Rev. Henry Bewerunge Attacks Pothier

8/8/2019 Rev. Henry Bewerunge Attacks Pothier

1/11

CAECILIA

Editorial and Business Address: 3558 Cass St., Omaha 31, Nebraska

When the Vat ican Edi tion began coming off the press in thefirst decade of this century, its strongest supporters did not perhapsexpect it to la st unti l the d is tan t 1960. They had a somevAntshocking bat tle on their hands to bring it to hght of day. Nonetheless it is still "\vith us, as a necessity it seems to us, reflecting thewisdom of its editors. \Ve cannot accept, on the one hand, the oftproven artificiality of the rhythmic system of the school ofSolesmes,nor on the other , the mensuralistic system of any given set of manuscripts. Some of the latter have added greatly to our knowledge ofchant history; the former has only created five decades of confusion.

127

In this issue we reprint two articles indicative of the ear lyconflict-not simply to fill space, but as a matter of information,which, at this late date, one might hope to evaluate without jaundice.In the next issue we shall print a lit tle known and never Englisheddefense of the Vatican Edition by Peter Wagner, called Der Kampfgegen die Editio Vaticdl1d. And Father Vitry will elaborate editorially.

A Stand on th e ChantEDITORIALS

The editors of this journal could think with some justification-- that their stand on the chant has been sufficiently clear. Still, be-cause o f publishing events of t he last two years, and our ownpresentation of differing sides, we feel that the time is proper tostate a definitive stand. It is no kind of momentous decision. forwe stand with the Vatican Edition, which is still the official editionof t he church. "Therefore the authentic Gregorian chant is thatwhich is found in the " typical" Vat ican edi tions, or which is approved by the Sacred Congrega tion of Ri tes for some par ticu larchurch or religious community, and so it must be reproduced onlyby edi tors who have proper authorization, accurately and completely, as regards both melodies and the texts. The signs, calledrhythmic, which have been private ly int roduced into GregorianChant, are permitted, provided that the force and meaning of thenotes found in the Vatican books of liturgical chant are preserved."(Instruction on Sacred Music and the Liturgy, Sept. 3, 1958)

Norbert Letter

_Paul Sing__ Ferenc Denes

u _ u _ u u Rev. Elmer PfeilRev. Richard SchulerJames WelchRev. Francis Brunner, C.Ss.R.Paul Koch

Dom Ermin Vitry, O.S.B.__Rev. Francis Schmitt

Caecilia Associates

Editor EmeritusEditor _u uuu_wuuuuuContributing Editors

Managing Edi to r _Library _

HonoraryDr. Caspar Koch Mr. Arthur ReillyRev. Russell Woollen, Washi ngt on , D om GregoryMurray, DownsideD. C. Abbey, EnglandRoger Wagner, Ho llywood , Ca l. F lo rP ee ter s, Mechl in, BelgiumEugene Selhorst, Rochester, N. Y. Alexander Peloquin, ,Providence,Terence Gahagan, London, England R . I .Winifred T. Flanagan, Omaha, Omer Westendorf, Cincinnati, Ohio

Nebr. Ralph Jusko, Cincinnati, OhioRev. Irvin UdulutchMt. Cat, Wis. Paul HlUue, Washington, D. C.Rev. Laurence Feininger, Trento,Italy Rev. Walter Rees, W orthingtoll,O.

Rev. Fred Reece, Des Moines, Iowa Rev . Wil lian l Sae lman , Bolivia, S .A.Rene Dosogne, Chicago, Ill. Rev. Cha rl es Dreisoerner, St . L ouis,Louis Pisciotta, Boys Town, Nebr. Mo.John Yonkmall, FortWayne, Ind. Frank Szynskie, Boys Town, Nebr.

Rev. Fidelis Smith, Chicago, Ill.

Subscription Price: $3.00; Additional Single Copy 75Circulation

A Quarterly Review devoted to the liturgical mtlSic apostolate.Published with ecclesiastical approva l by the Society of Saint Cacilla inSpring, Summer, Autumn and Win te r. Established in 1874 b y J oh n B.Singenberger, K.C.S.G., K.C.S.S. (1849-1924).


