extraordinary erudition. His deep interest in Church history and liturgy shaped his teachings, which followed the reforms called for by the Council of Trent (1545-1563) and furthered the renewal efforts he had previously undertaken in the episcopal sees of Ancona and Bologna.
On February 19, 1749, Pope Benedict XIV issued the encyclicalAnnus qui, the first papal document specifically dedicated to sacred music. This encyclical, praised for its “great learning and abundance of proofs,”[3] urged bishops to firmly reject unauthorized and excessive elements that had intruded into sacred music. The document, addressed to the bishops of the Papal States, clearly stated its purpose in the subtitle: “On the upkeep and cleanliness of churches; on the rationale of the Divine Offices and the Music of the Church, in preparation for the upcoming Holy Year.”
In anticipation of the great “gatherings of foreign nations, even those located far,” expected in Rome to “obtain the spiritual fruits of the Holy Indulgences,” Benedict XIV emphasized the importance of maintaining the dignity and solemnity of church services, especially regarding sacred music. He aimed to ensure that the practices observed in the Papal States would serve as a source of edification rather than scandal.
Benedict XIV candidly admitted,
We would need expertise in the musical art, in which some of Our holy and distinguished Predecessors have been gifted, Gregory the Great, Leo II and Leo IX, and Victor III. However, as neither time nor occasion to learn this art by heart is afforded Us, we shall be content solely with indicating some, which we have gathered from the constitutions of Our Predecessors and writings of pious and learned men (Annus qui, n.7).
His lack of formal musical training did not hinder his precise and insightful critiques of sacred music, making him appear more as a scholar passionate about music than merely a legislating Pope.
In discussing polyphony during Mass or the Divine Office, Benedict XIV emphasized the necessity of including the Propers, integral parts of the sacred liturgy. He referenced a decree by his predecessor Innocent XII (1692), which prohibited
in detail the singing of whatever polyphony or motet; he allowed them only besides the chant of the Gloria and the Credo in the solemn celebrations of the Holy Mass, so that the Introit, Gradual, and Offertory may be thusly sung; but during Vespers, without the slightest change made as well, the Antiphons, which are sung at the beginning of whatever Psalm, and at its end (Annus qui, n.8).
The encyclical also noted the problematic trend of theatrical-style music in divine worship, which often shifted listeners’ focus from the spiritual content to the aesthetic aspects of melody, rhythm, and vocal quality. Benedict XIV firmly opposed this trend, stating that such music was “entirely contrary to ecclesiastic chant” (Annus qui, n. 9). Sacred music, he asserted, should always serve a spiritual and theological purpose rather than an aesthetic one.
Benedict XIV’s primary concern regarding sacred polyphony was the clarity and comprehensibility of the liturgical text set to music: “care is first taken so that the words be perfectly and plainly understood” (Annus qui, n. 9). This principle was later echoed in the 1961 Graduale Romanum, or Roman Gradual (an official liturgical book containing chants for use at Mass): “Primo igitur curandum est ut verba quæ cantantur plane perfecteque intelligantur” (p. XIV).
The encyclical further addresses the issue of the use of instruments “which can be permitted in churches” (Annus qui, n. 11), a matter the Pope considered crucial for distinguishing sacred music from theatrical music. Following his usual method, the Pope cites various authoritative opinions, particularly that of the First Provincial Council of Milan, presided over by St. Charles Borromeo, which allowed only the use of the organ, excluding all other instruments.
Subsequently, Pope Lambertini establishes that permitted instruments should be used only to support the human voice. In this context, the Pope’s words become particularly emphatic:
But if the instruments continuously sound, and only sometimes, as nowadays is usually done, quiet down for a few moments, that they may offer a free space for the hearing of polyphonic modulations and pleated volleys of voices, commonly known as trills; [and if] in other respects, they overpower and overwhelm the voice of the cantors and the sound of the words, [then] the use of such instruments is in vain and useless, nay, forbidden and interdicted (Annus qui, n. 12).
In this regard, the Pope refers to abuses already noted in the Decretal Docta Sanctorum, issued in 1324 by Pope John XXII.
In concluding his prescriptions, Benedict XIV addressed the use of “orchestras”: “they can be tolerated in places where their use is already established, as long as they be grave, and they do not, with their complexity and length, cause weariness and squeamishness upon those who assist in choir or serve at the altar during Vespers or Mass” (Annus qui, n. 13). However, he prohibited figurative singing in the lamentations of Holy Week.
We pay homage to this great Pope, legislator, and jurist, whose profound legacy has left an indelible mark on the history of music.
[1] Pius XII, Commemorative Speech prepared on the occasion of a solemn commemoration of Pope Benedict XIV, August 19, 1958; our translation.
[2] G. Casanova, Storia della mia vita, Vol. 2, Milan 1924, p. 54; our translation.
[3] Pius XII, Musicæ Sacræ disciplina, n. 18.