Simple Mass Propers (1909)

ID YOU EVER WONDER how “back in the day” small choirs managed to sing the Propers? In some places, even though it contradicted the rubrics, choirs simply skipped the Propers. In other places (and this was extremely common) choirs would sing them recto tono—that is to say, all on one note, often with organ accompaniment. Dr. Peter Wagner and the committee which created the Editio Vaticana considered the possibility of allowing small choirs to skip the chants between the Epistle and Gospel, or to prepare a “simple” version. The idea ended up going nowhere, because the committee soon fell apart due to irreconcilable differences.

Here’s an example of how the Proprium Missae could be made easier to sing:

    * *  PDF Download • Simple Propers for Easter Sunday (1909)

Here is a 1909 article explaining what this is all about:

In some ways, what Amatucci did seems more difficult than singing the actual plainsong…

By the way, Schwann—a company very much associated with Dr. Peter Wagner—in 1917 published an edition with simple versions of the chants between Epistle and Gospel. You can download that book at the St. Lalande Library.