Gregorian Chant resources

English in the liturgy - again

2011-11-24T23:41:00.000-08:00

This setting of Credo 3 illustrates the real difficulties of the task of adapting Gregorian chant to English texts. The music is written to emphasis the words that are most important. When translating into English, the word order is changed. If the same tune is applied, then the unimportant words are liable to occur at the points of emphasis. A further difficulty is that when the text is put into English, there are generally a few syllables more or less. This means either fitting in the extra ones, and either dropping the extra notes or adding them to one of the syllables.

This is evident in the first line. The syllables in "Credo in unum Deum" are 2-1-2-2, that is seven syllables. "I believe in one God" has 1-2-1-1-1, six syllables. Whereas the original Latin version has a porrectus (three notes) on the word "God", the porrectus ends up on "one" in the the English. Which is a bit strange though perhaps not so terrible.

Despite this difficulty, the overall effect is surprisingly successful but nevertheless ends up feeling uncomfortable. Whether the discomfort is just due to unfamiliarity or something more fundamental needs to be looked at.

The deficiences are more apparent in the English setting based on Credo 1.

This is less elaborate than Credo 3, and there is more scope for adapting the music to the text. But it has not happened. In the second line, "Patrem" is sung to a podatus (two notes). In English, this becomes "the Father", and logically, the podatus would be used for "Father" and an extra note inserted for "the". Instead, "the" gets the podatus, which is inappropriate as the definite article does not need the emphasis of two notes. This happens several times in this setting. The overall effect is clumsy to the point of absurdity.

The mistake seems to have been to allow the music to take precedence over the words. It might not have happened if whoever was responsible had kept to the correct Gregorian chant notation, when this problem of mis-matching would have been evident from the outset. This would also have made life easier for singers as it is easier to see how the neumes fit the words.

The difficulties discussed here are not new. There is no reason why anyone should be struggling with this because there is a perfectly acceptable setting of the Creed together with all the other Mass settings, in the Book of Common Prayer 1550. This was produced by the Anglican John Merbecke, using the translations by Miles Coverdale. These texts are an accurate translation of the Latin and could have been re-issued, with the archaisms brought up to date, as an alternative to the ICEL translation. In fact, one has to ask why the bishops' committee took ten years on the task when most of the work had already been done? Had they simply authorised the Coverdale texts, the musical settings would have come ready-made as part of the package.

What a pity it is that ICEL missed this opportunity.

English in the liturgy

2011-11-20T13:04:00.000-08:00

With the new ICEL translations of the English liturgy have come new texts for the propers of the Mass: Introit, Gradual, Offertory and Communion. These actually form part of the readings and although for the last 40 years it has been the practice to replace them by hymns, this is unsatisfactory. One reason is that there is little tradition of hymn singing amongst Catholics in English-speaking countries. Another is that people have diverse preferences, so someone is bound to be upset by whatever has been chosen.

There are various settings for these new English translations, both of the Ordinaries and Propers. Mostly they are a direct adaptation of the Gregorian chant. Having tried to sing them, my impression is that they are clunky and awkward. It is like trying to walk on an uneven floor - one keeps getting tripped up. It does not help that they have been written out on a five line stave in modern notation.

It seems to me that the underlying problem is that the rhythms of the English language are so different from the rhythms of Latin. This is not a new insight, and the Anglicans solved it by developing a modified version of the chant known as Anglican chant. These are used with the sixteenth century translations by Miles Coverdale.

To what extent they could be used within the new English translations is questionable but the possibility is worth exploring... however, I am beginning to wonder if the Novus Ordo mass has much of a future in the longer term.

Gregorian chant in Brighton

2011-02-06T11:02:00.001-08:00

Elevation of the Host
Originally uploaded by seadipper.

St Mary Magdalen's church, Brighton, has enjoyed a remarkable revival of the chant over the past few years, thanks to the parish priest and an enthusiastic choir leader. The regular 10.30 Sunday Mass now includes substantial amounts of Gregorian chant, and in addition, the occasional Extraordinary Form Masses is sung, though not, at the moment, regularly.

If you want to hear it, just come along. If you want to participate in the choir, speak to the choir leader afterwards.

The revised ICEL liturgy

2010-08-19T02:58:00.000-07:00

The revised ICEL liturgy is a huge improvement on the old. We tried it out a few months ago, including the musical settings.

