International Catholic Church Music Congress stamp

This article features the Austrian stamp celebrating the second International Catholic Church Music Congress stamp from 1954. The stamp celebrates an international conference of church musicians in Vienna that year. In a sense, it is like the stamps celebrating the meeting of the Communist postal authorities 1963, held in next door Hungary.

In 1950, the first such conference was in Rome. It was such a success that a second event was planned for Vienna in 1954. Specifically, this second conference was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Moto Proprio on Church Music by Pope Pius X (1903). This document was a defense of traditional church music, Gregorian Chant, and the use of Latin in the catholic mass. The 1954 congress was, in part, held for this same purpose.

The Event

The International congress took place in Vienna in October of 1954. I was lucky enough to find a report in English by the Very Rev. Msgr. Charles N. Meter, a delegate from the United States. The report is from the catholic magazine Caecilia.

In this article, Meter relates all of the splendor one would expect form such an international conference, the amazing concerts, performances by the Vienna Boys Choir, etc. However, he also engages in what must have been the primary debate of the meeting, how to engage congregations in a more participatory way in the mass. In fact, this was the subject of the original early twentieth century document. Obviously, there were two schools of thought. The first, shared by Meter, is that the traditional music must be kept, using Gregorian Chant and teaching Latin to children and congregations. Meter quotes Pius X:

“Special efforts are to be made to restore the use of the Gregorian Chant by
the people, so that the faithful may again
take a more active part in the ecclesiastical offices, as was the case in ancient
times.”

Alternatively, others obviously felt that the way to strengthen participation was by using vernacular language and more contemporary musical styles. Meter reports, with much disdain, attending a mass where the congregation sang in German! Of course, I can only read this report with the knowledge that only a few years after this conference, in the mid-1960s, Vatican II would settle these debates with an embrace of the modern and the vernacular.

The Stamp

The stamp that celebrates the catholic music conference features a very large organ in the background, with a putti playing trumpet in the foreground. The printing of the stamp is a a dark brown, with many levels of shading and detail, on white paper. The design for the stamps is by Alfred von Chmielowski and Hans Ranzoni Jr.

Amazingly, the organ is the Great Organ from the church of St. Florian in Linz. This fantastic and important instrument was the main instrument of the composer Anton Bruckner. Indeed, Bruckner’s tomb is below the organ.

Further, this is one of two stamps that feature the same instrument, the other from 1996, which you can read about in my article found here.

Here is another chance to feature a performance on this magnificent organ. Enjoy!