Rhetoric, Number, Measure, and Historicism
The beginnings of a response to mensuralism from the classic Solesmes point of view.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Clap Your Hands!” (10 Mar 2023)
“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
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Liturgical Recitative” (15 Feb 2023)
“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
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “The Normal Syllabic Value” (6 Feb 2023)
“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
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Chorale and Chant Carefully Considered” (2 Jan 2023)
“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
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Patrick’s Third Response to Jeff” (19 Dec 2022)
“The original chant handed down from the Fathers of the Church has strict rhythmic proportions and a steady beat.” —Patrick Williams
Recent Book! • “The Politics of Plainchant”
Fascinating details from never-before-seen letters recently discovered in southern France!
PDF Download • “Kyriale Accompaniment Book” by Dr. Peter Wagner (138 pages)
… including a deliciously dazzling discovery you won’t want to miss!
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “The Limits of History”
There’s nothing necessarily authentic about the “authentic” rhythm.
PDF Download • “Salve Regina” [Simplex] • An Elegant English Translation (2022)
The incomparable Andrew Hinkley kindly set it to plainchant notation.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Jeff’s Second Response to Patrick” (6 Dec 2022)
You look upon these thousands of manuscripts in much the same way that I view the plainsong editions of Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “History Matters” (30 Nov 2022)
“It is important that these melodies should be performed in the manner that they were originally conceived as works of art.” —St. Pius X
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “On the Nuance Theory of Plainchant”
A brief historical survey of free rhythm in plainchant, as practiced from the modern monastic foundation of Solesmes (1833) to the present.
Gregorian Rhythm Wars • “Repercussion and the Mora Vocis” (21 Nov 2022)
Patrick Williams addresses points raised by Matthew Frederes and Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • “How Does the Official Rhythm Actually Sound?”
Including three (3) professionally-scanned versions of the Kyriale, released here for the 1st time!