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Views from the Choir Loft

Incredible!!! • Ancient Kyriale MSS for Download

Jeff Ostrowski · October 10, 2019

81307 sperabo CURRENTLY DIRECT approximately 62 choral singers, and we often sing pieces from a nifty little booklet: the Père Daniel Kyriale (126 pages). Through the centuries—in spite of variants, which will always exist—there is a remarkable stability of the KYRIALE. I like to show my choral singers pictures of Gregorian manuscripts, and they enjoy seeing whether they can sing directly from such manuscripts, which are astounding in their beauty.

An excellent source of such items is RAPHAEL (an Italian website), which is teeming with examples from different centuries and different locations:

    * *  Link 1 • “manuscripts” (RAPHAEL)

    * *  Link 2 • “editions” (RAPHAEL)

The creators of the website were attempting to put forth an explanation for how parts of the KYRIALE might have been sung “mensurally” (with longs and shorts). Based on the evidence I have seen, there is no question that some of these manuscripts would have been sung that way—although exactly where, when, and how remain subjects which are far from settled. 1

Here are some examples:

81309 KYRIALE

81310 sperabo

81311 ancient MSS kyriale

81308 manuscripts


If your singers need to practice Gregorian chant from videos and Mp3 files, send them to the Saint Antoine Daniel Website.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   In terms of some of the speculation the creators indulge in regarding these theories, readers will have to decide for themselves which assumptions make sense.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Medieval Manuscripts Last Updated: May 6, 2021

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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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Young people have entrusted me with their absolute preference for the Extraordinary Form… […] But, above all, how can we understand—how can we not be surprised and deeply shocked—that what was the rule yesterday is prohibited today? Is it not true that prohibiting or suspecting the Extraordinary Form can only be inspired by the demon who desires our suffocation and spiritual death?”

— Cardinal Sarah to Edward Pentin (23 September 2019)

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