Sacred Music
Dr. Monica Anderson, chair
Dr. Vincent Rone, director
Mission
The Sacred Music department of Franciscan University exists to train future church musicians to realize the definition and purpose of sacred music according to the Roman Catholic Church. Musicam Sacram: The Instruction on Music in the Liturgy defines sacred music as “that which, being created for the celebration of divine worship, is endowed with a certain holy sincerity of form”.
Moreover, Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sancrosanctum Concilium states that sacred music surpasses merely religious music when it is joined to the liturgical rite to become “a necessary and integral part of the solemn liturgy,” whose purpose is “the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful”. To that end, students acquire the skills to learn, plan, perform, and direct the Church’s 1500-year patrimony of sacred music.
The program in sacred music prepares students for careers as church musicians and performers, as well as for graduate-level study in music. Upon their successful audition, students will major in either an organ or a voice concentration. In either performance track, students will take the following courses of study:
- Weekly, private instruction on their major instrument
- Two years of private instruction on a secondary instrument, either organ or voice
- Academic training in
- Ear Training
- Music Theory and Analysis
- Music History
- Repertoire Survey courses
- Sacred-music, performance-based coursework
- Gregorian Chant
- Colloquium
- Choral conducting
- Junior and Senior recital
- Participation in the Schola Cantorum Franciscana and/or Women's Choir.
Please see an extended version of the Franciscan University Sacred Music Mission and Vision.
Assessment Learning Goals
- To attain a professional level of ability in performance
- To attain a professional level of ability participating in and leading ensembles
- To attain a working knowledge of the Liturgy and its music
- To gain competency for graduate study in or to teach music history
- To gain competency for graduate study in or to teach music theory
Sacred Music Course Descriptions