Although the texts cannot reasonably be faulted, the same cannot be said of the musical setting for the responses. In the first place, they are written on a five line stave. Apparently, there was discussion about whether to use square-note/four-line notation and it was thought that round note/five line was what most people are used to.

Of course, the latter is what most musicians are used to, but many choir singers are not musicians and are more accustomed to the Gregorian notation, especially for singing that kind of music.

A further difficulty is that music that works in Latin will almost certainly not work in English because the emphasis falls differently in sentences in the two languages. Both the choir and the priest ended up stumbling over the music for the responses. The notes do not fall naturally with the words.

This is something that will need to be revised if the new liturgy is going to be accepted.

Two new composers to watch

2010-08-05T23:54:00.001-07:00

M Therese Henderson and Jocelyn Belamide are two young composers who work together and have been making a valuable contribution to the music of the Catholic church. Little of the liturgical music from the 1970s and 80s will be of lasting value, but this collaboration is something else and it is encouraging to know that there are still composers around who can produce good quality liturgical music.

We had a visiting choir from Italy this week, with a very patient choir master who taught some of us a Mass and some other music by these composers, including a beautiful setting of the Panis Angelicus which was not at all difficult to learn.

However, it seems that most of their work has been in Italy and the settings we sang were in Italian.

They deserve a wider audience. I hope that in due course they will set their music to the Latin texts if they have not already done so, and possibly also write settings for the new English translations. If set in Latin, the music would work well with the Gregorian chant settings of the Propers and could be used for Extraordinary Form celebrations of the Mass

Gregorian Chant Day at Portsmouth, 12 June

2010-06-13T03:16:00.000-07:00

This was the first event run by Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge I have attended since the death of the founder, Dr Mary Berry. It was well worth while. I learnt some new things and the day concluded with a performance of Vespers in the Catholic Cathedral.

I had forgotten how impressive and numinous the Office could be. I am sure there would be many conversions if we made the effort and reinstated the traditional Latin Liturgy. Is is extremely powerful, bringing man to God like almost nothing else can.

Five lines good, four lines better

2010-05-27T03:49:00.000-07:00

Arguments often arise about whether it is better to use four or five-line (modern) notation for Gregorian chant. The advocates of modern notation are usually people who have had some kind of musical training, and they have even been known to suggest that beginners should start with the modern notation then move on to the "more difficult" four line scores.

If you can't read music anyway there is absolutely no point whatsoever in bothering with modern notation for Gregorian chant. It just adds confusion. Start with the four-line scores.

Why?
The traditional notation was invented for the specific purpose of writing down the chant, so that people could sing it consistently. The notation is tailored to the chant. The groups of notes, called neumes, give a very clear indication of how they should sound, illustrating the pitch, length and dynamic in a compact and concise way with each neume on the stave directly above the syllable it refers to.

So what is wrong with modern notation?
Several things. Five lines are obviously more difficult to read than four. The words are all spread out, which does not help with reading and singing it as a text, which is the primary purpose of the chant, as an embellished form of text reading rather than a musical performance. Modern notation also ties the singers to a key, which may not be the one they would like to sing in, since it might be too high or too low for their voices. And there are many subtleties in the chant which are easily shown in the original notation but which cannot easily be portrayed in modern notation, with the result that the music itself suffers and the refinements get lost. Ultimately, modern notation destroys the chant.

So is traditional notation difficult for beginners?
Not really. Gregorian chant is graded. A single note is shown as a little black square. That could not be simpler. The groups of notes are best learnt a few at a time, starting with the two-note neumes and then going on to the three- and four-note neumes. It is useful, though not essential, to learn the names of the different groups. If you are a novice, do not be scared, just start at the beginning with the simple stuff. If you are teaching, please don't bamboozle your pupils with chant written in modern notation.

How to read chant from a score

The Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge

2010-04-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

The Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge is now presenting a full programme of events around the country, to enable beginners to become acquainted with the Chant and for those familiar with it to deepen their knowledge and understanding.

