Looks promising. One thought: I must say that the style of translation used in the Communio project is literal nearly to a fault, IMO. I appreciate translations that are faithful to the original, but I'm finding as the weeks go by that some of the translations are a bit stilted. I find myself having to "re-translate" before putting the text in my weekly worship aide. Something to consider with this new project, though I'm sure there are plenty out there who disagree with me . . .

:-)

Well, I'm not saying the extremely-literal translations don't have their perks; it often saves me a trip to the on-line dictionary when I'm not sure of a word. And I don't mind it when when the choir has this translation . . . I was just sharing a hesitation about putting these literal translations in front of a congregation.

It is 6x9. We are looking at $14 for a hardbound volume. We hope.

Here is the cover

Yes, too early for now. The first print run will be for 2,000 -- and this is a huge print run and a massive financial risk for the CMAA. We wont' be retailing the book at all, mainly because we have zero infrastructure for customer support. We don't even have shopping cart software on the site. And you probably know that we don't actually have any staff. So wholesaling the book to distributors is really our only option. At this point, we have only one focus: amazon. This is where we will begin and I don't think we can establish pre-ordering with them simply because the CMAA has no prior relationship with Amazon. So it will be made available when it is live on the site. After that, other online bookstores might want to pick it up, in which case we can ship to them but I think we are going to have to insist on a minimum order -- again, mainly because we have no resources to manage a large quantity of separate sales arrangements.

One possibility does present itself: a parish that wants to buy 200 or 300. It might be possible with prepayment.

In a dreamworld, the 2000 would all sell. But with these prices, we would be out of stock for another two months. So the risk runs every direction.

There is a sense in which this project is utterly and completely crazy for us. But someone had to do it.

"200 or 300"

The "critical mass" should, I think, be 120 based on Act2 and 2Chr5:12 :)

Will the chant intensive attendees be able to purchase a copy (please)?

I'm so looking forward to this. The cover also reminds me of all the beautifully designed printing that came out of the first liturgical movement.

I might be booed and hissed, but I wish there were excellent (and I mean excellent, not GIA quality) singing translations of the hymns, not literal translations. It's a much easier sell to sing something in Latin once the tune is already familiar. And as wonderful as this collection might be, it's more likely to find it's way to my shelf than to our pews. We're talking about hymnody here, not propers. It isn't the ideal anyway, but a stepping stone or an addition. Even if my parish offered one Mass entirely in Latin (even our chant Mass is not), the other Masses would still be in English. And it would be nice at least to sing the same music with different words, rather than having no choice but Praise to the Lord. I'm also not sure about Adeste Fideles and O Sanctissima. You can find those in Breaking Bread. If English was left out for the sake of purity, why include music that doesn't fit within the musical genre referred to in the title? Don't get me wrong, the book will be a worthy and welcome addition to our worship resources, and I will certainly buy one. And I am sure that all these points were considered when compiling the book, which no doubt was a labor of love. I appreciate the effort that has gone into it. I'm just afraid it might not be the musical Godsend I'm looking for.

OT, but the Mundelein Psalter has some very singable English versions of the Office hymns, from a number of different sources. (Many Stanbrook Abby? IIRC)

Back ON topic, the book looks exquisite.

Save the Liturgy, Save the World

I agree with incantu - I'd rather have a resource of English chant. Chant is hard enough to sell often enough without having to sell it in Latin.

This past Lent I used "Attende Domine" as the closing hymn at all Masses, with the refrain in Latin and the verses in English, and I got attacked by an old woman who didn't want to sing "Attende Domine et miserere quia peccavimus tibi." What I didn't mention to her is that I NARROWLY decided not to have the hymn sung ENTIRELY in Latin. Part of the rationale is that I'd like to keep my congregation's Latin vocabulary small to build comprehension and familiarity. Even I don't have a clue what most of the words in Attende Domine's verses say. I often say that the use of Latin in the liturgy only requires familiarity, not the ability to translate Cicero on spot. However a large amount of Latin hymnody really can raise the bar of what the people need to know, and when so much of it is seasonal it's just not worth using.

Also, I'm presuming the book is all in ancient notation? I won't open that can of worms, you know where I stand there!

Yes, all four-line notation.

Clearly, if English plainchant in modern notation is what you desire, this is not the book for you. There are many books that do that now, so there would be no point in entering this market. This is 100% Latin with translations of every word, all in traditional notation. There is no other book on the market that fills this need.

Ok, we now have a page up about this, with samples of sections from the book, and a form that permits pre-orders of 100 or more books.

Here is the page.

