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Views from the Choir Loft

Adapting Chant To The Vernacular

Guest Author · August 31, 2015

351 Steven Van Roode Gregorian Chant STILL REMEMBER the first time I heard one of Jeff Ostrowski’s Chabanel Psalms. It was in 2007, and I was immediately moved by the beauty and simplicity of his compositions. Could his modal style also be applied to Dutch responsorial psalms, of which at that time only a few were set to the official translation? I was also considering putting together a set of simple propers in Dutch, following the exhortation of two saintly Popes: “The more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savour the Gregorian melodic form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes” (Sts. Pius X and John Paul II). How should this be accomplished for vernacular texts? For my “Klein Graduale”—a Dutch adaptation of the Graduale Simplex—I found the following strategy the most fulfilling.

    * *  Klein Graduale Website • Gregorian settings in Dutch

My adaptations of Chabanel Psalms or Gregorian chants to Dutch liturgical texts are based on a couple of principles. First, I put neumes only on stressed words and syllables. The Dutch language doesn’t tolerate neumatic melodies very well, let alone rich, melismatic lines. Second, I make sure each clause of a sentence gets a single melodic line. The original Latin chants tend to divide each clause up into even smaller parts. In Dutch, this sounds clumsy. A single line of thought is best expressed by a single, fluent motion. Third, the melody should support the natural accentuation of the vernacular text. To enhance the intelligibility and clarity of the sung text, it is important that the chant follows—to a certain extent—the text’s intonation contour.

How to achieve these principles? Surely, you should keep an eye on the characteristics of the Gregorian melody. For example, searching for structure pitches helps me to capture the overall sound of an antiphon, without getting lost by elaborations and embellishments. Also, each mode has its own distinctive motives and cadences. Office antiphons in particular make extensive use of TYPE MELODIES and CENTONIZATION by putting together typical melodic figures. Additionally, I try to pay attention to the ‘musical exegesis’ of the original chant. Gregorian chant provides a spiritual commentary on the liturgical texts it carries, giving us a valuable look into how these texts functioned as a prayer in the lives of the medieval composers. This I strive to preserve.

To give you an idea of these vernacular compositions, I give two examples below. The first is my adaptation of the entrance antiphon Omnis terra from the Graduale Simplex:

“All the earth shall bow down before you, O God, and shall sing to you, shall sing to your name, O Lord.”

It’s a very simple, syllabic tune of mode 4:

SIMP INT


The second example is an entrance antiphon as well with the same (Latin) text and of the same mode, but this time taken from the Graduale Romanum. You can see it’s more neumatic, contrasting with the simpler chants from the Graduale Simplex:

GRAD INT



We hope you enjoyed this guest article by Steven van Roode.

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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Quick Thoughts

    “Glory To God” • (For Choir + Congregation)
    I wish to thank everyone for the nice comments I received vis-à-vis my Glory To God setting for Choir & Congregation. A gentleman with a musical doctorate from Indiana University wrote: “Love this setting so much. And I will pray, as you asked, for your return to composition more fully. You are very very good.” A female choir director wrote: “I love your harmonizations, your musicality, and the wonderful interplay you have with dissonance and consonance in your music. So fun to listen to, and great for intellect, heart, and soul!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    William Byrd • “Mass for Five Voices”
    Our volunteer choir is learning the “Sanctus” from William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices. You can hear a short excerpt (recorded last Sunday) but please ignore the sound of babies crying: Mp3 recording. We still have work to do—but we’re on the right track. Once we have some of the tuning issues fixed, I desire to use it as an example proving volunteers can sing complicated polyphony.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Baptism” • A Unique Hymn
    Father Christopher Phillips is the founding Pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church. One of his hymns is unique and (in my humble opinion) quite beautiful. His hymn is basically a prayer to the Holy Trinity but also speaks of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. It would be an ideal Communion hymn on Trinity Sunday or the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. You can hear live recording from last Sunday by clicking here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Place the missal in the hand of the faithful so that they may take part more easily and more fruitfully in the Mass; and that they faithful, united with the priest, may pray together in the very words and sentiments of the Church.”

— Ven. Pope Pius XII

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