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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • 1974 “Graduale Romanum”

Jeff Ostrowski · February 17, 2014

Here’s the direct URL link.

OW HARD should we be on the Bishops’ Liturgy Committee with regard to their famous mistake of 2002? Some readers will recall the serious error made in their Newsletter of May 2002. The Committee attempted to fix the error, but ended up making things worse by an “official” wording that was literally bizarre & unintelligible (more). The error remained on the books for almost a decade, but was finally corrected due to indefatigable “nagging” by Christoph Tietze. We ought not be too hard on the Committee, who failed to understand that the Missal Antiphons are (by design) not identical 1 to those in the Roman Gradual. After all, even a famous “liturgy expert” got this wrong as recently as 19 July 2011. We can’t blame him, either, because the entire Church seemed to have collectively forgotten about “Propers” for decades. When I was going to Catholic grade school in the 1990s, we sang This Little Light Of Mine as the Introit!

Before I continue, here (for the first time) is a PDF copy of the 1974 Graduale Romanum:

* *  1974 Graduale Romanum • Solesmes Abbey / Vatican Press

* *  Alternate Version — A Different Scan Technique

HOW COULD EVERYONE just “forget” about the Roman Gradual? Let me explain, and I promise to be clear and to the point. Before the Council, the entire Liturgy could be found in one book: the Missal. However, the post-conciliar liturgy has three books: (1) Lectionary, containing the Readings; (2) Sacramentary, called a “Missal” starting in 2011; and (3) Roman Gradual, containing the music for Mass. Pretty basic, right? Old Rite had 1, New Rite has 3. So, what’s the problem?

Well, the problems came because the new books were introduced in the most chaotic way imaginable. For example, the Sacramentary was released piecemeal over a period of years. Other books were released in a “faux” version (e.g. Ordo Cantus Missae) containing almost nothing usable 2 in an actual liturgy. There were also issues as to whether certain books ought to be printed first in Latin or the vernacular. It’s no wonder 3 Pope Paul VI asked publicly in a 1969 audience:

“How can we celebrate this new rite when we have not yet got a complete missal, and there are still so many uncertainties about what to do?”

If we possessed video recordings of what happened during the period of 1970-1975 we would be shocked. Anyway, the final book 4 to be published (in 1974!) was the Roman Gradual, but even then, it was only available with Latin rubrics. A version with English rubrics wouldn’t be published until 1990.

Obviously, the fact that no Revised Gradual was available until 1974 had a severely detrimental effect on the ability of Catholics to “sing the Mass.” It really was a death blow, and perhaps this partially explains a statement by Msgr. Francis P. Schmitt. I can’t remember the exact quote, but he basically said Catholic liturgical music couldn’t be saved in the 1970s “because by that point, there was nothing left to save.”

Catholics have begun to realize the extent to which we’ve been “ripped off,” and we’re trying to rebuild … but it won’t be easy. Recent examples of efforts in the right direction would include the Lalemant Propers and Solesmes Gregorian Missal (courtesy of the CMAA).

… And don’t forget!   Very soon, we will make an important announcement about the Roman Gradual in English.  Make sure you hear about it before anybody else.

782 Graduale Romanum 1974

 

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Pope Paul VI wanted the Introit and Communion antiphons revised “for greater intelligibility.” Perhaps he was thinking of the Introit Gaudete, since that Introit is not a “complete sentence.” However, the reformers ended up annihilating and replacing many propers. No one knows why this was allowed to happen.

2   To date, only four people in the universe actually know how to use the Ordo Cantus Missae, and one of them is Steven Van Roode, who wasn’t even born until decades after Vatican II ended!

3   I own a Lectionary from one of the big publishers that has this message in the front cover. In this same book, somebody has gone through and crossed out every instance of HE, HIS, or HIM and replaced it with something else. Does anyone have a complete 1970 organ accompaniment to the Responsorial Psalms? If not, what did people use back then? Does anyone know? Did they just speak the Responsorial Psalm until musical collections were published?

4   Solesmes cannot really be blamed for this. As a printing house, they needed to make sure the reformers were finished tinkering with the liturgy before going to the trouble of producing a quality book.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Graduale Romanum Roman Gradual Propers Last Updated: August 25, 2023

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“However well equipped and trained a choir may be, all its good points may be obscured by an unsuitable accompaniment. In fact the organist can, in a large measure, either make or mar his choir. It must be owned, however, that the accompanist of Plainsong has to contend with many difficulties. […] The purist will still find his best enjoyment of the chant when it is sung unaccompanied, but to most a becoming accompaniment gives an added charm.”

— Benedictines of Stanbrook (1905)

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