Question Pertaining to Composition in Gregorian
  • Moses
    Posts: 12
    Dear Brothers and Sisters,
    Christ is in our midst!
    I would greatly appreciate any information on the following:
    1) Are there any books dealing specifically with Gregorian composition? Ideally I would like to see a catalogue of melodic formulae classic to each mode, especially the syllabic and simpler neumatic genres. Dom Paolo Ferretti discusses the potential for such works of classification in his Esthétique Grégorienne of 1938, but I don’t know if anything like it was ever undertaken.
    2) Has anyone ever compiled a list of the core stylistic compositions, type melodies, and essential original melodies in the (vast) Gregorian repertoire?
    3) A more specific technical point: In La Mélopée Antique, François Aug. Gevaert presents Gregorian modality in the light of ancient Greek musical theory – a delightfully simple model for understanding it structurally! It appears, though, that current analysis (as in Dom Daniel Saulnier’s The Gregorian Modes) is uncovering a much more complicated mix of influences. How do I know if a composition is really in the mode indicated, rather than just ending on a particular final? Dom Saulnier is perceiving relationships to “mother modes” and “archaic modes” in other tonalities than the root of the modes indicated in some compositions, and Gevaert is convinced that the vast majority of ancient antiphons in Mode IV are really in a G – based system (Mixolydian/Iastien) with an “intense” final on B natural (transposed to C, ending on E hence the confusion with Phrygian - although his reconstructions of the primitive melodies do not always agree with the versions in the Liber Usualis). If this is corroborated by modern research, I would really appreciate a listing of a few genuine, typical Phrygian (E - based mode: Greek Doric) Mode IV antiphons for study.
    My heartfelt thanks, in advance, for any advice on these issues – forgive me if I am not able to respond promptly, as I don’t often have access to the internet. May God bless you all in your efforts for the furtherance of sacred chant tradition.
    With Love in Christ,
    Moses

    Thanked by 1bgeorge77
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    Point (3) above rests on the notion that independent human composition, guided by the Holy Spirit, occurring over hundreds or thousands of years, conforms neatly to any kind of taxonomic system invented after the fact. This is never the case.
    cf. Duck billed platypus.

    The problem with Western Academia prior to the post-modern era is that, generally, the more someone knows about a set of knowledge, the more convinced they are that this is not the case, and that a clearly defined taxonomic system is possible. It isn't.
    cf. Godel's Incompleteness Theorem
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Moses
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    My advice - go and sing lots of gregorian chant, get a feel for it and then have a crack at writing it. Chant is an organic thing, a living tradition.
    Thanked by 2Ruth Lapeyre Moses
Add a Comment