For booking and more information:

Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge (events)

Sussex Compline Group

2010-03-11T08:43:00.000-08:00

Latin Plainchant and some polyphony - suitable for beginners, music provided.
Second Friday of every month at 8.00 pm, rehearsal at 7.00 pm. For dates see panel on left, for further information Michael Kennedy 01273 476432

Jubilate Deo returns

2009-10-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

Jubilate Deo was a popular collection of simple Gregorian Chants published by the nuns of St Cecilia's Abbey, Ryde, in the mid-1970s. The original had a handwritten text by a nun who was obviously keen on calligraphy. A revised version, with a printed text, is now available from the website of the Bishops of England and Wales. Things really are looking up!

Jubilate Deo

Singing Propers to psalm tones

2009-05-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

Most of the Mass Propers are quite complicated and too difficult for beginners to sing. This is especially true of the Gradualia. Exceptions are some of the Introits, such as the easy "Gaudeamus" texts sung on several occasions including the Feast of All Saints, and some of the Communion verses.

The usual way round this is to sing the Propers to psalm tones. This is reasonably straightforward provided that the settings follow the punctuations. It is essential to chose the psalm tone that is in the same mode as the official setting. This is shown as a small figure at the top of each text. The modes for each Proper have been carefully selected to suit the mood of the particular day's feast or other celebration and should be adhered to. They will also then link correctly to psalm verses in the Introits or to the Alleluia for the day or season.

Seasonal Alleluia settings such as that for Christmas and Easter are worth learning but simple alleluia settings to use with each of the psalm tone chants are given towards the front of the Liber Usualis.

O Sacred Head (O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden)

2009-03-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

Missa pro defunctis

2009-02-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

Introit and Kyrie

Gradual
Can be sung to psalm tone 2

Tract
Can be sung to psalm tone 8

Dies Irae

Dialogue, Preface and Sanctus (and Canon of the Mass)

Agnus Dei

This is the same tune but for the Extraordinary Form the words are
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam

Communion Lux Aeternum

Libera Me

In Paradisum

A Catholic Music Director speaks

2008-12-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

This was a blog discussion. I am only thankful I don't live in that parish. Apart from the dubious theology expressed, it is characteristic of the anti-cultural anti-elitism that is so widespread in Britain.

Me
It is also unfortunately the case that the good settings of the English liturgy done by the Anglican church cannot be used as the words are not the same, so we have had to put up with atrocious and banal settings by certain composers whose names are I expect familiar to you.

I know the names of many liturgical composers, but few whose music I would characterize as atrocious and banal. I know plenty of Anglican liturgical settings which I would describe as over-complex, and in opposition to the true spirit of the liturgy, which is never merely performance.

"Active participation" can mean listening attentively as well as performing. In my experience, most people generally keep silent for hymns, which is why we gave them up - it is the Gregorian chant that people are joining in to sing.

If people keep silent for hymns then that is the fault of the music director who has failed to take seriously enough their teaching duty to ensure the active participation of the community. Certainly 'active participation' can include attentive listening, for example to a cantor singing the verses of a psalm setting, but that too easily transmutes into 'passive attendance' when more than a small proportion of the music used prohibits the community from joining in.

But if you want to give up your job, why not ask around amongst the youngsters who are presumably the people who buy the best selling records of Gregorian Chant and might like to sing it in the church instead of just listening to it on their iPods.

I run music days in the parish several times a year which are attended by large numbers of parishioners, including many young people. I have yet to meet a single one with Gregorian Chant on their iPod, much less one who wants to sing it in church. I have occasionally tried using the Missa De Angelis Gloria setting, or the chant Salve Regina at weekday evening Masses where the profile of the congregation suggests that there might be people familiar with them - I was a choirboy myself in the 1960's and 70's so I'm very familiar with that part of the repertoire. I get one or two people who join in, and a sea of blank faces. Of course if your MD loves chant and assiduously teaches it to the choir and congregation then people can join in with it (unlike polyphony). But I keep my antennae tuned to what people in my parish are saying and I assure you that there's no call for a general return to chant here.

My entire point was that if you don't understand and assent to the theology all you can do is appreciate the music. And that music of great beauty and artistic merit may provide a profound aesthetic experience but actually prove distracting from the religious experience which is the purpose of a church service. Personally I'm a big fan of Durufle's Requiem (sorry, can't find the accent for the final e in his name) as a concert piece.

But I wouldn't want it at my funeral: I'd want my friends and family singing Ernest Sand's 'May the Choirs of Angels' and David Haas' 'You Are Mine' in splendidly untidy unison, because in religious terms the feeling and intention of the praying community means everything and the beauty or otherwise of the performance is a triviality, only of interest to those who don't 'get' what is really going on.

