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Views from the Choir Loft

Five ways to print the Propers

Veronica Brandt · July 11, 2015

Albion Press 1830s HE GREGORIAN CHANT PROPERS of the Roman Rite are treasures of inestimable value and so readily available. That is not to say they are easy, but the main difficulties can be 1, knowing which pieces to use when and 2, reading and interpreting the music.

In the first difficulty the easiest answer is to ask the priest who will be celebrating Mass. The second is dealt with in more detail at How to Read and Sing Gregorian Chant – eleven lessons to get you started.

Ideally choir members would do well to have their own copy of the Liber Usualis or the Liber Brevior, and know how to use them. Failing that, the person encouraging them to learn the propers can smooth the way for singers by printing copies of the propers. These can be annotated to your heart’s content.

Five different ways to print the propers:

FIRSTLY you can download and print the propers from Rene Goupil Propers here on Corpus Christi Watershed. This is mainly for Sundays. Just scroll down the desired day and download the scores as needed. This also has recordings of all the music – an amazing resource!

SECONDLY there is another similar collection at the Institute of Christ the King. As above, this one is mainly for Sundays. The main difference is that they lack translations and the music tends to be a little larger.

THIRDLY you could download and print from scans of the Liber Usualis. This may require a little more work, but has all the music you need for the majority of Missa Cantatas.

FOURTHLY you could avail yourself of the Propers Tool. The drop down menu has a list of Sundays to choose from, but also a Custom option at the bottom of the list which allows you to choose the exact piece you require for any day of the year. The default setting is to print everything on one page. This also has the added facility to reduce tunes down to psalm tones for any challenging antiphons.

LASTLY, there is GregoBase. This is a collection of all the chant from the Graduale Romanum and Liber Usualis in a database that permits volunteers to correct any discrepancies in transcription. The most straightforward way to find what you need is “by incipit” or the first few words of each piece you need. Each piece is available in a few different formats. The png format is handy for inserting into word processor files to make your own booklets.

There you have five ways to print the Latin Gregorian Chant propers for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. I hope it makes the task of bringing the Propers to life a little less daunting.

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
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    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
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“The Jesuits have spoiled the work of Christian antiquity, under pretext of restoring the hymns in accordance with the laws of metre and elegant language.”

— M. Ulysse Chevalier (1891)

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