What an interesting excerpt! I'm thinking especially of the additive rather than beat-dividing meter in some of these examples. Also, the little Veni Emmanuel fragments are interesting, as they do not fit into the usual four-square meter that we mostly use.

I think Mrs. Ward's rhythm teaching like this would be worthy of further study as a matter of music pedagogy rather than just chant performance practice. Putting a pin in this!

I think Mrs. Ward's rhythm teaching like this would be worthy of further study as a matter of music pedagogy rather than just chant performance practice. Putting a pin in this!

Mrs. Ward was a brilliant woman who developed a superb method of teaching solfège, chant, free rhythm, sight reading, and the sometimes difficult to grasp (for adults) nuances of the old Solesmes Method. On the first day (intended for age five), the Ward Method teaches not only a love of singing, and that as a whole body experience, but the famous up-pulse of Dom Mocquereau, in the gesture "up - down," i.e., "De - us." The rest, as they say, is history.
It's so nice to see this discussion, which is one of my favorite topics. I have taught the Ward method to children for many years, having learned it from Theodore Marier, who was Mrs. Ward's last secretary. I have also taught Ward I, II, III and IV at the Catholic University, during their summer sessions. If I can be of any help, please let me know! -- Scott Turkington

What I was trying to express above is what I have also long advocated about Dom M.: let's separate ideas about the nature of musical rhythm from the performance practice debate in chant. I think Mrs. Ward in particular explains important ideas about rhythm in a really intuitive way that works with both children and adults.

I wonder if now is a good time for a scholarly reassessment. There's been a big trend in music theory in the past couple of years to move away from the traditional sources and towards expanding the field of what constitutes "music theory." It seems like a full-body way of teaching the phenomenon of rhythm to children in an "upbeat' (see what I did there?) way would be great to include in an expanded field of "theory."

Thank you all for the insight and discussion, and Bri for the pages that were scanned. I was wondering though if there was more in-depth information like sixteenth notes, syllables in 6/8 and things a bit beyond the basic notation. Thank you all once again.

You could also try posting on the "Ward Method Practitioners' Network" on Facebook. Someone there might have some insights!