Sussex Compline Group

2008-12-12T08:06:00.001-08:00

Latin Plainchant and some polyphony - suitable for beginners, music provided.
Second Friday of every month at 8.00 pm, rehearsal at 7.00 pm. For information Michael Kennedy 01273 476432

Do you need chant scores?

2008-12-01T11:05:00.000-08:00

I have scanned both volumes of the 1930 edition of Plainsong for Schools. So far as I am aware this is out of copyright so if you would like PDFs or TIFs please leave a message and I can email them.

Cecilia

2008-09-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

Cecilia is the title of the hymn book used by the Catholic Church in Sweden. It is a chunky volume, though not too heavy to handle, and is divided into sections as follows

Psalmer och hymner, del 1 (ekumenisk del)
Den heliga mässan
Kyrialie
Psalmer och hymner, del 2
Psaltarpsalmer och cantica
Kyrkans dagliga bön

The arrangement places the Mass texts and Kyriale roughly in the middle of the book. As these are the most frequently used pages, putting them in the middle has the advantage that the book does not fall to pieces so quickly as it would if they were at the front. On the other hand, it makes them difficult to find. In some parishes, adhesive tabs have been stuck on the pages to help.

The present edition dates from 1986 and the books are getting worn. A new edition is planned, though that is some way off, and an interim book is about to be published.

There are three changes I would like to see. The first would keep the Mass and Kyriale in the middle of the book, to make the books more durable, but to distinguish them in some way, possibly by printing them on coloured paper or through the use of tabs or some other kind of book mark. Alternatively, it might be advantageous to put the Mass and Kyriale in a separate small book. It is worth thinking about.

The second change concerns the Latin texts, the use of which is slowly increasing. For those who do not know how to read music, the Gregorian four line/square note notation is easier to learn, as the neums show the shape of the musical phrases more graphically. It is also the case that information is lost when Gregorian chant is written in modern notation, with a tendency for it to sound flat and boring. It would be advantageous if the opportunity were taken to use the Solemnes settings as printed in the Graduale Romanum or Liber Cantualis. Using scanning techniques, this should add nothing to the cost apart from copyright payments.

The third change is that the text and rubrics of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass now need to be included.

The passive voice

2008-08-23T02:51:00.000-07:00

Vox Silentii consists of two women from Finland who have developed, or probably rediscovered, the technique of singing the chant in such a way as to excite the natural harmonic resonances of the building. In this way, the church itself functions as an additional voice. Where this is a large medieval space like the Abbey Church at Vadstena, the sound is out of this world.

I have never heard of such a style of singing before but on reflection, it seems likely that this was the normal way of singing the chant in medieval times, since the spaces were so obviously designed for the purpose. The Brigittine church, with its long echo, was an excellent setting for reciting and prayer chants. Birgitta had issued explicit instructions on the construction of churches, based on her views of the requirements of the liturgy. The proportions of the church (width two times the height of the vault; length two times the width) and sound-reflecting materials seem to favour the resonance of a standing wave.

What is the Graduale Triplex?

2008-08-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

The revival of the singing of Gregorian Chant in the early part of the twentieth century owed much to the "Solesmes method" developed by Dom André Moquereau, using new scores including additional marks including the ictus, episema, dot and incise, not found in the early manuscripts.

This led to controversy, which was eventally broken with a new understanding of rhythmic nuances taught by Dom Eugëne Cardine (a monk of Solesmes) in his classes in Rome, and by Dr Mary Berry in Cambridge. Dom Cardine used the term "semiology" to describe his interpretation of the signs (neumes) of the earliest manuscripts.

One of the results of this work was the publication of the Graduale Triplex, a reproduction of the Graduale Romanum with the neums from the Laon manuscript printed above the modern square notes in black, and the neums of the manuscript of the St. Gall family beneath in red. Correct interpretation of the neums is the singer's basis for developing adequate performance of the Gregorian melodies, and this tends to cast doubt on the value of the vertical episema written under a note means it has a mild emphasis, like an accent mark. In my own limited experience, these marks are more of a confusion than a help and if I am preparing scores and have the time, I delete them.

