HOSE WHO SEARCH archive.org for the name “Éthelbert Thibault” will come up with tons of search results. Father Éthelbert Thibault (1898-1953) had extensive musical training and taught at the University of Montreal (Québec), as did Dr. Eugène Lapierre, his friend and collaborator. Along with Clifford Bennett, Father Thibault produced the “Catholic Choirmasters Correspondence Course,” which included LP records with a seminary Schola Cantorum singing Gregorian chant. Those interested in the CLASSICAL SOLESMES METHOD will want to explore those (very copious) lectures and recordings. Some of the recordings are done according to Solfège, such as the Lauda Sion Sequence for the feast of Corpus Christi.
False Narrative • In an effort to mock the CLASSICAL SOLESMES METHOD, it was sometimes said in the past: “At the Abbey of Solesmes itself they don’t even use the Solesmes method!” That was supposed to be a devastating attack—but it was hardly that. The reality is, the 1-2-3 counting business was meant for amateur singers; it was never intended to be used by monks who sing the Divine Office for several hours each day. Therefore, it would be foolish to expect to hear the monks of Solesmes singing “1-2-3” instead of the words.
Counting “Jubiláte Déo” • Here’s an example—courtesy of Father Thibault—of how to “count” according to Dom Mocquereau’s method:
Example Chosen • The example in that video is the strenuous offertory (“Jubiláte Déo”) for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany. Two years ago, I wrote extensively here and here about the feasts of Christmastide and Epiphany-tide, explaining how often the calendar has changed over the last 100+ years. In the second article, a chart is provided showing that editions prior to the Editio Vaticana—including the 1903 LIBER USUALIS by Dom Mocquereau—usually omitted the long beginning section. Incidentally, that Offertory also occurs on the 4th Sunday after Easter; otherwise I would not have been able to show how it looked in Mocquereau’s 1903 LIBER USUALIS. That’s because in those days the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany was always replaced by another feast, so Dom Mocquereau did not include that feast in his book.
