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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • Pristine Scan: Father Mathias’ 1905 Kyriale Organ Accompaniment (186 pages)

Jeff Ostrowski · December 3, 2024

28879-M-KYRIALE-1932-Composer-Franz-Xaver-MATHIAS-Organist-Strasbourg-Cathedral-1898–1908
28879-B-KYRIALE-1932-Composer-Franz-Xaver-MATHIAS-Organist-Strasbourg-Cathedral-1898–1908
28879-N-KYRIALE-1932-Composer-Franz-Xaver-MATHIAS-Organist-Strasbourg-Cathedral-1898–1908
28879-F-KYRIALE-1932-Composer-Franz-Xaver-MATHIAS-Organist-Strasbourg-Cathedral-1898–1908

ET’S SUPPOSE that while teaching your child how to drive you explain green lights and red lights but say nothing about yellow lights. Such an omission does not help your child. At the same time, it’s possible to emphasize exceptions too much. In retrospect, over the last twenty years I’ve been guilty of that when explaining how to read the EDITIO VATICANA. (In my own defense, I focused on discrepancies because I find them fascinating.) In the future, I will try to minimize—though not completely ignore—slight differences between those who sing from the Church’s official edition of CARMEN GREGORIANUM following the official rhythm: Father Mathias, Max Springer, Flor Peeters, Amédée Gastoué, Marcel Dupré, and so forth.

Before We Go Further • Before this article goes any further, I have exciting news. We obtained and scanned a pristine copy of the ORGAN ACCOMPANIMENT TO THE KYRIALE by Father Franz Xaver Mathias, an Alsatian priest who served as organist for Strasburg Cathedral, where he founded (in 1913) the “Saint Leo Institute for Church Music.” I believe this 1931 edition is identical to the 1905 version except for the “Missa Pro Defunctis” (which, if memory serves, had not been published in 1905).

*  PDF Download • Mathias “ORDINARIUM MISSAE” (186 pages)
—342MB (quite large) • Organum comitans ad Kyriale seu Ordinarium missae.

Significance Of This Book • Copies we scanned in the past were not pristine: viz. they sometimes contained vandalism by those who follow the rhythmic theories of Dom André Mocquereau. The best way I can explain “Mocquereau vandalism” is by an example. Are your eyes sharp enough to spot the rhythmic modifications Dom Mocquereau makes to the official edition?

Missing The Mark • Dom Mocquereau’s modifications were illicit, since they contradicted the rhythm intended by Pope Pius X as was stated explicitly by the PREFECT for the Vatican’s Congregation of Rites.1 However, his editions became quite popular. These modifications—which Mocquereau referred to as “value-added”—were based upon his (highly conjectural) interpretations of 2-3 manuscripts for which he had a special predilection. But Dom Mocquereau’s failure was not his love for 2-3 particular MSS. His failure was ignoring the testimonies of hundreds of other MSS which are also extremely ancient. He had an obligation to take into consideratoin the entire manuscript tradition, not just 2-3 manuscripts for which he felt a special love.

They’re In Agreement • If you learned Gregorian Chant from someone who speaks English or French, you probably learned the rhythm according to Dom Mocquereau’s modifications. However, if you studied with someone from Germany or Belgium, you probably learned according to the official rhythm. Those who adhere to the official rhythm include: Flor Peeters; Father Xavier Mathias; Professor Max Springer (student of Antonín Dvořák); Most Rev’d H. Laurent Janssens; Marcel Dupré; Monsignor Franz Nekes (a.k.a. “The German Palestrina”); Alfons Desmet; Aloysius Desmet; Oscar De Puydt; Father Karl Weinmann; the Wiltberger brothers; Professor Amédée Gastoué; Abbat Urbanus Bomm; Joseph Gogniat; Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel; Monsignor Jules Vyverman; Marinus de Jong; Gustaaf Nees; Henri Durieux; Edgard de Laet; Monsignor Johannes Overath; Monsignor Francis P. Schmitt; Dr. Karl Gustav Fellerer; Charles-Marie Widor; and Dom Lucien David. Broadly speaking, those who follow the official rhythm are in agreement. If you look hard enough, you can find discrepancies (“freedom”) but I promised not to focus on those.

Consider how the word múndi is treated below:

That’s probably not the way many of you learned it!

Photographs • Some photographs of the edition by Dr. Mathias:

28879-k-KYRIALE-1932-Composer-Franz-Xaver-MATHIAS-Organist-Strasbourg-Cathedral-1898–1908
28879-G-KYRIALE-1932-Composer-Franz-Xaver-MATHIAS-Organist-Strasbourg-Cathedral-1898–1908
28879-E-KYRIALE-1932-Composer-Franz-Xaver-MATHIAS-Organist-Strasbourg-Cathedral-1898–1908
28879-D-KYRIALE-1932-Composer-Franz-Xaver-MATHIAS-Organist-Strasbourg-Cathedral-1898–1908

Reminder • For the record, the organ accompaniments by Dr. Mathias are—in my humble opinion—dreadful from the harmonic point of view. But they’re important because they give another example of the authentic rhythm.

1 Sebastiano Cardinal Martinelli was appointed PREFECT of the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 8 February 1909 by Pope Saint Pius X. His famous letter of 18 February 1910 vis-à-vis Gregorian rhythm is too powerful, too eloquent, and too explicit to “summarize.” Anyone interested in Gregorian rhythm also has an obligation to study carefully the 16 January 1906 missive written by the president of the Vatican Commission on Gregorian Chant, of which I have found two different translations into English.

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

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Tagged With: Andre Mocquereau Theory of Rhythm, Carmen Gregorianum, Editio Vaticana, Gregorian Rhythm Wars, MMV melismatic mora vocis, Mora Vocis, Ordinarium Missae, Sebastian Cardinal Martinelli Last Updated: December 3, 2024

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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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 22nd in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 31 August 2025, which is the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “The Worm That Dieth Not”
    My pastor asked me to write a column for our parish bulletin with reflections on the sacred liturgy and church music. In my most recent article, I discuss “The Worm That Dieth Not.” At this website, you can access it conveniently; simply scroll down to the one dated 31 August 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The liturgy needed reform by 1965; there was no call for dismantling it. It was intended that the vernacular would enhance the Latin, not supplant it. It was not, emphatically, the mind of the Council Fathers to jettison Gregorian Chant, or to encourage the banal secularization of Church music, so as now to surpass in crudity the worst aberrations of the Howling Pentecostals.”

— Most Rev’d Robert J. Dwyer, Archbishop of Portland (9 July 1971)

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