Daniel Martín SalvadorMusic must reinforce the Word".Kénosis, music with sense to the SenseWorship music. Music and its beauty as a channel to bring us closer to God.The Catholic Church from its origins gave great importance to music, particularly that which enlivens and gives beauty to the liturgy. Aware of this, Pope St. Pius X founded in 1910 in Rome, an institute of excellence under the name ".Scuola superiore di musica sacra (School of Sacred Music)"The aim is to preserve the musical treasures that have emerged over the centuries and in the various places and cultures of the world. In addition, to train new and future musicians and composers who will brighten the religious ceremonies in the most diverse countries of the world.
Today, the Pontificium Institutum Musicae Sacrae (Vincenzo de Gregorio, 77 years old, in whom one can see the joy of a serene priestly and artistic itinerary, which led him from his previous assignment - director of the Naples Symphony Orchestra - to this Institute. PIMS, by faculty of the Apostolic See, confers the academic degrees of bachelor's, licentiate, master's and doctorate.
The contents
"This institute has in its interior," explains Bishop De Gregorio, "seven organs, study rooms, several pianos, a lecture hall, the main chapel with a choir from the ancient church of St. Callixtus and a library with 40,000 volumes that is part of the Italian library system.
The program is vast: you learn Gregorian chant, composition, polyphonic, chorality -in particular of the Schola Romana- through the 'coro a cappella medioevale' and on to contemporary music, without forgetting piano, organography, liturgy, liturgical programming, pastoral, musicology and didactic singing.
The organ deserves a special chapter, since the three-year stage teaches ancient, baroque and modern organ literature. The second two-year academic level is placed in the perspective of three typologies: early music, the organ in the literature of the 17th and 18th century, improvisation and composition for the liturgy.
The students
To enter this coeducational university, one does not necessarily have to be Catholic, according to its Rector, but applicants "must bring a letter of introduction from a bishop and pass an exam to certify their level," although some must take previous studies before entering.
"The institute has grown from just under 50 students at the beginning of my mandate eleven years ago to almost 160 today, coming from some 40 countries, including 35 students in the university residence," explains the priest. He acknowledges, however, that it is not possible to have a larger number of students, "because, unlike other disciplines, each one of them needs individual attention.
In September, the composition exams are held, with specific tests, followed by the admission exam, and in October the academic year begins.
The headquarters
Its present location, the abbey "San Girolamo in urbe" built at the beginning of the last century, was given to the Benedictines of France and Luxembourg, who, by the will of Pius XI, deepened the literary criticism of Sacred Scripture, using philology, semiotics, archeology and other sciences.
As of 1984, it became the headquarters of the Pontificium Institutum Musicae Sacrae (PIMS), which also maintains its auditorium at the Piazza di Sant'Agostino. Today, PIMS enjoys its own legal personality, ".sui juris"and is governed by the norms of canon law, it is dependent on the Dicastery for Culture and Education, created by Pope Francis with the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate evangeliumThe new law, promulgated on March 19, 2022, merged two dicasteries: the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Congregation for Catholic Education.
