I'll second the recommendation, with a caveat: her hints on pronunciation and phrasing assume an English accent by default. Consequently, "a" is to be pronounced, she suggests, as in "rather." In American English, that would be like the "a" in "bad," which would be bad. Instead, Americans should pronounce the Latin "a" as in "father." Her other pronunciation illustrations are terrific.

Also, her discussion of psalm tones focuses on Office tones and a few other (wonderful) tones, but not the Gloria Patri tones. Psalmody is simple, but its presentation is often confusing. It would be nice to have a single, complete, comprehensive guide devoted solely to it. Do any exist?

My schola is using the Marier/Turkington - A Gregorian Chant Masterclass. It's very attractive, comes with a CD, and covers just the basics for a beginning group. It's organized in such a way that you can keep coming back to it.

moconnor

I agree about the Masterclass book - very, very helpful. I'm looking forward to something from the FSSP along these lines. Are they working on anything?

I like the Maier/Turkington book as well. However Marier's explanation r/t the 'ictus' is difficult to understand on the CD.

Another beginner's book "The Beginner's Book of Chant: A simple Guide for Parishes, Schoos & Communities" by
'a benedictine monk is also good (ISBN 0-907077-39-0)

I use a combo of both books for new chanters.

Quick specific question (which I'd guess belongs here): "ij" means repeat, and "iij" means repeat twice, right? (And just what do they actually stand for, anyway?) Thanks.

plitman,

Dead right - immersing ourselves in a living tradition is the best way of experiencing chant, and the Benedictines maintain the tradition.

This raises the issue of the impact of modern communication systems on the tradition - or rather, on the traditions. There are varieties of performance tradition of most kinds of music, including Gregorian chant and liturgical polyphony. The advent of recorded music has threatened those varieties. For example: too many liturgical choirs in the UK want to sound like either Kings College Cambridge (Anglican) or Westminster Cathedral (Catholic); and from what I read on blogs, these sounds are popular throughout the English-speaking world. Comparatively few of the choir trainers, and even fewer of the singers, will have been influenced by regular attendance at live performances, either as musicians or members of the congregation. Rather, from the 1920s onwards, radio broadcasts and recordings have moulded our ideas of how liturgical choirs ought to sound. Thank God for living traditions, like that of the Benedictines, that live and develop outside of this narrow focus.

The internet has the potential to either mitigate or exacerbate this tendency. It broadens access to broadcasting, and so might increase the range of sounds we hear. On the other other hand, it might strengthen the dissemination of a limited number of approaches that have survived the destruction of the the last forty years.

All this might seem a little esoteric to choir directors who just want to reintroduce their parishes to our musical-liturgical heritage. But the decisions made at this stage have the potential to influence the sound their choirs make for a long time to come. I would therefore encourage them to listen to - and if possible participate in - as wide a range of performance practice as possible. This will help them develop an informed judgement that can only be to the benefit of their parishes and singers, and their own professional development.

Mark M.: "E u o u a e" are the vowels of "...sAEcUlOrUm. AmEn," the final (Latin) words of the Doxology, and are put there to give the appropriate ending notes.

I've heard about a chant recording by a Russian choir in which they went ahead and chanted the euouae on every psalm. Would be hilarious, but I haven't found the actual recording. :)

Mark, that's correct. "Ending" means "ending of the melody," not the ending of the entire musical moment. The introduction to the Liber usualis describes traditional practice.

Okay… a question here about singing the Psalms (i.e., the Responsorial Psalm).

I'm the cantor, planning to sing it in English, straight from the Lectionary. For the third Sunday of Advent, I'd like to sing a Responsorial setting by Arlene Oost-Zinner (available here from the Chabanel Psalms page). I'm told that it's to be used with Tone I, VI, or IV… so I find the Office Psalm tones from the Liber Usualis here, conveniently available at musicasacra.com.

Do I "simply" follow the instructions in the introduction to the LU (as linked by Pes above)… even though the LU assumes I'm singing in Latin?

Do I choose one of those modes as indicated, then basically follow the given pitches for each line of text (being sensitive to accents and the like), and then for the last line choose at will one of the "termination formulae" indicated by lowercase letters before returning to the AOZ Responsorial?

A little guidance here (or guidance as to where I can read a bit more) would be appreciated.

(edit again: thanks for the help on the hyperlinks… I think I get it now!)

Very good! Thanks.

Great, Pes… thanks so much. Some follow-up questions, if you don't mind:

(1) For the Responsorial itself, in cases where I don't conveniently find one written by Arlene, where might I find them? Or should I "make them up" myself according to the Psalm tones… and if so, would I find the proper mode in the Graduale Romanum?

(2) I see that some of those modes on the Psalm tones sheet don't have termination formulae. What's up there? Do they really not need them for those modes?

(3) Somewhat unrelated: On the musicasacra Communio downloads page, I see the Gloria Patri tones are right there. Now, the Gloria Patri is used with the Introit, but not the Psalms, right?

Thanks as always.

Okay, 'nother question here: Next week (fourth Sunday of Advent), the Offertory according to the GR is Ave Maria… et benedictus. But would it be okay to do this classic and very familiar chant setting of the Ave Maria instead?

BTW I should add that the pastor of the church I will be leaving soon (I promised the choir director I would stay until Christmas) will not stand for any Marian music outside of Marian feast days, so no references this week...

moconnor

No, I don't believe you are obligated to use the Gregorian propers. The GIRM is pretty clear on what the "options" are. Parishes with the necessary resources should feel "obliged" to use the highest option, but Americans are very well known for paying lots of money for low culture. It's no surprise that they prefer it in their worship too.

moconnor

Mark M -

Mr. Ostrowski will be hosting my RP antiphon settings on his sight as I send them to him. (I have an entire year C complete; these should all be up fairly soon. Working on and sending him years A and B in real time)

Would love any feedback/discussion.

moconnor, the offertory Ave Maria is proper to both the EF and the OF without distinction. Whether you substitute the antiphon Ave Maria (which derives from the antiphon for vespers for the Annunciation) is the same question as whether you use the Graduale simplex instead of the Graduale Romanum. The Graduale Romanum chants are the principal propers of the Mass; the chants of the Graduale simplex are essentially chants from the office (where they serve quite a different function) adapted for use by choirs that cannot manage the chants of the Graduale Romanum. It is not simply a matter of singing the obligatory text to some music, though that was a pervasive attitude before the Council; it is a matter of singing the proper chant. This was never strictly obligatory, though, because of the need to accommodate various levels of skill among choirs.

Thank you, too, Prof. Mahrt… and an excellent follow-up question, moconnor.

I'm taking a look at the offertory Ave Maria and am thinking that it's a bit too much for my small schola at this time. And I'm mindful of Dr. Mahrt's call (from the EWTN interview) to introduce chant back into our congregations gradually.

Which brings up another very simple question on my part (which I am wont to do!): Am I correct that, simply put, the people are to sing the Ordinary of the Mass (with the cantor and/or schola) and that the schola alone is to sing the Propers (though the people may join if they wish)? Keep in mind that I'm in a congregation (like most, perhaps) where the people expect to sing some sort of song during the Offertory.

This weekend, though, that song won't be "Gentle Woman."