Introducing The Parish Book of Chant
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    I could have sworn that I posted that.
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    If I'm going to the Colloquium, is there any reason I should pre-order the book online? Is there a chance you'll run out?

    Carl
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Well, we have at least one for every person. How many extras, it is hard to say.

    The problem we are faced with now is the 2nd print run. Nice problem.
  • Darcy
    Posts: 73
    Jeffrey,

    I don't know why I just noticed this book announcement. I must have been on an internet sabbatical for a few weeks there. More advertising would be great, like on the sidebar of the CMAA homepage. I'll put something in my blog too, for what it's worth.

    It is a wonderful thing you all have produced here. I am wondering if it will be revised when there is a new official English translation of the ordinary form. (And if you have any idea when that is going to happen anyway.)

    I also wondered why Vidi Aquam and Asperges Me are listed under the extraordinary form only?

    Another question is if you would consider a lower pre-order price again when you are doing the second run? I am thinking this would be a great resource to have as part of the package for our chant workshop attendees this fall. Not to mention I'd like to try to convince the powers that be to get it into our pews.

    Thanks you! For this great work and for answering my questions.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Darcy, the English in here is a translation of the Latin, and so not the official English. This way the book won't be buffeted by the winds of change.

    The book is retail $14 and Aquinas offers volume discounts. I think this is how we will leave it. It is a very good price -- one that we could never charge if, for example, we had to pay salaries.

    I saw proofs yesterday. Amazing.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    G:

    You are better off not being a technocrat. The computer is a passing fad and I have a foreboding sense it will become something that we will all have to eliminate to keep our religion. Paper rules (and still works when you don't have electric!) I think Aristotle is good at what you are asking. I don't do anything with blogs to know what they demand. I can give you straight html if you would like.
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,185
    Here's another, smaller banner for the PBC:

    The Parish Book of Chant

    And the code:

    <a href="http://www.musicasacra.com/pbc" title="The Parish Book of Chant"><img src="http://www.musicasacra.com/pbc-234x60.jpg" alt="The Parish Book of Chant" width="234" height="60" style="border:0;" /></a>
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    AE, you are truly the master of code.
  • Michael O'Connor
    Posts: 1,637
    Francis, without the computer we would not have this forum. Hardly a barrier to religion!
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    Michael... right now it's not, and at the moment it is my livlihood... but let's see how it fares for us in the future!
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    I've been reading about the PBC here since it was announced some-odd weeks ago, and am finding myself increasingly intrigued... and now am wondering if it'll fit in the hymnal-holder things in our pews.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Well, the thing to do is order a copy and have a look. I'm as anxious to see one as anyone else. For me, this is the book I've hoped for since I first encountered liturgical music 25 years ago. I find it amazing that nothing like this has ever existed, in the all-EF days.
  • Imperator
    Posts: 11
    Jeffrey,

    I was browsing through the sample page for the Ordinary Form prayers, and my jaw dropped. Being an attendee of the Ordinary Form Latin Mass, it's simply astounding, especially the unofficial translation. My only criticism is that it's not pretty. I'm a sucker for pictures and imitation illumination.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Oh who needs pictures when you have those glorious Solesmes neumes!

    I saw the cover proof last week, and wow!
  • Arthur Connick
    Posts: 495
    Jeffrey,

    There was a book like this back in the all-EF days: Standard Gregorian Chants for Schools, Churches, Seminaries, Convents, a Desclee & Co. product (No. 1460 B on my copy) published in America by McLaughlin & Reilly Co. My copy is paperback, 128 pages, "Revised edition", copyright 1953, renewed 1961. Online I've seen a 1946 edition listed.

    It has a slightly different selection of Masses: includes 2, 3, & 10; excludes 12, 13, 18, and Credo 6. Has 14 pages of burial and mass for the dead chants. And it has 41 chants grouped by liturgical season, Benediction, in honor of the blessed sacrament, Te Deum (simple tone - a better choice), in Honor of the B. V. M., Litany of the Saints and Christus vincit.

