Vollaerts Revisited
“The time is ripe to reconsider the contributions of Fr. Jan Vollaerts to Gregorian musicology.” —Patrick Williams
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.”

“The time is ripe to reconsider the contributions of Fr. Jan Vollaerts to Gregorian musicology.” —Patrick Williams

“Reading deliberate ‘nuances’ into normal variations in handwriting is a solution in search of a problem.” —Patrick Williams

In praise of the Cardine approach to chanting, with some further thoughts on pluralism and correctness in performance practice.

“I cannot imagine any justification for making such an alteration and still claiming that one’s edition corresponds to the Vaticana.” —Patrick Williams

This coming Sunday is the 17th Sunday after Pentecost (EF).

My goal is to clarify and illumine what I believe exactly is at stake when we debate the rhythm in chant. I shall first attempt to summarize the core arguments that each of the main authors in this blog series use.

“The burden of proof is on the one who persists in ignoring the evidence.” —Patrick Williams

Guest submission (1 September 2023) by Alasdair Codona of Glasgow, Scotland.

“The oldest rhythmic sources are reliable. Study them for yourself and don’t take my word for anything!” —Patrick Williams

Including a scanned copy of a rare “Graduale” (Pustet, 1911) released a few minutes ago—for the first time in history!
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Ash Wednesday

“Now all you have to do is connect the dots for yourself.” —Patrick Williams

Did you know that St. Augustine described the sound of one hand clapping?
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