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Views from the Choir Loft

“Dom Jausions had a skilled hand. His transcriptions are masterpieces of neatness & precision.”

Jeff Ostrowski · June 19, 2025

T’S BECOME TRENDY in certain quarters to regard Abbat Joseph Pothier as a “useful idiot” who had good intentions—at least they grant him that!—but was piteously deficient in his knowledge of CARMEN GREGORIANUM. We’re assured by this cadre that Abbat Pothier (in spite of his ignorance) managed to make some nice discoveries but was nowhere near as ‘enlightened’ as today’s scholars. While they admit that his magnificent articles, fonts, and books have been relied upon by every serious plainsong scholar for the last 150 years, such things are attributed to “dumb luck” rather than a genius who—with superhuman diligence—studied plainsong for decades.

An Example • Consider Johannes Berchmans Göschl,1 a student of Dom Eugène Cardine, who was part of a project called the GRADUALE NOVUM. In 2008, Göschl made this false and defamatory statement: “It is the case that Dom Pothier employed only a few manuscripts as the basis for his reconstruction of the Gregorian chants.” That’s quite a foolish declaration. Indeed, Dr. Katharine Ellis rightly points out that research by scholars like Jean-Pierre Noiseux makes Göschl’s view untenable.

Repeating Myself • It would be silly to blame a cheetah for not having a long neck like a giraffe. Similarly, it’s silly to attack Dom Pothier for failing to accomplish something he never tried to accomplish. Pothier didn’t claim the EDITIO VATICANA was trying to reproduce one particular manuscript. The pope gave him the task of producing a CENTO reflective of the entire manuscript tradition—not just 2-3 manuscripts. I spoke at length about this topic in my recent article: Basic Catechism of Gregorian Chant. Therefore, I won’t repeat today what I already said there.

Recently Released • A few days ago, Dominique Gatté released something quite extraordinary. It’s a reminder that Abbat Pothier wasn’t a “useful idiot”—and nor was Dom Paul Jausions (Pothier’s collaborator and coworker). To explain what Dominique Gatté released, read this paragraph by Dom Pierre Combe:

“It was in 1862 that Dom Jausions and Dom Pothier began the study of the manuscripts notated in staffless neumes, thus going back to the most ancient examples known of Gregorian chant. Inside the city library, Dom Jausions began to copy a Gradual, the manuscript 91 (83) of Angers, a task he would pursue until 1867, as circumstances permitted. In 1867, on the Feast of the Assumption, Dom Jausions presented a handsomely-bound copy of it to Dom Guéranger.”

You can download the original Angers 91 (83) manuscript:

*  Original Version • Angers 91 (83)

Dominique Gatté took photographs of the copy made by Dom Paul Jausions in the 1860s:

*  Copy by Jausions • Angers 91 (83)

On 6 April 1862, Abbat Guéranger wrote to Dom Jausions, “I admire how you copy all of this. The Processionale has shaped your writing hand.”

Comparison • First, take a look at the original gradual (“A summo caelo”):

Now examine the 1860s transcription by Dom Paul Jausions of that same gradual (“A summo caelo”):

Here is the original of the EXSULTET (according to the 3rd edition of the SAINT EDMUND CAMPION MISSAL, this was traditionally called: “Benedictio Cerei”):

And here’s the copy made by Dom Jausions:

The gorgeous canticle—“Cantémus Dómino”—as it appears in the ancient manuscript:

For reasons I don’t understand, Dom Jausions copied this page out of order. He had to make many trips to the library to get through the entire book, so perhaps he was making sure he got what he needed to (in case he never made it back). Again, the pages are out of order for this one:

The famous COMMUNION for Easter Sunday:

For the record, the Propers for the Sundays after Easter seem to be following a different arrangement than the 1962 Missal. The Christus resurgens ALLELUIA (for example) falls on the “wrong” Sunday.

Here is “In te sperávi,” an Offertory used several times in the MISSALE VETUSTUM.

On 28 March 1867, Dom Jausions had written from Angers, where he was working in the library:

“As for our work’s progress, it clearly will not be rapid, because of the many impediments that slow us down. I shall mention only one. Our task, being the restoration of the text according to the manuscripts, would be considerable enough if we had at our disposal the manuscripts we need in our cells at Solesmes. Do not forget that, far from having these indispensable documents right at hand, we are obliged to procure them first by the interminable route of a complete transcription. Thus because of this, we shall have lost years; I am wrong to say lost, since these transcriptions are for us a study to familiarize us with the chant that we intend to restore; but quite lost, nonetheless, from the point of view of the advancement of the work. Hence I am here at the public library; copying two Graduals, one from the tenth century; the other from the twelfth. In both of them I am at the Sundays after Pentecost (including the sanctoral cycle, which, in these manuscripts, is intercalated within the Proper of the Time). Now I am approaching the end, and by giant steps, but in order to reach this point, I had to make many trips, spending only a few days each time…”

24373-Dom-Paul-Jausions
24374-Melisma

1 This same person was caught using ancient adiastematic notation to “correct” compositions written in in the 19th century and the 20th century. That’s like using a score by Gilles Binchois to “correct” a score by George Gershwin. I gave several specific examples in this article. Indeed, last week I was shown a different edition claiming to have “fidelity to the manuscripts” as its objective. Yet that same edition made “corrections” to melodies composed in the 19th century. That’s like using a score by Guillaume de Machaut to “correct” a composition by Gustav Mahler.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Abbot Joseph Pothier of Solesmes, Benedictio Cerei, Dom Paul Jausions, Dominique Gatté Gregorian Chant, Gregorian Rhythm Wars, Missale Vetustum Last Updated: June 19, 2025

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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 Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —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

“However well equipped and trained a choir may be, all its good points may be obscured by an unsuitable accompaniment. In fact the organist can, in a large measure, either make or mar his choir. It must be owned, however, that the accompanist of Plainsong has to contend with many difficulties. […] The purist will still find his best enjoyment of the chant when it is sung unaccompanied, but to most a becoming accompaniment gives an added charm.”

— Benedictines of Stanbrook (1905)

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