If you are seriously interested in Gregorian Chant or thinking teaching it, it is well worth obtaining a copy of the Graduale Triplex - the book can be purchased on the internet. The Graduale is for the Novus Ordo mass, with the revised calendar. For the Extraordinary Rite, scores may have to be selected, copied and rearranged.

Gregorian Chant truetype fonts

2008-08-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

Available here

Plainsong for Schools

2008-07-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

It used to be commonplace for children to learn Gregorian Chant, and there was a two-volume book called Plainsong for Schools.

I have scanned my old copy of the two volumes and cleaned up a few pages. Most of the work has now been done and they have come up quite clean after a little bit more work. The volumes could easily be printed by any publisher who wanted to reissue the book, subject to copyright clearance from whoever owns it, if anyone, probably Desclee of Tournai who seem to have licensed it to Rushworth and Draper who are no longer in business.

Not only would the books be good for children - they would also make a good parish hymn book.

If anyone is interested, please pass this information on or contact me.

henry.bn[at]googlemail.com

O Quam Gloriosam by Victoria

2008-06-01T15:08:00.000-07:00

This is a nice version though a little fast for my taste.

No apologies for this either. Not technically good and incomplete, but atmospheric nevertheless.

Tu Es Petrus by Palestrina

2008-06-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

Not Gregorian chant but I don't feel any need to apologise for posting the Palestrina polyphonic setting.

Mary Berry

2008-05-09T03:51:00.000-07:00

Mary Berry, who died on 1st May, is one of a small group of individuals who worked tirelessly to promote Gregorian Chant when it was out of favour with the church. This kept the flame alight during a bleak period, pending the turn of the tide. Those whom she taught are now able to pass their knowledge on to the next generation.

In paradisum deducant te angeli,
in tuo adventu suscipiuant te martyres.
Chorus angelorum te suscipiat,
et com Lazaro quondam paupere
aeternam habeas requiem.

Corpus Christi - Introit Cibavit eos

2008-05-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

This is slightly out of tune

And a polyphonic version by I know not whom

Pentecost Sunday - Introit

2008-05-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

Viri Galilaei

2008-05-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have decided that because not enough people are coming to Mass on Holy Days of Obligation, feasts including the Ascension should be celebrated on the following Sunday. This is cowardly. What they ought to be doing is encouraging people to attend. When I was working, Holy Days of Obligation were an opportunity to take part in the life of the Catholic community where I worked and not just the one where I live.

Anyhow, here is the Introit for the Mass of the day.

Gregorian Chant at Ängelholm

2008-04-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

This one is a surprise as Ängelholm does not have a parish priest of its own. Mass is said by a priest who comes from Helsingborg. But this is a well attended and well performed traditional liturgy with the Ordinary sung by the congregation.

Jag var överraskad att gudstänsten i Ängelholm var så mycket vacker. Prästen kommer från Helsingborg varje vecka. Kyrkan är väll fylld och Latina liturgien sjunges vackert.

Kl.14.00 varje söndag, Ängelholm, Rönnekyrkan, Skolgatan 33

New Choir at St Mary Magdalens Church, Brighton

2008-04-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

A choir has now been established at St Mary Magdalen's Church, Brighton. The repertoire will consist of tradtional English hymns, polyphony and Gregorian Chant.

Anyone interested should contact Claire at rehearsal time (Saturdays, 12.00 to 1.00 pm or after 10.30 Mass on Sundays).

The church is in Upper North Street, Brighton

The importance of using correct chant notation

2008-03-26T12:41:00.001-07:00

I have been accused of being pedantic in wanting to sing chant from texts in square notation on a four-line stave.

Having been issued with chant transcribed to modern notation, I now realise why this should most definitely not be used, except by the accompanist, who obviously would have difficulties in playing a keyboard instrument from Gregorian notation.

First and foremost, some of the transcriptions are plain wrong. Then there are sloppy changes like writing one double note dotted where the square notation shows three individual notes and should be sunq as three separate notes. Then there are subtle details like liquescents and quilismas which have been ironed out. Added to this are problems when musicians expect to find time signatures where there are none because the rhythm is derived from the words of the text.

So the end result when trying to sing chant from modern notation is that it ends out flat, unmodulated and very boring, thereby helping to put off another generation from ever learning it.

