When I attended a concert of Gregorian chant and Medieval polyphony at Notre Dame de Paris in June, I noticed that their choir was using some sort of reconstructed Medieval Latin pronunciation, which seems to be de rigueur among American early music ensembles, and which I, having the benefit of a standardized ecclesiastical pronunciation, choose not to use with my church choirs. After the concert, as others were being escorted out of the cathedral, I was introduced to the director by the organist from la Sainte Trinite (Messiaen's own church), whom I had met earlier in the week. I was allowed to ask one question, so I asked (in my best French), "Why is it you use a Latin pronunciation that resembles French: for technical reasons, historical accuracy, or merely an aesthetic choice?" The answer, which was delivered with much chagrin, best translates to "Because my singers simply don't listen to me."

This weekend I am conducting the first concert of a new community chamber chorus, and I can only imagine what my church choir members who might attend will think when they hear the chant incipits for the polyphonic Mass we're performing. It will seem strange and different to them, as if I'm not following the "rules" that they have been learning over the past two years. Truth be told, these few short chants are not being sung the way I would like, and I'm not at a point with this new ensemble 1) to explain all the scholarship that I have researched myself and 2) to change something that the singer in question obviously has experience with (although perhaps not at a high level or in an ecclesiastical setting) and which gives him a feeling of pride in performing. The end result, in other words, is not necessarily an example of the distilled vision of the individual director, much less an entire stylistic school of thought.

It's abundantly clear listening to the Solesmes recordings that these are not singers who have been trained in traditional classical vocal technique. I know chant has been around longer than bel canto, but looking at Palestrina motets, or even Machaut's Mass, one can assume a level of virtuosity on the part of their first interpreters that cannot be expected of individual members of even the finest chant scholae today. Since the age of recordings, we find singers imitating vocal habits of singers like those at Solesmes attributing them to "the style," when it's very possible the directors would have wanted something different if they had been working with a group of professional performers. I cannot encourage my singers to scoop from below the pitch or to put a percussive accent on long syllables in Latin, for instance. We can do better than that, because we are not a monastic community and we have different goals. Which brings me to another point...

In many ways, Solesmes is a monastic community like any other. We, as church musicians, sometimes lose sight of that, and think that every person at Solesmes does nothing but study chant, practice chant, and talk about chant all day. As the saying goes, when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When I mention to someone, for instance, that I am a fan of Paul Bowles, those who recognize the name will usually say "The author?" to which I replay "No, the composer." Of course they are one in the same, but don't we often think to ourselves, perhaps without realizing it "Solesmes equals chant, therefore chant equals Solesmes." I can't help but think of the scholar teachers, Mocquereau, Gajard, Cardine et al., writing with the hopes that someone would benefit from their labors and eventually be able to exceed what they themselves were able to accomplish. Isn't that what any parent wants for their children?

Oh, I nitpick. But not in a dress rehearsal with a new groups that needs to build confidence. And I have had people leave one of my ensembles because they didn't want to sing solfege, even though I transcribed the music and wrote the syllables in as lyrics making it ostensibly easier than singing text and requiring no previous training in theory or sight-singing. What I'm saying is just because a director knows something or desires something doesn't mean that it will be evident in the end result. A lot can happen, as they say, betwixt cup and lip.

The longer I have been chanting, the more I've departed from certain aspects of the Solesmes method, though usually on a case by case basis, and not in general principle. The ultimate question is: what does the music demand? In a situation where there is doubt, I don't consult the Solesmes manuals, I consult common sense musicianship. It saves time, and it's usually much more convincing.

I see that the pope had an audience with the abbot of Solesmes today. Would have been cool to be a fly on the wall. Maybe the pope was making the case for the Vatican stresses.