Fr. Columba Kelly, OSB, Chant Method - PDF Download Available
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    I am very excited to announce that Fr. Columba Kelly, OSB, monk of St. Meinrad Archabbey and Gregorian chant scholar has released the third chapter of his book "Gregorian Chant Intonations and Role of Rhetoric" into the common domain for all to benefit from. You can download it here.

    The "Gregorian Chant Intonations..." book is essentially broken into two sections. The first is a study of the melodic verbal contexts of Gregorian chant intonations, and the second half is Fr. Kelly's working "manual" of Gregorian chant interpretation and practice. The methodology laid out in this chapter is the basic content of his chant seminars that are offered regularly at St. Meinrad and across the country.

    The Church Music Association of America has been very generous in making available to all in the past few years digital editions of chant manuals and guides from the first half of the 20th century. How wonderful it is now to have this resource freely available from a contemporary voice who can add to the great tradition that has been handed down to us with many of the most recent insights in the world of Gregorian chant scholarship.

    Thank you Fr. Kelly for showing us that chant instructional materials do not have to go into the public domain before they can be shared freely with all!

    If anyone would like to buy a printed copy of the entire book you can do so here.
  • Jeffrey CogginsJeffrey Coggins
    Posts: 360
    Did Fr. Columba Kelly also release the first two chapters into the common domain?
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    No, he didn't–only the 3rd chapter (which is some 70 pages long). The book has been published by Mellen Press, and the copyright *sigh* is held by them. For the magnitude of this book, though, it is well worth the $70. Think of it like a textbook or something. It's a very reasonable price by these standards.
  • BGP
    Posts: 217
    The book is 57$ from the St. Meinrad scholar shop.

    http://store.saintmeinrad.edu/index.php?cPath=31_36
  • francis
    Posts: 10,709
    Very impressive, Adam.... I am hoping one day to dedicate all my time to the work of forwarding the chant, including the efforts we have discussed. In God's good time and with his full blessing (when it finally comes)
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    Francis--I think you will be surprised at how accessible this is. I think that the idea of jumping into the Gregorian Semiology text head first would be tough, but what Fr. Kelly offers here is a practical framework to hang that information on. I'm sure you will glean much insight from what he offers here.

    And yes, I will be very excited about your St. Gall font when you eventually make that happen too!
  • Jeffrey MorseJeffrey Morse
    Posts: 203
    Adam, thank you for posting this and thank you Dom Columba! This is splendid to have available, and really fills a gap in the literature in english on semiology. Trudging through Cardine's Semiologie Gregorien even in english can be a lot of work, but this download, written for the American mind is clear, concise and most readable and eminantly practical.
  • miacoyne
    Posts: 1,805
    Indeed. It is very helpful. Thank you so much.
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