There is nothing difficult about singing from chant in square notation on a four line stave. First you read the words several times to find the rhythm. Then you make sure you know more or less what the meaning is. Then you add the intonation to the words. If you can read music it should be easy, if not, the tune has to be learned by heart which was the traditional way in any case. The way the notes are written show how to form the phrases which give the music its form, which should be reminiscent of waves gently breaking on a beach. If you are conducting, the notes actually show what the hand movements should be.

If you are running a choir singing Gregorian Chant, make sure the singers have the music written in proper notation. If you are in a choir, ask your choirmaster or choirmistress to obtain it. If you have got scores using modern notation for chant, used them to find the tunes from a keyboard, but don't try to sing from them.

Hymn Books and Gregorian notation

2008-02-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

Our parish has just bought a new set of hymn books. I was horrified when I saw what was in them, but apparently the edition is the best available, which is worrying. They are full of all the tired old folksy stuff from the late 1960s, though the decent music is there as well, but you have to look for it. The Taize chants are quite pleasant and fine as an introduction to both Latin and part-music, do not amount to much. Also of concern is that what Gregorian chant was in them was written out on a five line stave instead of the proper four-line notation.

The latter point is not a matter of pedantry. It is easier for beginners to read the Gregorian four line notation then music written on five lines simply because it has one less line to pick the notes out from. The Gregorian notation also leaves the words intact so they can still be read, instead of breaking them up with huge spaces in between. More importantly, there are features of Gregorian chant which just cannot be recorded in modern notation. One of the reasons why Gregorian Chant has a reputation for being boring is that performers have been reading from five line staves and the subtleties and detail are ironed out.

The main elements of singing from the correct Gregorian notation can be learned in about half an hour, and it is well within the abilities of the average ten-year-old for whom "Plainchant for Schools" was produced. A good Gregorian music book for congregations is Liber Cantualis, which costs a bit more than the average hymn book but solidly bound and made to last.

There has been a succession of documents from Rome reminding clergy that congregations should be familiar with the simpler Gregorian Chants and it is sad when the clergy lack the will to carry this through.

How to sing Gregorian Chant from a score

2008-01-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

Gregorian Chant is written on a four-line stave. The notes, called neumes, are shown as squares or diamonds.

At the left hand side of the stave will be found either a symbol that looks like a telephone handset or a C, which signifies Doh, or else a symbol that looks something like the letter E with the middle stroke pointing to the left, which signifies Fa. But Doh and Fa can be any pitch that happens to be convenient for the singers, depending on the range of the music. This is very handy. If people find they cannot sing the high or low notes, the music can always be sung at a different pitch to suit their voices.

Doh clef

Fah clef

This means that there are no keys in the modern sense of the term. There are, instead, eight modes, each with a characteristic mood or mode, based on a sequence of full tone and half-tone intervals. There is a set of psalm tones for each mode. Mode 5 corresponds to the major keys in modern music and has a bright sound, whereas mode 4 is reflective and sombre.

There is no necessary correspondence between the notes as written on the four line stave and the notes on a five line stave, where each note has a defined pitch.

The notes and groups of notes are known as neumes. It is easier to sing chant from these neumes than from a transcription into modern notation. This is because some of the information about how to sing the music is lost in the transcription, as modern notation cannot describe what is meant. It is therefore important to learn how to sing from the correct notation. Once learned, it is easier, not least because there are only four lines on a stave instead of five.

For more information on how to read Gregorian chant see here

Carthusians

2007-11-14T01:33:00.000-08:00

There is Carthusian chant sung by the monks on this website of St Hugh's Parkminster priory at Cowfold in Sussex.

The Parkminster monks have made a CD of their chant. It is called "In the silence of the Word" and costs £14.95

It can be purchased from St Hugh's Charterhouse, Partridge Green, Horsham, W Sussex RH13 8EB, UK
Email simon.brennan{at}chartreuse.info

Please make cheques or international money orders payable to "St Hugh's Charterhouse". Orders by e-mail accepted, no credit card payments.

Gregorian Chant at St Mary Magdalen's Church, Brighton

2007-03-08T01:34:00.000-08:00

At the 10.30 Sunday mass, the Ordinary, Creed and Pater Noster are normally sung in Latin by the congregation, Mass 8 or Mass 16 according to the season. There is also a choir which leads the singing.

