Introducing The Parish Book of Chant
  • mjballoumjballou
    Posts: 993
    Gregp - we expect a full report on the San Juan Batista Mass. (Of course, you will need to focus on the virtues of the Parish Book of Chant.) Those of us in the state with the first missions (Florida) will be praying for you.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    i finally got my PBC yesterday. i am thrilled to begin using it this year.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    So we are looking for stuff for Sunday. Christus Vincit would be perfect for offertory. The copy online is 3 pages 8.5x11. Ridiculous to try to hand that out. People are already fiddling with the program. And the program is too stuffed to put that huge thing in there. So I guess it will be a hymn -- dread!!! I really wonder how much actual progress can be made in a parish over the long term without the Parish Book of Chant. Already bumping up against a wall without it.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Two chant jocks with the PBC:

    image
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Wonder twins, activate!

    (That's the photo file name, I see. Hosted on the musicasacra site, even!)

    I wonder how that would translate in Latin….
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    Question about the PBC.

    What's the deal with the key signature type stuff? I thought chant always just used the accidental ti-flat, but quite a few of the chants have a ti-flat sign at the beginning of each line only, with the intent for it to all ti's in the chant, such as Adoro Te Devote, and some of the Marian Antiphon solemn tones. The instruction in the back doesn't explain the key signature appearances.
  • Hey, I notice that there is no Wikipedia entry for the PBC. Jeffrey?
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Hmmm, wow. Just one more thing to do! But truly, please start one.

    Asking Richard about key sig issue.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Ok, here is what Richard said and it confirms what I suspected

    I just repeat what's in the Liber, et al. Some later chants, that are clearly in modern major mode, avoid the hassle of adding flats to every ti by using a "key signature" of one flat. Obviously, this does not indicate any fixed pitch, only that all ti's are flatted. No other such key signature exists in chant.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    It's official that the only copies remaining from the first print run are here.
  • Here is the Aquinas and More banner

    image
  • Heath
    Posts: 946
    This may have been covered in another post . . . is this second printing of the PBC just a re-print (as the name would imply) or a revision?
  • It is a 2nd printing with fixes on a few pages.
  • Heath
    Posts: 946
    Good to hear it. Will you be documenting the changes at some point?
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    Are we allowed to post the "Parish Book of Chant" Banner from Aquinas on our sites?
  • oh sure!
  • Is anyone working on a Spanish/English version of this?

    The potential abounds, especially in my diocese!

    José
  • Not that I know of but it needs to be done! absolutely.
  • Are there any available resources en español? All available resources on related web-sites are in English.
  • Wow, look at this. Some reseller is cleaning up, charging a $6 premium over the retail price.
  • It's official... I am now in need of more Parish Book of Chant copies for my budding schola. I bought 10 copies at the great price offered this summer at Chant Intensive... and need to order more now. Any great price for quantity orders being offered on the new printing as with last year?
  • Well, the new printing won't be here for another 5 weeks or so, but Aquinas has them for $14, which--i'm reminded now that I've been through all the numbers again--is a wonderful price and far below a normal retail markup, especially since the costs of everything are soaring.
  • Just got word that the 2nd printing has completed and will be shipping tomorrow. The distributor will have them soon and they will be back in stock. Two weeks ahead of schedule!
  • Jan
    Posts: 242
    Yeah! I'll take 16 more.
  • Dan F.Dan F.
    Posts: 205
    I'll second that yay! I have one and has convinced the other 5 guys in the schola to get one. I knew it was close to going out of stock, and actually did the day before I went to order. I'll be placing the order now!
  • the only change of any musical substance was one misplaced | in the Magnificat. I'm very pleased at how clean the first printing was. It was a risky thing to forge ahead the way we did, but the proof readers did a great job, and of course Richard Rice is amazing.
  • Mark M.Mark M.
    Posts: 632
    Is that a misplaced ictus, or barline?
  • No, it wasn't in the music. It was in the text, a misplaced pointing of one phrase.
  • At the risk of disputing Jeffrey (or anyone who calls me amazing, for that matter), the most egregious substantive error is on page 76, in Credo I, in which a half-bar somehow got converted to a full bar before "ex Maria Virgine". I hope you all make the change, and don't try to put a rest in the middle of that phrase. I am happy to supply the White-out (do they still sell White-out?).
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    Can anyone point me to recordings (preferably online) that I can distribute to our schola of all the chants in the PBC?
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,181
    Would you consider preparing a printable list of errata? It would be nice to keep it in my copy (or use it to go to work with the White-Out).
  • Sure, but those are really the only two of any meaning. 2nd printing shipping probably today.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    Jeffrey (and anyone else!):

