Syllable Length in Meinrad Antiphons
  • LM0428DS
    Posts: 4
    I am new-ish to chant and trying to figure out how to teach it to the organists and cantors at my parish.

    I'm flipping through the Meinrad Entrance and Communion Antiphons book that my parish has and in the introduction it mentions "break[ing] the habit of singing every note as being of equal value" (p. 4).

    Why is this necessary? I thought that, in chant, every note received an equal pulse? Is that only for chants in Latin and English is chanted differently?
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,478
    There is teaching material available on the abbey website, which however seems to be currently offline.
    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.saintmeinrad.org/the-monastery/liturgical-music/downloads/&ved=2ahUKEwiO6M2Lq7OIAxWyZ0EAHZqYGCYQmuEJegQIVhAB&usg=AOvVaw3b3JXJIMIttaB10kIYy4nH
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,089
    Chant the antiphons with the rhythm of speech, which does not give equal time value to every syllable. The difference is subtle, not pronounced. Chanting with the rhythm of speech avoids monotony and sounding like a robot, although robots these days can do a very good job imitating human speech.

    Thanked by 3a_f_hawkins irishtenor hilluminar
  • davido
    Posts: 958
    LM0428DS, the equal pulse that you describe is what we call an “equalist” interpretation of chant, or “Old Solesmes.” Fr Columba Kelly, who composed the Meinrad Antiphons, was influenced by mid-twentieth century chant studies, known as “new-Solesmes” which treats neumatic groupings as being of different rhythmic lengths.
    The Meinrad Antiphons can be sung using either rhythmic interpretation. The equalist interpretation is simpler, the “new solesmes” interpretation requires more interpretation by a choir director.
    Thanked by 1LM0428DS
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,478
    LM0428DS my entirely untrained and amateur opinion is this: we have three quite different sorts of music in the tradition all referred to as 'chant'. There is the complex melismatic chant of the Roman Gradual, which is the principal subject of the "Preface to the Vatican Edition" and the rules for interpretation from which "Each note ... has the same value" is taken. There is the monosyllabic chanting of psalms in the Office. And there is a broad class of neumed chant of the hymns and Ordinary and office antiphons. Here we are concerned only with the psalm tones used for monosyllabic chant, and for this chanting is just 'heightened speech'. In my view in English it should reflect, in an unexaggerated way, the pattern of rhythm and stress in a vernacular which does not give every syllable equal value.
    Thanked by 2hilluminar LM0428DS
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,220
    For Latin chant: How much do we actually know about stress and rhythm in spoken Latin? Should it be medieval Latin or modern Latin? Will we be tempted to apply English-language patterns to it? Maybe we should look for models in the Romance languages.

    Thanked by 3a_f_hawkins Andrew_Malton M. Jackson Osborn
  • Ralph BednarzRalph Bednarz
    Posts: 493
    According to Fr. Kelley: The last note of a compound neume gets full syllabic value, the preceding notes will be a just little faster unless noted with an episema. It almost happens naturally. Kelley interprets an epesema as only full sylabic value, not double length. Syllabic value will be relative as a "t" might be shorter the an "L".
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