Gregorian psalm tones for Dutch (and English) texts
  • smvanroodesmvanroode
    Posts: 997
    For a Dutch edition of the Graduale Simplex I put together an overview of the Gregorian psalm tones, adapted for use with psalms in the Dutch language (but these should also be suitable to English texts). The adaptions were made according to this article by Fr. Anthony Ruff. The idea is to have simple psalm tones to which vernacular texts are easily sung, without losing the Gregorian character of the tone.

    The overview is still a draft version, and I would very much welcome critiques and suggestions for further improvement. Thanks!
  • Priestboi
    Posts: 155
    I am really interested in your project, because I'm working on an Afikaans plain chant gradual here in Sunny South Africa. I am not very skilled in this sort of thing, perhaps passion will save the day? Would it be possible to get input from your side since our languages are so close.
    gsharp88@gmail.com
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    At least for English, the solutions Fr. Ruff proposes for using the Gregorian modes without any alteration seem quite satisfactory to me. I must disagree with him that it does violence to the text. It seems to me that if sung in a sensitive manner with an understanding of the text (and the text pointed ahead of time for the specific tone being used), they work just fine.
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