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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

Incredible!!! • Ancient Kyriale MSS for Download

Jeff Ostrowski · October 10, 2019

81307 sperabo CURRENTLY DIRECT approximately 62 choral singers, and we often sing pieces from a nifty little booklet: the Père Daniel Kyriale (126 pages). Through the centuries—in spite of variants, which will always exist—there is a remarkable stability of the KYRIALE. I like to show my choral singers pictures of Gregorian manuscripts, and they enjoy seeing whether they can sing directly from such manuscripts, which are astounding in their beauty.

An excellent source of such items is RAPHAEL (an Italian website), which is teeming with examples from different centuries and different locations:

    * *  Link 1 • “manuscripts” (RAPHAEL)

    * *  Link 2 • “editions” (RAPHAEL)

The creators of the website were attempting to put forth an explanation for how parts of the KYRIALE might have been sung “mensurally” (with longs and shorts). Based on the evidence I have seen, there is no question that some of these manuscripts would have been sung that way—although exactly where, when, and how remain subjects which are far from settled. 1

Here are some examples:

81309 KYRIALE

81310 sperabo

81311 ancient MSS kyriale

81308 manuscripts


If your singers need to practice Gregorian chant from videos and Mp3 files, send them to the Saint Antoine Daniel Website.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   In terms of some of the speculation the creators indulge in regarding these theories, readers will have to decide for themselves which assumptions make sense.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Medieval Manuscripts Last Updated: May 6, 2021

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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” • 17th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (27 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 Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion • “Ask & You Shall Receive”
    All of the chants for 27 July 2025 have been added to the feasts website, as usual under a convenient “drop down” menu. The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (both text and melody) are exceedingly beautiful and ancient.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Jeff’s Mother Joins Our Fundraiser
    To assist our fundraiser, Mrs. Kathleen Ostrowski has drawn several beautiful sketches which she offers to all our readers free of charge. If you have a moment, I invite you download them at this link.
    —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

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“What really matters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary. And, without the love of Jesus, everything is useless.”

— Pope John Paul II (1979)

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