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Lalemant Propers • Graduale Romanum in English

THE GRADUALE ROMANUM in English set to the music of Gregorian Psalm Tones for all Sundays and Solemnities. Includes 45 fully pointed Psalms for Singers.

* *  Click Here to purchase the book • 391 Pages

* *  Click Here to download the free PDF • 391 Pages

* *  Click Here for Preface & Table of Contents

The exceptional English translations used in this book have been approved for liturgical use in the United States. They are identical to the Solesmes Gregorian Missal (Imprimatur, 1989), the St. Isaac Jogues Illuminated Missal, the Simple English Propers (CMAA, 2011), the Laudate Communion Antiphons, and many more liturgical books.

78141-FRONT-Revised-Lalemant
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Summary of Contents
The Lalemant Propers are extremely simple settings (in English) of the Mass Propers which make it possible for any person to sing these sacred prayers, even people who have no musical training whatsoever. Many “bonus” features are included, such as the Good Friday Reproaches and forty-five complete Psalms pointed musically.

Press Release
Those who wish to follow the teachings of the Second Vatican Council by implementing the Mass Propers realize that absolute consistency is the only way forward. So what happens when your cantor gets sick or your choir doesn’t have time to learn one or more chants from the Simple English Propers? The answer is simple: pull out the Lalemant Propers. Each one is fully written out, and can be sung by absolutely anyone with ease.

Offertory Example
Let’s say you’re unable to prepare the full Offertory (PDF) for All Saints Day. You had planned to use the Simple English Propers, but your choir couldn’t learn it in time. No problem! Your choir can easily do use the Lalemant Propers and add Psalm Tones, like so:


Holy Saturday Example
The Lalemant Propers contain all kinds of handy settings for various feasts. For instance, the complete Holy Week is included. Here’s an example of singing the assigned “Canticle” for Holy Saturday. This beautiful text is almost always replaced by a Responsorial Psalm, but the Lalemant Propers makes it possible to sing the ancient Canticle, which is the more traditional option:


Textual Considerations
The Lalemant Propers are very simple, allowing the congregation to meditate upon the beautiful Scripture passages. The Lalemant Propers employ an Accentual Psalm Tone perfectly suited to the English language. Incidentally, many pseudo-scholars of Gregorian chant who have published articles since the Second Vatican Council are totally ignorant of the difference between Cursive and Accentual cadences in Gregorian chant. They assume all Psalm Tones are Accentual, which is why so many of their articles are filled with contradictions and confusion. That being said, there is certainly nothing wrong with Accentual Tones.

Using Both A Hymn & The Proper
The USCCB Committee on Divine Worship recently confirmed a practice already in place in many parishes wherein the “Entrance Hymn” is followed by the Mass Proper. The Lalemant Propers allow for this practice to be used without exception in every single parish in the United States. The Entrance Antiphon as set by the Lalemant Propers is incredibly short, less than 20 seconds if the verses are not used.   Therefore:

Is there any reason why the Propers cannot be sung in every English-speaking parish?

DOCUMENTS FROM VATICAN II encourage Catholics to “sing the Mass” rather than replacing the Mass with non-liturgical texts. This practice is an outgrowth of a maxim attributed to Pope St. Pius X: “Don’t pray at Mass, pray the Mass.” However, those attempting to introduce the Mass Propers at their parishes realize absolute consistency is necessary. Therefore, what happens when a cantor gets sick or there is not adequate time for the choir to learn a chant from the Graduale Romanum or Simple English Propers? Or what about circumstances where a choir is not present, such as a 7:00am Sunday Mass, or (perhaps) a special Holy Day? What about the summer months, when some choirs do not meet? If the Propers are simply omitted, this causes considerable confusion for the congregation, which was previously told that each Mass has special Propers which ought to be sung. We know very well that the Liturgy is complex and must not constantly switch back and forth with changing texts, practices, and musical choices. Constant changes are quite disruptive to Liturgical prayer.

In an effort to make sure that the Mass Propers can always be sung at every Mass no matter what, I have created this 391-page book containing very simple musical arrangements of the Graduale in English.

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Quick Thoughts

    Requesting Our Advent Eucharistic Hymn
    A young lady named Agnes wrote to us: “Dear Mr. Ostrowski, do you have the PDF score for Ave Corpus Domini set to the ADVENT melody? Last year, we sang the hymn tune “Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland” quite a bit using your contrafactum technique. My choir appreciates the Latin hymns and practice videos, especially in the ADVENT and CHRISTMAS seasons. Your recent article on Gregorian Psalm Tones is a great help to my organist brother, and reminds us of attending VESPERS years ago when we lived in California. Thank you so much for all the effort put into providing these wonderful resources!”   Agnes, if you are listening! Yes, the PDF file you desire can be downloaded for free at the Brébeuf Portal via this URL link. Thanks for writing to us!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Message from the Vice-President!
    The Vice-President of the Church Music Association of America, Dr. Horst Buchholz (who also serves as Director of Sacred Music for the Archdiocese of Detroit) sent us an email yesterday regarding the harmonizations (PDF) I composed for the Gregorian Chant psalm tones. Dr. Buchholz says: “Those settings are absolutely exquisite, as I'm used to when it comes from you. Bravo! Well done! Now, as a sequel, if you could write something for accompanying psalms in English that would be awesome.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Seven (7) Hymn Verses for November!
    In the month of November, we remember in a special way the souls in purgatory. The BRÉBEUF HYMNAL often includes text alone versions for its hymns; why is that? The short answer is: flexibility. The “text only” version allows each choirmaster to employ a myriad of melodies. For example, I recently set the English translation of “De Profúndis” with the DAVOST MELODY (PDF). We are singing this before November ends. Indeed, you can hear our volunteer singing this (in real life) if you click here.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I left music college swearing never to write another note again … It was during the mid-1980s when esoteric and cerebral avant-garde music was still considered the right kind of music to be writing.”

— James MacMillan

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