Abstract:
The article addresses the issue if legal requirements regulating liturgical music and singing. There is no mention of it in The Code of Canon Law of 1983. However, the last one hundred and fifty years were characterised in this respect by two great reforms. The first one of 1903 was conducted by Pope Pius X, and the second one was done by means of the Second Vatican Council. The main subject of the first reform was the recovery of the „purity” of music in response to numerous instances of abuse which polluted liturgical music. The second reform was aimed at active and conscious participation of the faithful during a liturgical assembly. This paper presents the most important documents regarding this subject after the Second Vatican Council, including the Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum concilium), Musicam sacram instruction and – with regard to the Polish background – Polish Episcopate instruction of 8 February 1979 on liturgical music.