N HIS FAMOUS book called GREGORIAN CHANT (Indiana University Press, 1958), Willi Apel said: “No true admirer of Gregorian chant can help looking with dismay at present trends toward providing organ accompaniments for the liturgical melodies. This practice, although ostensibly meant to promote the chant, is actually bound to destroy it. To what extent it has dulled the minds of ‘those that should hear’ became clear to me during a conversation with a group of young seminarists, whom I met in a train several years ago. When I mentioned my interest in Gregorian chant, one of them said, his face radiant with delight, ‘Oh, Gregorian chant is so wonderful in our church; we have an organist who makes it sound like Debussy.’ I know that it does not always sound like that. In another church it may sound more like Vaughan Williams, and elsewhere like parallel organum. Invariably it will sound like ‘something’ other than what it really is and what it should be.”
Apel Is Wrong • Apel is a formidable scholar, but his statement is idiotic. First of all, I’ve dedicated my entire to plainsong—yet Apel says people like me are not “true” admirers of Cantus Gregorianus. Secondly, he betrays his ignorance when he speaks of “present trends,” since accompaniment of Cantus Gregorianus had been thriving for at least 150 years before his book was published. (You can download 156 pages of Gregorian harmonizations by César Franck at this link.) Apel’s prediction about Cantus Gregorianus being “destroyed” did not come true—at least not how he said. Furthermore, it’s not for someone like Willi Apel to decide what Cantus Gregorianus “really is and should be” (his words). After all, Apel wrote an entire book called “GREGORIAN CHANT” without demonstrating even a basic understanding (!) of the official rhythm. Finally, Apel fails to realize that music of the Catholic Church develops over the centuries. Apel mocks the idea organists can make plainsong “sound like Debussy” without realizing that certain Gregorian modes—some, not all—can be accompanied in different ways (depending on the country, choir, organist, section of Mass, acoustic, and pipe organ). There’s nothing wrong with that! The THESAURUS MUSICAE SACRAE is massive, including a dazzling array of styles: Medieval music, Josquin, Morales, Palestrina, Guerrero, Victoria, Lassus, Monteverdi, Viadana, Buxtehude, Scarlatti, Pergolesi, Mozart, Bruckner, Rheinberger, Lotti, Perosi, Fauré, Franck, Duruflé, Kevin Allen, and so forth. The Second Vatican Council solemnly declared that the thesaurus musicae sacrae is to be “preserved and fostered with great care.” Surely there’s room in the Catholic Church for accompanied plainsong in addition to plainsong sung a cappella.
Gregorian Psalm Tones (Harmonized) • Not long ago, I was asked to demonstrate how the eight Church modes might be harmonized on the pipe organ. Yesterday, I recorded a video demonstration of each psalm tone, including the “ninth” tone (TONUS PEREGRINUS). Here’s my attempt:
* PDF Download • Harmonized Psalm Tones (5 pages)
—Eight (8) Gregorian Psalm Tones harmonized by Jeff Ostrowski.
Page 4 explains with a “little numbers” mean in front of plain-chant antiphons. The tiny alphabet letters provide the differentiae endings in key signatures without any sharps or flats. Needless to say, any psalm tone can be transposed higher or lower, depending on whether the singers have high voices or low voices. Traditionally, the monks of Solesmes used C-Natural as a reciting pitch, but Father Valentine Young, OFM, felt strongly that was too high for the average voice.
“What does Mode 1 sound like?”
“What does Mode 2 sound like?”
“What does Mode 3 sound like?”
“What does Mode 4 sound like?”
“What does Mode 5 sound like?”
“What does Mode 6 sound like?”
“What does Mode 7 sound like?”
“What does Mode 8 sound like?”
“What does the TONUS PEREGRINUS sound like?”
The following PDF chart has been downloaded more than 22,000 times:
* PDF Download • Gregorian Psalm Tones
—This PDF file gives all possible differentiæ.
