Views from the Choir Loft

1909 Schwann Graduale Romanum

Corpus Christi Watershed · March 19, 2013

HE FOLLOWING BOOK has been made available for free download courtesy of the Jean de Lalande Library. If you appreciate these efforts, please consider making a donation by using the link at the top of the page.

* * 1909 Schwann Graduale Romanum (PDF)

• Römisches Gradualbuch : : Auszug aus der vatikanischen Ausgabe des GRADUALE ROMANUM mit deutscher Übersetzung der Rubriken und Texte • Author: Ausgabe Schwann U1 • Publishing Information: Düsseldorf : : Druck und Verlag von L. Schwann : : 1909 (is the general assumption) • 1909 Graduale Romanum in Gregorian Notation by Schwann. • Imprimatur in 1909 by Dr. Kreutzwald, as well as a 1907 and 1908 decree. That’s probably why the library says it was published in 1909 •

This is identical to the 1908 edition (and the typesetting was xerox copied in 1953 by Abbot Urbanus Bomm, O.S.B., Karl Gustav Fellerer, and Msgr. Johannes Overath) except that this 1908 edition—which is called “Editio Schwann U1” instead of “Editio Schwann P”—contains along the bottom of each page a translation of the Latin into German.

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

“Music List” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the the feasts website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”

All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser

To assist our fundraiser, Mrs. Kathleen Ostrowski has drawn several beautiful sketches which she offers to all our readers free of charge. If you have a moment, I invite you download them at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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