Sneaky “Salicus” Statements by Solesmes
Let there be no mistake about it: Dom Mocquereau (illicitly) added the “salicus” in hundreds of places where the official edition has none.
“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)
Let there be no mistake about it: Dom Mocquereau (illicitly) added the “salicus” in hundreds of places where the official edition has none.
“Hardly any of this made-up system has its basis in medieval music theory or in the manuscripts themselves.”—Patrick Williams
The beginnings of a response to mensuralism from the classic Solesmes point of view.
“With my questions unanswered by those objecting to rhythmic markings based on the oldest sources, it is difficult to take their arguments seriously.” —Patrick Williams
“May our voices be the instruments through which God breathes new life into the ancient chants of the Catholic Church, decrepit through centuries of neglect and misinterpretation!” —Patrick Williams
“The problem with semiology is not that it neglects the rhythmic indications of the oldest sources, but rather that it overinterprets them, like the nuance theory on steroids.” —Patrick Williams
“The equalist plainchant of the High Middle Ages is as far removed from the rhythmic chant of the Early Middle Ages as the isometric chorales are from their rhythmic predecessors.” —Patrick Williams
“The original chant handed down from the Fathers of the Church has strict rhythmic proportions and a steady beat.” —Patrick Williams
Fascinating details from never-before-seen letters recently discovered in southern France!
… including a deliciously dazzling discovery you won’t want to miss!
There’s nothing necessarily authentic about the “authentic” rhythm.
The incomparable Andrew Hinkley kindly set it to plainchant notation.
You look upon these thousands of manuscripts in much the same way that I view the plainsong editions of Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers.
“It is important that these melodies should be performed in the manner that they were originally conceived as works of art.” —St. Pius X
A brief historical survey of free rhythm in plainchant, as practiced from the modern monastic foundation of Solesmes (1833) to the present.
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