Language in the liturgy

2007-02-05T01:45:00.000-08:00

This week's Catholic Herald contained a letter from a bishop in response to one from a priest, about the language that should be used in the liturgy. Both referred to various Vatican documents. It is depressing that the debate should be conducted in these legalistic terms.

Is the use of the vernacular may well have been of advantage to the people in Britain in the 1970s, but in these days of mass immigration and mass travel, we have a different state of affairs.

In recent years, countries in Northern Europe, some with no Catholic tradition, have experienced an influx of Catholics from many different countries, and we often find imported priests struggling to say mass in the vernacular to congregations who are not familiar with the local language either, with parishes cut up into separate language groups with their own liturgies.

Conversely, with the growth of tourism, visitors find themselves excluded when they attend the local church while on holiday.

Here in Brighton, we have experienced a large influx of Catholics from Eastern Europe, who would be a great asset if they were integrated, but instead keep themselves entirely separate, while at the same time we have students and visitors from many different countries. It does't make sense to have mass in English all the time.

Most of the world religions have a special language for the liturgy and for good reasons. Firstly, it is unifying, where the vernacular is divisive. Second, the vernacular is constantly changing and affected by all sorts of factors. These vary from one country to another, but in Britain, the way that people speak is linked to issues of class and place of origin; if the priest's accent is too posh or too strongly local, it becomes an unnecessary distraction in the context of the liturgy. The same goes for the written texts - whatever the style - broadsheet, red-top or Transatlantic - someone is going to feel it is not for them.

The Church needs to move with the times, and we are now in a time of great mobility. The use of a single liturgical language is essential for the integration of the Catholic community.

More information on Gregorian Chant

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There is a huge amount of information about Gregorian Chant on the internet.
For a page of links with more information about Gregorian Chant

Gregorian Chant notation

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Gregorian chant is written on a four-line stave.
Download information about how to read Gregorian chant here

Gregorian Chant

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10.5-gregorian-chant-notate
Originally uploaded by designucdavis.

Gregorian Chant is a good thing. Plainchant is another name for this kind of music. It is very old - at least 3000 years. Jewish Christians brought the music from the Jewish liturgy into the early church and it has been there ever since. Some tunes are found in both Jewish and Christian liturgies, though sung in a different style.

It was not written down until the eleventh century, when the four-line notation was invented by Guido d'Arrezo. Before that, the tune was indicated by little curved marks called neumes; these are similar to the cantillation marks found in Hebrew printed bibles. But because they do not indicate the actual pitch of the notes, the music had to be learned by heart, and there are sometimes slightly different versions of the same music as a result.

Musicologists have been comparing old manuscripts marked with these neumes, and it is now possible to gain a better idea of how the music was performed before the four-line square-note system was introduced. There is a book called the Graduale Triplex which includes both the four-line notation and the older neumes written in over the top of the music. If you follow both, it makes the music sound more lively and prevents it from becoming plodding and dirge-like, which is always a hazard with chant when you just look at the notes.

The four-line notation used for Gregorian Chant is easier to read than the modern five-line stave, and when chant is written in modern notation, important information about how to sing the music is lost.

It is not written in a key, but in one of eight Modes or moods, of which the modern major and minor keys are two of them. Some modes have a bright feel to them, others are sombre and reflective, so the music includes a wide range of "palettes" - colourations. Mostly, the music spans little more than an octave so is not too demanding on the singers, and a good choirmaster will adjust the overall pitch to stay within the range of his performers.

"Performers" is not the right word, though, because the music is prayer, not performance, and for this reason, "rehearsals" are live and better referred to as practice.

No special musical talent is needed to participate. The key elements are, in order of importance.

(1) Listening, because the music comes out of silence.

(2) Breathing

(3) Sounding

If a group of people follow these principles, they will make a lovely sound.

In the Western (Latin) tradition, the language of the chant has been Latin. Gregorian Chant music does not go well into English because the vowels are awkward and the stress points in English sentences are all wrong. But in these days of large-scale population movements, the need to achieve integration and increasing multi-national contacts, such is the EU and its institutions, the time for Latin has returned. You can even listen to the news in Latin on Finnish radio, as hardly anybody knows Finnish.

MUSIC YOU CAN DOWNLOAD

MORE MUSIC YOU CAN DOWNLOAD

HOW TO READ GREGORIAN CHANT

News in Latin (with a Finnish accent)