URING Sacred Music Symposium 2022, I had the honor of giving a lecture in which I presented evidence supporting Abbat Pothier’s condemnation (1906) of the rhythmic signs imposed upon the official edition by his student, Dom André Mocquereau. Professor Peter Wagner (an eminent Gregorianist) called these private additions to the official melodies: “an untraditional garment draped over the melodies.” Indeed, these rhythmic symbols were never accepted by the Germans, Belgians, or the Austrians. Many feel that Mocquereau’s excessive elongations—which contradict the official rhythm—change Gregorian chant into something heavy, funereal, and plodding.
For The First Time! Back in 2008, I allowed Jeffrey Tucker to scan my personal copy of the 1908 Graduale Romanum (VATICAN PRESS). But today we release the 1908 Schwann edition, which is larger, clearer, and more elegantly printed than the Vatican Press version:
* PDF Download • 1908 SCHWANN EDITION (1,129 pages)
—63.3MB • “Pure” Editio Vaticana • GRADUALE + KYRIALE.
Stay Tuned: We still have 1,400 more pages (from two more books) to release. These forthcoming books are extremely rare … and we’ve had them professionally scanned!
Are you excited? You should be!