    My schola is off and running fast! I am using the PBC as a resource. The only problem I am having is that the verses are not set under the notes. (e.g., Corde Natuds Ex Parentis) Has anyone else mentioned this? I am painstakingling setting the text under the neumes myself, but would just like to find and purchase one that is already in that format. Also, is there a FREE recording anywhere online of these pieces? I am also painstakingly recording them myself and then distributing them on CD.
  • There are a few chants that have verses without. We tried to pick the most familiar ones. adding them all would have made the book too big and too expensive.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    Thanks, Jeffrey:

    I would like to buy a copy of this for each person in the schola, but they are lost without the notes above the text since they don't even know the melodies.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    I checked with Jeffrey about putting this up. He said it would be OK. I don't want to undercut the desperately needed funds that CMAA deserves, so put another dollar into the basket for them when you utilize this file. Also, if you use any of my original compositions that I have put here on this forum for free, consider donating a small extra amount in your contribution to CMAA when you renew your membership to help our cause with CMAA.
  • Francis:

    In retrospect, I think we should have provided music for all the verses, and sprung for the extra 40 pages. I have prepared such an expanded edition (choir vs. pew sort of thing), but it's up to Jeffrey to decide if its viable, based on demand (like, if your schola has a few hundred members...).
  • We can think of a second edition in perhaps 2010
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    I will speak to my congregation about a 100 person schola. I am all for it. Otherwise, maybe we can figure out how to fund a 2nd edition. One very good possibility is to publish and sell a pdf version for nominal fee. I would definitely purchase that! A good way to sell pdf versions is to license them for a certain number of printed copies. Here is an example for pricing.

    1-10: $5
    11-25: $10
    26-50: $15
    50-100: $20

    However, you are already giving out the pdf of the PCB now for free, so not sure how you would handle this.
  • priorstf
    Posts: 460
    Well you're a dozen closer to needing that reprint as of today, JT.
  • Funny thing about the notes directly above the verses... I used to cut and paste special copies of chant hymns to aid the schola in Shreveport with that issue... they got very accustomed to it and recently contacted me to help them out with a Corde Natus ex Parentis. With the new schola here, I never started out on that path and they don't seem to need it. Perhaps it is what we become accustomed to?
  • francis
    Posts: 10,707
    prop is, janet, that beginning scholas have no idea where to set the syllables and you can waste a lot of precious rehearsal time pointing them up. JT... Another option is to point them up with bolds, itals and accents.
  • JamJam
    Posts: 636
    I just wanted to say that I have a copy of the second printing, and I love it!! I'm trying to learn a lot of the Christmas hymns and have been annoying my parents by plucking them out on the piano and singing them constantly... I only wish I could find a parish that actually used chant.

    Please keep up the good work!
  • miacoyne
    Posts: 1,805
    I wish you can sing with us. Every parish should offer chant singing group for people who want to sing the Church's most sacred music.
    Maybe you might want to start a Chant study group? (You have a desire. You have a book. Maybe someone is calling you for this?) Last year I started a chant study group.(like Bilbe study group) I asked my pastor whether I can post it in the church bulletin. He said yes. I got 4 people to start. We studied chant history, notation, listen to good CDs, read about sacred music ... and learn to sing basic Ordinary parts and familiar chants, like Adoro te. Then the pastor asked us whether we could sing on Saturday monings. We started to sing and got grew and grew and one thing lead after another... I could tell God is leading us, not me. We became a chant singing group now. There are lots of resources in the front page of this website, and you can get help from here too. Also the Chant Intensive workshop by CMAA is a best way to learn to lead the schola. Singing chants and sharing them with others truly deepened my Catholic faith.
  • Jam,

    Head south for the CMAA colloquium next summer. Take those skills back north and advertise for an informal schola. You will be surprised how many others are at least curious.
  • JamJam
    Posts: 636
    It sounds lovely...! I'm off to Franciscan University in the Fall though... (As a transfer student.) They've got a schola there!

    As for this semester, I'm going to hit up a few nearby parishes for bulletins and info and see if I can't uncover some kind of chant/polyphony group somewhere. If there isn't anything, I might try Miacoyne's idea using the PBC as my text--and I have a CD to start, lots of the basics on it (Missa Simplex, Credo III, hymns like Asperges Me, etc.); need to get more...

    Can't make this summer's colloquium, but I'm young yet!
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    The PBC is is an AMAZING resource. All the most popular chants of the Church, in one book, order for Mass in Latin, Ordinary and Extraordinary, literal beautiful translations of every prayer. The best thing since sliced bread really. And look, Jeffrey Tucker just alleviated one of the few, although necessary, flaws of it. Way to go! Jam, you're so capable of starting a chant study group. I mean that. You're so excited about liturgy, and the musical tradition of the Church, and you've got a good ear. I think that's really all you need.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,181
    Just to play off a typo:

    Tota Pulcha Est

    If your parish ever has a Polka Mass, you should insist on including this chant.
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    Just in time! We will use these tonight!

    Thanks, and Merry Christmas, Jeffrey!