551[1]

128 Recent Books
that describes musical events at the seven Jesuit institutions in the city.
Beautiful plates accompany a richly woven text that brings to life again the
musical events of eighteenth-century Jesuit Naples. Not surprisingly, the
text in Jesuit oratorios, operas and cantatas was important in the apostolic
outlook of the Jesuits. Milan offers a paradigmatic outline for Jesuit musical
culture in general. Arguments stemming from the regole of the
confraternities echo other contemporaneous European Jesuit sources.
Problems abound around utilising music but not disturbing devotion,
controlling the noise of the musicians and, of course, the costs of the
musical enterprise. ‘Who will pay?’ was often a key question.
Anna Harwell Celenza’s introduction to part 2 briefly reviews concepts
of Jesuit mission in the context of teaching (as evangelization) and
consequently addresses the approach to missions outside Europe,
particularly in New France (Canada) and Maryland, and most particularly
the history of music at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The
musical tradition of Georgetown in the early years reflected the tradition of
the pre-suppression colleges (sung catechism, drama, academic defences,
with serious theory and instrumental teaching) and in its passage to the
restored Society one can trace the shifting of music towards a more
extracurricular position, as humanistic subjects, especially the sciences,
came to the fore. Finally Michael Zampelli’s excellent paper, ‘Bridging the
Distance: Jesuit Performance Transposed to a Contemporary Key’, is
another paradigmatic essay linking early performance of Jesuit music and
theatre to its contemporary revival. Those readers who are especially
interested in the fine arts may find the various studies in Music as Cultural
Mission a new doorway to the myriad expressions of Ignatian spirituality
summed up in the phrase, ‘Finding God in all things’.
T. Frank Kennedy SJ