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Dr. Edward Schaefer once said: “I hate the ictus because it’s so confusing. I use white out on each ictus before distributing the music to my singers.”
Now I will explain what that means.
“Kids, you’re only on this floating rock for a very short time.”
This is surely one of music history’s great ironies!
What is he talking about? Where can I go to hear these “aesthetically superior” interpretations? Where can they be found?
Where “Parce Dómine” (the famous song for Lent) came from.
Is it fair to forever bind Dom Guéranger to what he wrote about “barbarous archaisms” in 1855?
This is very much a “work in progress”…
Twenty years ago, I had the opportunity to conduct a week-long interview with Dom Cardine’s former boss.
“If you begin by telling a man that in a word like 𝐷𝑒𝑢𝑠 the first syllable corresponds to the weak beat, the second to the strong beat of a modern bar, the only thing accomplished will be to bewilder him thoroughly.” —Father Bewerunge
My colleague, Patrick Williams has agreed to enter into a “colloquy” with me vis-à-vis Gregorian rhythm.
This can seem like a dry topic, but it actually often deals with practical issues faced by every choirmaster who wants to promote plainchant.
Using this coming Sunday (12th Sunday after Pentecost) as an example.
I’m dumbstruck (with joy) to see that my recent video presentation on plainsong rhythm has garnered quite a number of “views” on VIMEO. I also made the full presentation available on YouTube, and—as I write these words—it has collected 700+ views. How cool is it that folks are still interested in the rhythm of Cantus […]
Ostrowski Vs. Weaver: Solesmes Rhythm, Gregorian Semiology, Dom Mocquereau, Dom Pothier, Mensuralism, and more!
