Stomping Feet, Clattering Hooves, and Other Chant-Related Matters
Did you know that St. Augustine described the sound of one hand clapping?
Gregorian Rhythm Wars
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Jeff’s Fourth Response to Patrick” (19 July 2023)
Twenty years ago, I had the opportunity to conduct a week-long interview with Dom Cardine’s former boss.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Tradition, Beauty, and Musicality” (16 July 2023)
“How delightful it would be to hear chants sung beautifully in a style that hasn’t been recorded hundreds of times already!” —Patrick Williams
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Weaver Responds to Williams”
“Nothing so arouses the soul, gives it wing, sets it free from the earth, releases it from the prison of the body, teaches it to love wisdom, and to condemn all the things of this life, as concordant melody and sacred song composed in rhythm.” —St. John Chrysostom
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Williams Responds to Weaver” (12 July 2023)
“What is to be gained from outdated scholarship and an anachronistic aesthetic that cannot be better accomplished by a return to the oldest sources?” —Patrick Williams
In Praise of Adaptability
A proposal: if we are going to study something as important and mysterious as Gregorian chant, we ought to be able to perform it convincingly in several different ways.
The Golden Rule and Mocquereau’s Method
Dom Mocquereau’s editions are a compromise between tradition and paleography. This explains his sometimes surprising semiological conclusions.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Patrick’s Fourth Reply to Jeff” (4 July 2023)
“It is disingenuous and ludicrous to inject the notion of hallucination and magic into the historical narrative.” —Patrick Williams
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • Video: “Introduction to Mensuralism” (28 June 2023)
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video has to be worth at least 1.8 million words.” —Dr. James McQuivey
“Offertory Verses and Why You Should Sing Them” (Includes PDF Download)
“This has nothing to do with tradition; it is shallow anti-intellectualism, lack of critical thinking, and aesthetic preference masquerading as obedience.” —Patrick Williams
PDF Download • “Epitome Gradualis Romani” • Professionally Scanned — 1,106 pages!
Years ago, I struggled with being a “people pleaser.” (That means saying whatever will please the person standing in front of you.)
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Jeff’s Third Response to Patrick” (16 May 2023)
I don’t think our readers are interested in what we say about Gregorian rhythm—they’re interested only in what we can demonstrate.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “The Hidden Dactyl”
“Perhaps surprisingly, not one word of three syllables in the ancient Easter sequence ‘Laudes Salvatori voce’ is sung to the rhythm of a dactyl.” —Alasdair Codona
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Non Praevaleat”
“We got to this point because we questioned unfounded claims.” —Patrick Williams
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.