    And no pictures.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Never heard of it! Thank you. Pretty boring title.
  • Arthur Connick
    Posts: 495
    More on "Standard Gregorian Chants": someone pointed out to me that a big difference between this volume and the Parish Book of Chant is the latter's English translations. But there is version of SGC (sort of) with English translations, namely "Chants of the Church" (1953), which is posted as a pdf on this website. The selection of chants is essentially the same in both volumes. Even the fonts are the same which I suppose is unsurprising - same publisher, same year.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    An there we go. Yes, Chants of the Church is fine but it doesn't work as a liturgical book. It is more of a classroom book, which is great. But not for general use. It is also fairly limited. There is a sense in which PBC, however, is based on CoC. It is really a combination of LC plus Coc plus Summorum.
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    What I really love about CoC is the literal translation directly beneath each word. It's great when your singing, and you can just glance down to see the english translation in real time.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    That's true but it does interfere with the purity and beauty of the chant line itself. It is more of a tutorial in this sense. The PBC has strict translations nearby, so you can still see what is going on without the problem of putting in text that does not affect what you are actually singing.
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    Is the PBC going to be available on Amazon?
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    No, it is an exclusive to Aquinas and More. www.aquinasandmore.com
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    Sweet beans!!!
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    I just placed my order on Aquinas and More. I feel better already.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Ever since this book seemed possible, there hasn't been a day when I didn't wish that it already existed. I'm so excited to see it, and if the proofs are any indication, the look and feel is going to be greater than I could have imagine. It won't be long now!
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    I have a question. In the PBC, is there going to be any of that stuff where the notation is given above the first verse or two of a hymn, but then the rest of the hymns are just paragraphs of text underneath all that, and you just have to know the music really well? There's some of that in the chant books I have, and it really makes it hard to sing unless I know the music really quite well.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Yes, that happens on a few hymns but not many, only the most familiar. Veni, and a few syllabic chants. It is avoided as much as possible. On those that exist, it works just fine.
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    That was a concern of mine as well -- glad someone asked. My schola can't remember a chant hymn tune after singing it 6 times. Even I flubbed the last few verses of Crux fidelis when I tried it for the first time this year. Even on something as "familiar" (is anything?) as "Veni Creator," what to do with "digitus" can be a problem if the choir is looking at text only. Of course, a lot of these problem would be solved with more rehearsal, but the advantage of using a book like, say, Communio, is that it allows us to perform psalm verses almost instantly, even if we don't all know the tones by heart.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    I'm with you on this! truly!
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Someone get me some smelling salts immediately.

    I just got a call from someone who is HOLDING THE BOOK NOW!!!

    He says it is fantastically beautiful!
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    A 2nd report has come in that it looks wonderful. This is very good. So I've yet to see this. I will tomorrow! And then I can post etc.
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    Sweet!
  • mjballoumjballou
    Posts: 993
    Jeffrey won't just need smelling salts - he'll need a fainting couch. I can hardly wait to see the book.
  • tdunbar
    Posts: 120
    The Parish Book of Chant is made for use: from the glossy cover that repells dirt to a size convenient to hold which will also lay flat. The text to be sung is in clear, good size type -- 12pt Palantino, I'd guess, with translations in smaller 10pt type. As a complete novice, I think it contains precisely the book essentials which I need.

    I will say that the page breaks are sometimes in awkward locations, not to complain but to forstall such a complaint. That editorial choice had to be made in order to keep the excellent form factor and low cost, in my opinion, and it is just the sort of compromise that underlines that this book is meant to be used extensively.

    I look forward to using it to sing with friends and with folks I don't yet know. Thanks Richard and Jeffrey for all your work on this lovely book.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    I'm so happy to hear this independent assessment! It is a very scary thing to release a book of this complexity and ambition, and also to do it as the first large-distribution book from the CMAA -- probably truly the first ever. It seems almost crazy in retrospect (and now some people are thinking: "JAT, we told you that it was nuts but you were a crazy man and wouldn't listen to anything or anyone").

    I've now had a complete day to live with the book and use it. I've been quiet mainly because I haven't had computer access and things are kind of avalanchish because of the upcoming workshops etc. In any case, I'm struck by how this book replaces so many other books, such as the Latin Mass booklet thing you get at the EF. It contains all material from the Liber Cant. It has English and Latin so it replaces my OF ordos too. My Kyriale no longer needs to be lugged around. It has chant hymns that I was forever printing off line. So this aspect of it all is great. I'm glad too that I don't have to scrounge around for translations as I always have done. In this respect, I expect that this book will be real winner. You think you don't need it until you realize all the fuss you have to go through to assemble the same material.

