• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

We’re a 501(c)3 public charity established in 2006. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and run no advertisements. We exist solely by the generosity of small donors.

  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

PDF • “Ecclesia Dei” Responses (14 November 2018)

Jeff Ostrowski · November 28, 2018

87023 Commission “Ecclesia Dei” Responses (14 November 2018) ATHER DAVID PIETRAS, a Polish priest, wrote to the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” three months ago with twenty-nine (29) questions about the Traditional Latin Mass. The reply, dated 14 November, was posted anonymously on the CMAA forum.

Several questions deal specifically with Gregorian chant and music in the Extraordinary Form. The Dubia of Father Pietras (24 September) uses very poor English and—unless I am very much mistaken—was originally written in Polish. 1

    * *  PDF • Letter to “Ecclesia Dei” (24 September 2018)

    * *  PDF • Official Response (14 November 2018)

The 24th question is garbled and self-contradictory:

Question 24: During the Mass, in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, Gregorian chants performed using a different method than the Solezmian method provided for by the Graduale Romanum (1961) are acceptable? In particular: (1) the semiological method of Eugene Cardine’s house (eng. Semiology, “Gregorian’s Semiology”; House Eugene Cardine); (2) singing method by Marcel Peres (vocal technique based on eastern {especially Croatian} practice used widely by Marcel Peres and his students); (3) using Graduale Romanum 1908, omitting rules and regulations regarding the technique of singing the Gregorian chant prescribed in the Graduale Romanum 1961.

Ecclesia Dei Response: “Affirmative.”

… but the question makes no sense.

Fr. Pietras asks whether the Solesmes rhythmic method of 1961 must be used. Those who attended the 2018 Symposium realize that (technically) the Solesmes rhythmic method of 1961 is not allowed by the official decrees of the Church. Private rhythmic methods (such as the 1961 Solesmes) were tolerated so long as they don’t contradict the official Vaticana rhythm. 2

87024 De musica sacra 1958


This was explicitly written in §59 of De Musica Sacra, issued under Pope Pius XII (3 September 1958). The “rules and regulations” of the 1961 Graduale—to which Fr. Pietras makes reference—are not the official rules. The official rules are in the 1908 Graduale, as we have explained many times. Technically, the Solesmes rhythm is not allowed—because it frequently contradicts the official Vaticana rhythm—but the CSM (“Classical Solesmes Method”) has become so popular over the last 120 years, it seems foolish to oppose it. The NOH attempted to oppose it in the 1940s, using the official rules which (by law) are printed in the front every Graduale. An English translation of those rules can be found here. 3

To be clear, I am not attacking Fr. Pietras for being confused; the whole situation is rather esoteric. It took me several years to fully grasp it.

By the way, Fr. Pietras claims the method of Marcel Peres is “widely used.” I believe he’s mistaken; it’s not widely used. Moreover, he makes reference to a “singing method” of Dom Cardine—yet Cardine repeatedly made clear he did not leave a particular system, and in his Last Will And Testament (1984) reiterated again that semiology “is not a method.”

The 27th question is also quite garbled, and difficult to understand:

Question 27: Is the female solo singing allowed during the liturgy in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, in connection with the instruction of Musicam Sacram published in 1967? The Sacred Congregation of Rites, in reply to the “On July 10, 1959,” for dubia regarding the Instruction De musica sacra from 1958 (questions were asked by Alojzy Carli, bishop of Segni), she ruled that solo singing should not be performed by a woman (No. 3-4).

Ecclesia Dei Response: “This Pontifical Commission would not be opposed to this where the practice exists.”

Fr. Pietras seems to inquire whether a female can sing a solo during the Extraordinary Form. Ecclesia Dei says yes; but it would have been better if the person asking the question had specifically asked whether operatic solo singing is allowed.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   For example, when Fr. Pietras makes reference to “House Eugene Cardine,” he is probably attempting to speak of the Cardine school.

2   The official Vaticana method never really caught on. For one thing, the morae vocis are frequently ambiguous for the singers, especially regarding the Virga. Moreover, the “white notes” are difficult to locate, unless you place your nose close to the bottom of the book spine. John Rayburn wrote in 1964:

The place of the controversial Solesmes editions is clarified by the final paragraph of the 1958 Instruction (De Musica Sacra). It is interesting to note that, for the first time in Vatican decrees dealing with the Solesmes books, a word other than “tolerated” is used; the paragraph cited states that such editions are “permitted.” This is undoubtedly due to the widespread circulation the Solesmes books have achieved in the past fifty years. At any rate, the monopoly held by Solesmes for so long in this country and elsewhere is evidently broken.

Regarding the wording of the 1958 decree, section 59 makes it clear that private rhythmic signs are allowed unless they modify the official edition’s melody. For instance, to add pauses where there are no pauses (or to remove pauses where “white notes” create them) is not allowed precisely because it “alters the melodic line”—and the 1961 Solesmes rhythmic markings do that about 45% of the time. Ictus markings (i.e. counting 1-2-3) is permissible precisely because it preserves the “force and meaning of the notes found in the Vatican books.” However, the CSM (“Classical Solesmes Method”) has been the universally preferred way to perform plainsong for 120 years, and denying this reality would be futile.

3   The Liber Usualis also contains an English translation of the 1908 official rules. However, a few pages later, the editors contradict these very rules!

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Proof Which All Can Immediately See!
    “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” as the famous maxim goes. Over the years, I’ve observed malicious attacks on the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal. Rather than scoring a ‘hit’ on the Brébeuf Hymnal, its attackers often reveal profound ignorance. I’ve been advised never to reply … but I break that rule today. Certain voices online assert that the Brébeuf Hymnal is “untraditional” because it includes both the Urbanite and pre-Urbanite versions of the hymns. But if only they would glance at a copy of the 1913 VESPERALE (printed by order of Pope Saint Pius X) they would see how mistaken such statements are.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “8 June 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for the parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article includes a few anecdotes about Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and Abraham Lincoln.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Gloria in Spanish” • Free Accompaniment
    Several people have requested an organ accompaniment for the GLORY TO GOD which prints the Spanish words directly above the chords. The Spanish adaptation—Gloria a Dios en el cielo—as printed in Roman Misal, tercera edición was adapted from the “Glória in excélsis” from Mass XV (DOMINATOR DEUS). I used to feel that it’s a pretty boring chant … until I heard it sung well by a men’s Schola Cantorum, which changed my view dramatically. This morning, I created this harmonization and dedicated it to my colleague, Corrinne May. You may download it for free. Please let me know if you enjoy it!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“Parish Priests have to think first of the simple faithful: people now used to the Roman Missal at Mass. They don’t want change.”

— Cardinal Spellman (one of the Vatican II fathers)

Recent Posts

  • Proof Which All Can Immediately See!
  • New Bulletin Article • “8 June 2025”
  • “The Adalbert Propers” • Six (6) Quotations
  • PDF Download • “Entrance Chant” for 29 June … Which Falls on a Sunday This Year!
  • “Music List” • 6th Sunday of Easter (Year C)

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.