The Caecilia Project was founded with the simple goal of providing a community-driven repository of sacred music in the Roman Catholic tradition for ease of public use.

While the goal is simple, there are many smaller goals which are important. While not exhaustive, this is generally the direction we’re going:

  • Repository or library of sacred music in the Roman Catholic tradition. This ranges from the official Gregorian music of the Liturgy to sacred choral music. “Sacred music” is understood in the strict sense that the Church understands it, which means that pop, rock, show-tune-type, praise and worship, and glory and praise, among others, are absolutely precluded from acceptance in this archive.
  • Community driven. We look for any help from any person who wants to further the goals listed here. This can range from technical (web, programming, etc.) to to non-technical (promotion by word of mouth or internet, monetary donations, review of submitted pieces, etc.)
  • Public access. Anyone who wants to use the music shall have access to it. This requires several principles to be followed:
    • All works should be submitted and made available in file formats which are open and flexible. While PDF is generally a very good format for completed musical texts, it is also desirable that texts are archived in a text format which allows flexible use for compilations, layouts and further editing and correction. Currently, we have determined the following formats as most useful for this purpose:

Possible long-term goals:

  • Web app for:
    • manipulation of score layout (dimensions, file format) and output
    • compilation (into such things as booklets) of multiple scores as PDF

If you would like to help contribute to any of these goals, please get in contact with us.