Threshold - Fall 2003

Make Music Unto the Lord
Joachim Holthaus, OSB

Historically, Benedictine monasteries have been communities of song. The primary purpose of a monastic community, of course, is to seek God in prayer, meditation, lectio and the praise of God. Every form of worship makes use of community singing, precisely because it is the expression of a community with a common goal.
Traditionally, monastics praise God by singing the psalms. The first sisters in Atchison devoted themselves to the Divine Office. Although a shortened form was used for a time, they eventually returned to the full form. They procured the prayer books; the study of Latin and the history of the Office, reading of the liturgical directives for the day and chant rehearsals were all part of their daily schedule.
The early efforts of the Mount community in establishing a firm foundation in the study of and “performing” the Divine Office would bring it to even greater degrees of achievement by the time membership reached its highest numbers in the 1950s. It was then that Father Anselm Llewellyn brought his expertise in the Solesmes method of chant, which was to leave its mark on the choirs, the scholas (smaller choirs which sing special parts or choral pieces), and the sisters who taught and directed the music.

Because the sisters all gathered at the Mount in the summer, the entire community received musical training in the liturgies, and sang the chant together. During the Korean War, the community prayed for peace by singing a Gregorian Mass daily. The intention was admirable and had wonderful consequences. The singing underwent colossal improvement. In August, when the missionaries left for the 75 schooIs they staffed, much of that spirit and beauty were disseminated to the youth of the Midwest.

Beauty has always been a factor in the lives of the Atchison Benedictines and having a college music department on campus was a great advantage. Each summer music lessons were available, not just piano, organ and voice, but a nuns’ orchestra and a chorus. For a monastic community with schools and parishes to staff, preparing liturgical musicians meant teaching basic skills in keyboard scales, simple theory, dynamics, expression and interpretation. These basics help produce a fine conductor or a good organist.

Years of study prepared the community to face the demands of Vatican II, especially in the Divine Office. For centuries, monastic houses had used the eight modes for the Latin psalmody. Nothing on the market existed for chanting the vernacular psalms. The demand for new modes called on the creative ability of the community musicians. Producing the books of the Liturgy of the Hours was a mammoth task that included at least four different editions over the years.

Ten years after the community discontinued the daily singing of Gregorian chant, a schola of sisters was asked to make a recording to preserve what had been such a rewarding part of their lives. The results were gratifying and the chants were broadcast on radio stations as far away as Seattle and San Francisco.

The trials and traumas of the years after Vatican II had their benefits. Communities were compelled to appoint a full time liturgist to plan and study the direction to take in following the Council on the Liturgy. It also encouraged the entire community to participate in ways that had not previously been possible.

The whole story of music at the Mount is too vast to include in this survey. That story is an unbelievable record of blessings showered on a group of women whose origin began with seven young Benedictine founders.


The Mount Conservatory: A Contemporary Expression

Circumstances called for decisions with regard to the Mount campus after the college consolidated its facilities to its other campus. Uppermost in the minds of the music faculty was a need to continue to bring beauty into the lives of young people. With that determination was the wish to stimulate a refined culture of the arts in the area. While the Mount Conservatory of Music opened its doors in 1991, it was a continuation of what the sisters had been doing since 1863 under different names like Scholastica Academy, Preparatory Department, and even, at one time, The Conservatory.

Students came from a radius of 50 miles, 60 of them in the first year, and as many as 200 in the following years. The faculty grew from 3 to 8, currently 3 sisters and 5 lay faculty. Students may enroll in piano, organ, harp, voice, strings, woodwinds and brass and, periodically, there have been classes in handbells and special events chorus.

The faculty bring an enrichment of their own professional experiences such as membership in symphonies, church music responsibilities, high school band, civic duties and musical organizations. A student became harpist for the Kansas State University Symphony and won the honor of performing a piano work with the Symphony. A former harp student graduated with a master’s degree from Peabody Institute. String students consistently win awards. A voice student was chosen for the Missouri Fine Arts Academy at Southwest Missouri State University.

The conservatory has received grants, gifts, and funds for scholarships and other needs. The Virginia Piper Scholarship grant, an annual Sprint Matching Grant, and many gifts from former college music majors have made it possible to purchase handbells, a piano, harp renovation and CDs. Donations of work, such as finishing floors of the studios and professional moving of grand pianos, have added to the ease with which the faculty assist their students.

Students and sisters benefit from the presence on campus of Community Concerts, which bring world famous musicians to the stage. For their own development, students have the opportunity to perform in bi-monthly recitals, the honors recital, and in auditions, through which adjudicators are hired to critique their performance. For several years the Conservatory sponsored “Monster” concerts with eight grand pianos on stage and two students at each instrument, providing a marvelous experience of ensemble playing.

In the fall of 1998, the conservatory experimented with 6 children in a piano class for four-year-olds patterned after one at the University of California at Irvine. In that study, piano study dramatically enhanced children’s abstract reasoning skills. An analysis of our six students, now going into fourth grade, is ongoing and parents are assisting in the follow-up. Four-year-olds continue to be taught, although not in a monitored experimental situation.

Evidence of success is also present in the stability of students, many of whom continue studying here for 8 to 10 years. The achievements and awards of the students, and the attainment of scholarships in outstanding colleges and universities, are a strong indication that the conservatory continues the Mount’s musical legacy.

Father Miguel Estade, monk and guest master of Montserrat in Spain once said to me: “These Christians come here to the abbey to worship God on Sunday. But the abbey church is also concert hall and art museum for them. Here they find the beauty they need to survive another week.”

Beauty is a sanctifying instrument. Beauty in our worship at Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours, is essential, both in the vocal utterances and in the visual surroundings. Vestments, candles, incense, altar cloths, flowers, all unite in one massive Alleluia to praise God. This puts the worshipers in an atmosphere of contemplation and an experience of the presence of God.

Andrew & Sarah Cool are part of one of the many families who make the Conservatory a family activity.		Student Sarah Prohaska and instructor Heather Bass play a duet.
Pianist Hannah Rygaard performs in a recital		Michael Wise shows his violin talent