Jeffrey --

I'm sorry, but it's not true that English is hard to fit to Gregorian chant. I hear this canard from Roman Catholic liturgists all the time, and it's completely false and very frustrating to those of us who value good liturgy in English.

As someone who sings the Office every single day from the Monastic Diurnal Noted, I can say with certainty that if one does the work (as Canon Douglas and the sisters of the Community of St Mary did in the early 20th century), it can be done, and done well.

As Geri notes, the Mundelein Psalter has singable translations of the Office hymns. A lot of them are adaptations of translations made by Anglicans of the Oxford Movement in the 19th century. I am editing an Office hymnal using those translations (from the Anglican Breviary) right now. It should be available online for free in the next few months -- I'll post about it when it's done.

Jeffrey --

I'm not trying to pick at something and start an argument, but this belief that Gregorian chant is hard to fit to English is brought up over and over again, here in this forum, on the NLM blog, and in other venues. It scares people away from the wealth of material available, and it also scares them away from working to adapt chants of their own. I find that unfortunate -- and I think the fact that this belief is orthodoxy in Roman Catholic liturgical circles but is rejected among Anglicans explains why there is so much Gregorian chant in English in Anglican sources and practically none in Roman Catholic circles. (The Anglicans have done a great job with melismatic, non-metrical chants, too, BTW. That forms the bulk of the chants in the Office, and I find the MDN more than adequate.)

Given that many Roman Catholics are now committed to liturgy in English, it would be advantageous for RC liturgists to start looking at Gregorian chant in English seriously. Because the only other option is to abandon chant for that majority of RCs who want to worship in English -- and as a non-RC who loves chant and wants to see the Roman church thrive, I find that a very sad prospect indeed.

So I'm not trying to pick a fight, but this is not an unimportant issue where the personal impressions of a few liturgists should be allowed to determine the prevailing attitude of a whole liturgical movement.

Re the anglican English Hymnal:

http://liturgicalnotes.blogspot.com/2008/03/office-hymns.html

The EH has, for example:

317
Laud O Zion thy salvation
Thomas Aquinas tr/ad by The English Hymnal
326
Of the glorious Body telling O my tongue
Thomas Aquinas tr/ad by John Mason Neale & others
330
The word of God proceeding forth
Thomas Aquinas tr/ad by John Mason Neale & others
331
Thee we adore O hidden Saviour Thee
Thomas Aquinas tr/ad by James Russell Woodford

One of these is missing, as I recall, from the New English Hymnal revision. But then, they're ALL missed from Glory&Praise :)

English vs. Latin. Latin vs. English. In the immortal words of a non-expert in chant, "It's deja vue all over again." One point I would note is that translating the propers for use during Mass would be tied to approved translations of liturgical text. And I can imagine many a pastor who might not mind "Shepherd Me, O God" suddenly becoming a rigorist over an Englished chant. Of course, I may just be feeling uncharitable.

To raise one's spirits about the Parish Book of Chant, one need only contrast its appearance to the current cover of Breaking Bread. I've got aesthetics on the brain today and if you believe as you sing, perhaps you are what you see.

Making it this cheap was not easy -- and not profitable! But anyway, that's what we are here for.

See what you think of this audio explanation of the PBC? I'm wondering if I've addressed all the usual questions that could come up.

Click here

I'm fielding so many phonecalls for this right now. Everyone is so disappointed that it won't be available until June!

Ok, this is exactly what I was looking for. ok. I think I will do it again, and this time not be so stumbly in the opening. I think I might have repeated some things too. Also, this is my regular voice but some people say that I sound oddly affected--i have to affect a sound of lacking affectation--so i might try to sound more like a normal person, not so alarming, in the next try.

thank you!

There was some controversy on this point and very strong opinions in favor of the one that was chosen--and congratulations to all from others who followed the controversy--but the details are lost on me at this point. I certainly felt unqualified to weigh in. In any case, it was well considered. I think Michael Lawrence may know more.

Oh I just now saw that! i didn't recall having sent them that. All to the good. Too bad I did include a pitch for the Colloq.

Ok, I recorded it again with all suggestions incorporated. For the life of me, I could not manage to say "inestimable" this time whereas the last time it sounded like I use the word all the time. I even stopped the tape and practiced it but I still couldn't get it! So I had to change the word to "immense" or something like that. My English is bad enough; my Latin is worse.

Oh, and as per usual, for the technidiots among us, (I'm beginning to believe I am the only one on the forum..,) could someone post the code that I need to c & p into a post in order to put that picture of the cover on my blog?

(Save the Liturgy, Save the World)