HE TRUTH IS STRANGER than fiction. For example, it’s fascinating how JACKIE GLEASON couldn’t read a note of music, yet produced 100+ albums and still holds the record for the longest stay on the Billboard Top Ten Charts. Gleason’s first ten albums sold over a million copies each! Something else I find endlessly fascinating is how plainsong’s Melismatic Mora Vocis (which I have referenced so often) was completely forgotten for a century, due to the popularity of the rhythmic modifications Dom Mocquereau imposed on the official edition. It’s as if nobody was curious about the thousands of elongations added by Dom Mocquereau. Indeed, after one realizes what Dom Mocquereau did, it becomes impossible to “unsee” the bizarre way his additions were squeezed in, since the Vatican made it clear to Dom Mocquereau—by means of a letter dated 6 September 1906—that he wasn’t allowed to change any of the blank spaces.
No Condemnation • In spite of what some have claimed, I do not “condemn” those who follow the Mocquereau rhythm (as I did for more than 20 years). At the same time, we should understand what took place. In my opinion, we have no obligation to “conceal” or “suppress” the truth. For this reason, I have attempted to let people know why some choose to sing the Editio Vaticana the way it was intended to be sung by those who—at the behest of Pope Saint Pius X—created it.
Perfect Conformity • The 1909 SCHWANN EDITION is one of the most faithful books when it comes to the official rhythm. I’m tempted to say it is more faithful than any other book, but Father Mathias is also quite faithful, and so is the LEMMENSINSTITUUT faculty. Corpus Christi Watershed has paid to have this incredibly rare book professionally scanned:
* PDF Download • 1909 GRADUALE Modern Notation (712 pages)
—40.4MB • Epitome E Graduali (Schwann) • Scanned professionally.
The technical title is Epitome E Graduali, because it’s not “complete” inasmuch as certain items (such as Graduals and Tracts) have been simplified. This book is also known as Römisches Gradualbuch. I can’t imagine how many hours of painstaking work were required to produce such a book.
Can You Help Us?
We Desperately Need Donations! • I believe so strongly in what we are doing, I’m not ashamed to beg. Obtaining these rare books (and having them professionally scanned) has required thousands of dollars. We have more books to release, but more are waiting to be scanned. When we scan them “in house” the quality suffers—although the file size is much larger (which is inconvenient for our readers). That’s why we prefer to have these books scanned professionally. The online library our organization has created is about 24x larger than the UCLA music library (in terms of liturgical books) … and you can access all the books completely free of charge!
Can you please make a donation right now?
Thank you for your consideration, and God bless!
Some books we have recently obtained and scanned:
* PDF Download • Weinmann Gradual on Five Lines! (692 pages)
* PDF Download • Wagner’s “Kyriale Accompaniment” (138 pages)
* PDF Download • 1908 Solesmes Graduale Romanum (1,077 pages)
* PDF Download • 1920 Plainsong Booklet on 5 Lines! (326 pages)
* PDF Download • 1908 Schwann Graduale Romanum (1,129 pages)
* PDF Download • 1942 Nova Organi Harmonia Ad Graduale (343 pages)
* PDF Download • Msgr. Nekes “Kyriale Organ Accompaniment” (175 pages)
* PDF Download • 1905 Lecoffre KYRIALE (95 pages)
* PDF Download • 1913 “VESPERALE” by Schwann (954 pages)
* PDF Download • Springer’s Gradual in Modern Notation (870 pages)
* PDF Download • 1915 “Gregorian Vesperale” on Five Lines! (651 Pages)
