Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”
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 […]
We should define our terms. What makes a syllable accented, and what makes an accent a tonic accent?
There’s nothing necessarily authentic about the “authentic” rhythm.
A brief historical survey of free rhythm in plainchant, as practiced from the modern monastic foundation of Solesmes (1833) to the present.
A few further thoughts on what ways of singing chant are “allowed.”
Ostrowski, wishing to avoid fussiness, may justifiably refuse this invitation. But to argue, as he has, that these signs and the prayerful and aesthetic movements they embody are “illicit” is just wildly off the mark.
Announcing a concert next Saturday in honor of Christ the King.
Are we even singing the Solesmes rhythm at all?
What can medieval and renaissance music pedagogy offer to us now?
What happened to all that polyphony once Catholicism became illegal?
This can seem like a dry topic, but it actually often deals with practical issues faced by every choirmaster who wants to promote plainchant.
A look at Dom Pothier’s performance instructions for a communion antiphon reveals a great deal of complexity in this pre-Mocquereau interpretive approach.
This summer, there are several interesting graduate-level courses on offer at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York.
Occasionally the Solesmes rhythmic markings are surprising, as in one of tomorrow’s alleluias. Can we make sense of this?
Today’s communion antiphon is a masterpiece of musical exegesis.
