Where Can I Find Plainchant Mass In Normal Notation

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operaboz

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I have been searching the internet for hours for the mass in plainchant or gregorian chant but all i can find is the old or rather the proper 4 lined stave can anybody tell me where i can get the normal 5 line stave music for the mass in plainchant or gregorian chant
peace out
GOD BLESS…
 
My first answer is, I don’t know where you could find these.

My second answer is, “normal notation” is a Bad Thing when it comes to Gregorian chant, because it encourages singers to think in terms of beats and measures, and that is a killer for good chant. There are no beats in chant (which is to say, THERE ARE NO BEATS IN CHANT! :)); rather, it should flow in an unmetrical fashion (think e.g. rolling waves on the water, or long ribbons in the breeze).

Square-note notation is very simple to learn, and very rewarding to sing from.
 
Here there are recordings and jpegs of chant with both modern notation and square notes. (Though I would agree with the poster above about modern notation not being good for chant, but it is at least usable. 😉 )

Also if you check out the Sacred Music section (lower right hand column) of my blog (link in sig.) you may find some more useful links! 🙂
 
Operaboz, as VociMike said Gregorian chant is ametrical, but you can easily sing it from modern notation. If you google Jubilate Deo you can find the most simple chant mass in modern notation. It is the same mass as E.E.N.S. has on his link, but this one can be printed out in a little booklet which you can carry with you to Mass. There are no copywrite restrictions on this. If you want more masses, the Liturgical Press publishes Seven Chant Masses in a singers book and an accompaniment edition. (Chant should be sung acappella, but some folks feel that that they need a little help.) We used this book in our choir, and it contains such favorites as Missa Cum jubilo, and Missa De angelis. Happy singing!
 
The hymnal Worship III also has plainsong and chant in modern notation. We use it in my cathedral parish.
 
operaboz said:
I have been searching the internet for hours for the mass in plainchant or gregorian chant but all i can find is the old or rather the proper 4 lined stave can anybody tell me where i can get the normal 5 line stave music for the mass in plainchant or gregorian chant
peace out
GOD BLESS…
Click to expand...
Modern notation does not work very well for Gregorian chant, even though some missalettes try to put the Jubilate Deo into modern notation. (someone who knows a great deal about chant can make it work, but they would know it is more difficult to do things that way- so they probably wouldn’t) The meter is different, so it’s like trying make a flat map of the earth- it’s distorted. The gregorian notation is not hard to learn to read. It takes about a year to learn it all (sometimes less), but start with simpler chants (the Requiem Mass is a very simple one) and move up from there.
 
operaboz said:
I have been searching the internet for hours for the mass in plainchant or gregorian chant but all i can find is the old or rather the proper 4 lined stave can anybody tell me where i can get the normal 5 line stave music for the mass in plainchant or gregorian chant
peace out
GOD BLESS…
Click to expand...
There’s quite a reasonable selection here. You have to download the free music viewer though, first, here.
 
All,

Using traditional notation as opposed to modern, is in no way a guarantee of better execution. I am old enough to have been a witness of this in the “hey-day” of Gregorian Chant, where, in so many parishes, it was horribly interpreted. . As said above several times, the rhythm (and modes) of Gregorian Chant is what distinguishes it from modern music, and once the leader and the singers understand this, it does not matter what notation is used.

The more important question is : What is my diocese doing to train music directors in Gregorian Chant?

Verbum
 
Verbum said:
the rhythm (and modes) of Gregorian Chant is what distinguishes it from modern music, and once the leader and the singers understand this, it does not matter what notation is used.
Click to expand...
Modern notation attaches meter and note values to Gregorian chant that are inaccurate. The leader and singers may understand it, but it’s sort of cheating not to use the correct notation. A qualified schola director will know how to train the schola in reading gregorian chant. It will take them as long to sing it well and to pronounce the Latin (though I have yet to hear a church choir that pronounces Latin correctly) as to read it anyway, so it shouldn’t matter.
 
You’re in luck

The Liber Usualis (:tiphat: NLM blog) is online in modern notation. Although it is of the pre-1960 calendar a lot of material is the same so you might be able to find some of what you need.
 
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