Roman Catholic Service Music Since Vatican Ii

Roman Catholic liturgy, like that of many of the more liturgical churches, features texts that are sung in each liturgy or service. These are called the ordinary texts. Often these texts are sung. Settings of these texts, and other frequently used texts, are called service music or liturgical music. This music is part of the liturgy itself, not something that interrupts or is added to the liturgy. Since the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, Catholic churches have had more freedom in choosing service music. This has resulted in vast numbers of new compositions, many of which are valuable for churches in many worship traditions. The repertoire and use of ritual music within the English-speaking Roman Catholic church today cannot be fully understood without understanding that, since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the mid 1960s (when liturgy moved from Latin to the vernacular), there has been no "official" national hymnal for the United States churches. This is a u…