    I'm teaching from it today and I know with certainty that it can keep us busy all day. no question about that.

    The physical aspects of the book cover are probably the most exciting for me since I already knew the contents. It is really really really beautiful. It feels nice to hold and carry.

    We'll see how it goes today with novices!
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    I am eagerly awaiting my copy.
  • mjballoumjballou
    Posts: 993
    "We'll see how it goes today with novices!" - Jeffrey Tucker

    I knew it was just a matter of time before Jeffrey founded a small religious order, devoted to the Church, chant, and bow ties.

    Seriously though, despite its title, "The Parish Book of Chant" will be a great aid to religious houses trying to restore the use of chant. Comprehensive, affordable, and with English translations (something many of the older books lacked because they presumed a knowledge of Latin). I'm certainly going to talk it up with the sisters I know.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    So get this. I had my PBC with me during the OF and the EF last night and today. No problemo. I was able to navigate both Masses with one book.

    I've been warned that this book won't be a success among OF people who fear the EF or among EF people who despise the OF. Well, the link from new (done correctly) back to old is ever more clear to me now with this book. In any case, the future surely seems to be multiform parishes so we need to come to understand each other.
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    "from the glossy cover that repells dirt to a size convenient to hold which will also lay flat." Sounds like an infomercial! Anyway, the glossy cover? I'm picturing it looking like a textbook. Mr. Tucker, do you by any chance have a photograph of the real-life product?
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    No, not yet. maybe someone can take a picture and upload it?
  • Jan
    Posts: 242
    Would you post the table of contents?
  • Jan
    Posts: 242
    Opps, never mind. Found it! Good luck with your teaching this week. See you at the colloquium.
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    I was in Colorado Springs yesterday for a wedding. After the reception, I called Aquinas & More to ask if the books were in. Yes they were, I was told, and they were in the back room getting boxed up for shipping. I asked if I could stop by and pick up my pre-ordered copy. (Nice guy, Ian is.)

    image

    Due to my ailing camera, the picture doesn't quite do it justice. The price belies the quality of the binding, the printing, and the paper, let alone the contents. It really is beautiful… almost too beautiful, as I am wont to keep it in pristine quality rather than "dig in" and start practicing as I ought. There's plenty here to keep me busy for a long, long time.

    My congratulations, too, to everyone at CMAA. This is a blessing to the Church. (And I'll do my part to see that it someday might fill the pews at my parish!)

    P.S. -- Yes, the cover is a bit glossy. (I had to turn off the flash on my camera, actually -- thus the slight blur.) Gilbert, it does have a lightweight yet sturdy "textbook" feel.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    I'm still in shock over this. I'm so happy about it. As anyone here in Chicago can tell you that I tediously turn every conversation back to the PBC and its wonders.
  • Jan
    Posts: 242
    Everyone used the PBC throughout the CMAA Colloquium. What a terrific and practical book! Many attendants purchased boxes of these books be bring back to their parishes, scholas, choirs etc. I lined my suitcase with as many books as would fit and will distribute to my schola for
    immediate use! Thanks for this fabulous book. Just what is needed.
  • janetgorbitzjanetgorbitz
    Posts: 966
    Let me just say that my suitcase was considerably heavier leaving Chant Intensive than it was upon arrival... I really loved the PBC... I also now have my chironomy notes on some of the ordinaries in my CI copy...
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    I distributed the ones I brought back to my schola last night. As I've been telling everyone (ad nauseam), we are preparing to sing for a new EF Mass being celebrated in one of the California Mission Churches this Sunday. In addition to making it easier for people who have never attended an EF before, when we needed a short hymn after the Offertory Antiphon, said, "No problem; everyone open their books to page XXX and we will sing 'Anima Christi'". What a marvelous resource!
  • Jan
    Posts: 242
    Gregp -- Which California Mission? I am Music Director for an EF Mass in Marinwood, California (near Mission San Rafael).

    Janice Clark
    San Anselmo, Ca
    email: JBLegend@aol.com
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    San Juan Bautista (between San Jose and Salinas).
  • Jan
    Posts: 242
    Good luck! Let me know how it goes jan
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