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.”
The feasts for Saint Stephen Proto-Martyr (26 December), Saint John the Evangelist The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved (27 December), and the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28 December) seem untouched by any liturgical reforms. These are very powerful feasts—I believe they once possessed octaves—and I believe they could sometimes “overpower” a Sunday feast. The rules […]
I can speak mainly from my experience with Indians, more specifically the Navajos; their native culture has a great respect and love for marriage and family life.
To show our singers how special our music is, I’ve included ancient MSS for each piece—as well as rehearsal videos.
I have noticed that where the Editio Vaticana has a descending perfect fourth for the Gradual of Christmas Midnight Mass, many ancient manuscripts have a descending perfect fifth, which is pretty cool: Example A — Example B. The Vatican Edition is a CENTO, and never made any claim to be anything other than a CENTO. […]
The Brébeuf Hymnal provides ancient (Roman Catholic) English translations of this hymn, but Eleanor Parker found versions in Anglo-Saxon!
Did you know I communicate with dead Catholic composers? I’m not joking.
Abbot Pothier included a section called “De Ritibus Servandis In Cantu Missae.”
When a monk hears the bell, he stops whatever he’s doing and immediately goes to prayer. It is the voice of God calling us to pray, to avoid sin, and to forget the things of this world and think of Him.
Attendance was standing room only. Afterwards, the children presented roses to Mary—as the entire parish prayed the Rosary—and then we consecrated California to Jesus Christ.
As the Gloria during Mass suggests, we should “thank Him simply because of His great glory.” When is the last time you did that?
My recent post on the repercussion has induced some to ask: “Can we just sing whatever rhythm we want for the Vatican Edition? What about mensuralism? What about Bonvin and Vollaerts?” For those of us who work in the Extraordinary Form, we must follow the rhythm of the Editio Vaticana, and this was addressed in […]
Consider the melody found in “Le Graduel Romain,” published in 1800—nine years before Napoleon Bonaparte kidnapped Pope Pius VII
Before the reforms of the “Code of Rubrics” (1961), antiphons at Vespers were abbreviated in a cool way. For example, look at this antiphon, Ecce Veniet (from Vespers on the 4th Sunday of Advent). But that tradition—as far as I know—ended in 1961, with §191 which said: “The whole antiphon is always said before and […]
Each monastery had its own particular way of singing plainsong.
Yes, these are extraordinary times—and they require something extraordinary from us.
