Where can I find an english translation of the traditional 'Kyriale'?

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hazza590

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I love Gregorian Chant, especially the chants found in the traditional Kyriale (found in the Graduale Romanum and Liber Usualis). Has there been a concerted effort to translate these chants into english whilst maintaining their beautiful melodies? If not, why not? I am seriously considering making this a project of mine in order to bring real sacred music back into a parish obsessed with so-called “folk masses”.

Here is a link to what I mean: Saint Antoine Daniel Kyriale (Website) | Corpus Christi Watershed

Thank you.
Harry
 
In my opinion, as a practitioner of Gregorian chant for 18 years, only the simplest melodies will be adaptable to English, and French would be as bad if not worse. Gregorian chant is built around the phraseology and accentuation of the Latin, and in some cases Greek. It just doesn’t work all that well in other languages, though Italian comes closest, I’ve had experience chanting in Italian at an abbey in Italy.

The texts of the Kyriale are all quite simple. Asperges me, Vidi Aquam, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Pater. No matter the melody, these texts are invariable and thus easy for the laity to learn. They are the ideal parts of the Mass to introduce Latin, because of their invariability.
 
OraLabora said:
Gregorian chant is built around the phraseology and accentuation of the Latin, and in some cases Greek. It just doesn’t work all that well in other languages, though Italian comes closest, I’ve had experience chanting in Italian at an abbey in Italy.
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Thank you for your reply. This is a link to Gloria XI adapted to English: https://media.musicasacra.com/pdf/gloriaxi-new.pdf

As you have a lot of experience with gregorian chant, I would like to here your thoughts on this adaptation.
 
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It sounds kludgy to me but maybe it’s because I’ve only ever chanted the Latin. IMHO, the simplest Gloria, Gloria XV, works best though still not all that great:


Gloria XV is a piece of cake to learn in Latin, a great « starter Gloria » for a congregation.
 
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In a perfect world I would want the Latin ordinaries from the Kyriale, but I know I will get some push back from my current parish.
 
Try it first as an occasional special occasion. Our schola, learned the hard way. We rotate around parishes once a month. We also chant the propers in Latin. We are seen as an occasional special treat and are very well accepted. We even have some groupies who always come to the parish where we are singing, LOL!

That way you don’t overdose anyone.
 
Thank you very much for your advice. A friend and I are trying to ease our parish into this stuff. Hopefully it will be well received.
 
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