Si antiphona ad invitatorium terminatur a verbis Venite adoremus, haec verba tantum repetere licet post unamquamque stropham, dummodo sibi consonent partes melodiae. Sed post Gloria Patri, semper repeti debet antiphona integra.
- numeris 9 et 11, neumae initio debiles, quarum prima notula praetenuis est;
- numero 16, transcriptio usu recepta trigoni, cuius trinae notulae ex seipsis tenues sunt.
Insuper, figurae plures, quae in primitivis notationibus vim habere in ordine melodiae (v.g. virga simplex vel oriscus extremus...) visae sunt causas non amplius habent cur exprimantur. Pro illis enim satis loquitur situs in lineolis hodiernae notationis.
Excellentia liturgica cantilenae gregorianae ex perfecta adaequatione melodiae cum textum sacrum defluit. Propterera qui cantando dictioni latinae sedulam dat operam, ipso facto iam potitur requisitis plurimus ad cantilenam gregorianam recte exsequendam.
Haec latina dictio versificatis hymnis praebet specificam proprietam. In quibusdam ex iis syllabarum quantitas latinarum, iuxta consuetudinem, longa aut brevis, ad rhythmi integritatem requiritur. In casibus sapphicorum hymnorum, cum melodia non clare significat syballam longam esse, prope notam separatam additur punctum, quod huic defectu satisfacit.
Behind the minimizing and euphemistic statement that the “rhythmic signs” were removed is concealed the surprising and shocking observation that anything that in any way could recall the interpretation of chant in light of the oldest manuscripts has been obliterated.
The lifegiving power of the melodies in their differentiated rhythmic form and theological proclamation has been castrated by the removal of the various types of dots and episemas.
One can only deeply regret what happened with this edition. Distinguished Solesmes chant scholars such as Pothier, Mocquereau, Claire, and Cardine were always at the cutting edge of scholarly advances in questions of restitution and interpretation. Today, regression and retrospective dominate. That pains the heart. One wonders what is behind this and how we could have arrived at this point.
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