A Concert in Honor of William Byrd
The better the voice is, the meeter it is to honour and serve God therewith: and the voice of man is chiefly to be employed to that end.
PDF Download • Palestrina’s Most Famous Mass Simplified
“I find Anerio’s work here to be excellent, and I hope you do as well.” —Dr. Charles Weaver
An Interview with Bruno de Labriolle
Readers interested in different stylistic approaches to Gregorian chant may enjoy this interview with the singer Bruno de Labriolle, who directs the schola of Saint-Bruno-des-Chartreux in Lyon. The views on chant and liturgy aired in the interview aren’t exactly the same as those of any of our contributors, but I personally find this group’s performances, in […]
Stomping Feet, Clattering Hooves, and Other Chant-Related Matters
Did you know that St. Augustine described the sound of one hand clapping?
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Weaver Responds to Williams”
“Nothing so arouses the soul, gives it wing, sets it free from the earth, releases it from the prison of the body, teaches it to love wisdom, and to condemn all the things of this life, as concordant melody and sacred song composed in rhythm.” —St. John Chrysostom
In Praise of Adaptability
A proposal: if we are going to study something as important and mysterious as Gregorian chant, we ought to be able to perform it convincingly in several different ways.
The Golden Rule and Mocquereau’s Method
Dom Mocquereau’s editions are a compromise between tradition and paleography. This explains his sometimes surprising semiological conclusions.
Some Thoughts on Gregorian Modal Ethos
You should memorize this list.
Rhetoric, Number, Measure, and Historicism
The beginnings of a response to mensuralism from the classic Solesmes point of view.
Beauty Ever Ancient, Ever New
Every Gregorian melody is a precious gift, and every time we meet a melody again, we have a chance to consider some new aspect.
An Interview on Mocquereau’s Method
I recently appeared on Square Notes, the Sacred Music Podcast to discuss some of the basics of Dom Mocquereau’s system of Gregorian rhythm. It’s impossible to give a full treatment to such a complex topic in a mere forty minutes, but I touched on a lot of the foundational ideas, with especial emphasis on the […]
What is the Tonic Accent?
We should define our terms. What makes a syllable accented, and what makes an accent a tonic accent?
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “The Limits of History”
There’s nothing necessarily authentic about the “authentic” rhythm.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “On the Nuance Theory of Plainchant”
A brief historical survey of free rhythm in plainchant, as practiced from the modern monastic foundation of Solesmes (1833) to the present.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Disputed Questions” (16 Nov 2022)
A few further thoughts on what ways of singing chant are “allowed.”