• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
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

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    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
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

Giovanni Doni is known for having changed the name of note “Ut,” renaming it “Do.” He convinced his contemporaries to make the change by arguing that 1) “Do” is easier to pronounce than “Ut,” and 2) “Do” is an abbreviation for “Dominus,” the Latin word for the Lord, Who is the tonic and root of the world. There is much academic speculation that Giovanni Doni also wanted to imprint himself into musical canon in perpetuity because “Do” is also ulteriorly an abbreviation for his family name.

— Giovanni Battista Doni died in 1647AD

Recent Posts

  • “Musicam Sacram” (5 March 1967) • Does It Apply?
  • “What Martin Luther Said…”
  • “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • Worship the Lord in Holy Attire
  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up