2/11

_ ~ - - - - - - . . . . . . . ~ _ ~ ~ ~ " u 45[ 44 ]

THE VATICAN EDITION OF PLAIN CHANT lie

THE first part of the Vatican edition of Plain Chant ,namely, the ' Kyriale,' that is, t he par t containingt he c hants for the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus,

and Credo, a s well a s for th e lte, Missa est, and BenedicamusDomino and for the Asperges and Vidi aquam, has appearedat last. I t ha d been waited for anxiously and with someuneasiness. I t was an open secret that the cause of th edelay lay in some dissensions amongst th e members of thePontifical Commission. When this difficulty had beenovercome-we sha ll see presently in what manner-disconcerting rumours as to the nature of th e forthcomingedition got abroad. We are now in a position to formulatean opinion, and l et me say it at once, th e result before usi s sorely disappointing. I make this statement with theutmost pain. Fo r I know that the opponents of th eattempted return to the t radi tion will rejoice, and manyfriends of th e old chants will be disheartened. But thetruth must come out sooner or later, and it is best, therefore, to let it be known at once.

Le t us recall what has happened. In his Motu Proprioon Church Music, of 22nd November, 1903, Pope Piu s Xordained the return to th e traditional chant of the Church.Accordingly, in a Decree of 8th January, 1904, the Congregation of Rites, withdrawing th e former decrees in favourof the Ratisbon (Medicaean) edition, commanded that thetraditional form of Plain Chant should be introduced intoal l the churches as soon as possible. Soon afterwardshis Holiness, in order to avoid anything l ike a monopolyin th e ch an t books, conceived the idea of publishing aVatican edition of Plain Chant, which all publi shers, capable of doing it in a satisfactory manner, should be freeto reprint. The Benedictines of Solesmes hav ing, withextraordinary generosity, placed at th e d isposal of th eHoly See the result of the ir long continued and expensivestudies in the field of Plain Chant, Pius X published, under* From the Irish Ecclesiastical Record. Volume XIX, January to June, 1906, pp. 4463.

25th April, 1904, the Motu Proprio concerning the' EdizioneVaticana dei l ibri liturgici continenti Ie melodie gregoriane,'from which I mus t quote a few extracts. The documentopens thus :-

Col Nostro Motu Proprio delzz Novembre 1903 e col susseguente Decreto . P ? ~ b l i c a t o per. Nostro o r d ~ n e dalla . C o ~ g r e g a -zione dei Sacn RltI 1'8 GennalO 1904, abbmmo restItmto alIaChiesa Romana l 'ant ico suo canto gregoriano, quel canto cheesse ha e redi ta ta dai padr i, che ha custodito gelosamente neisuoi codici liturgici e che gli st ud i pili recenti hanno assaifelicemente ricondotto alla sua primitiva purezza.

His Holiness then proceeds to state that he has d e t e r ~mined on a Vatican edition of th e chant, and l ays downa number of directions :-(a) Le melodie della Chiesa, cosi dette gregoriane, sarannorestabilite nella lora integri ta e purezza secondo la fede deicodici pin antichi, cosi perc' che si tenga particolare conto

eziandio della legittima tradizione, contenuta nei codici lungoi secoli, e dell'uso pratico della odierna liturgia.(b) Per la speciale Nostra predilezione verso l 'Ordine diS. Benedetto, riconoscendo l'opera prestata dai monaci benedettini nella restaurazione delle genuine melodie della ChiesaRomana, particolarmente poi da quelli della Congregazione diFrancia e del Monastero di Solesmes, vogliamo che per questaedizione, la redazione delle parti che contengono il canto, siaaffidata in modo particolare ai monaci della Congregazione diFrancia ed al Monastero di Solesmes.(c) I lavori cosl preparati saranno sottomessi all 'esame edalla revisione del la speciale Commissione romana, da Noi recentemente a questa fine istituita. Dovra inoltreprocedere nel suo esame con la massima diIigenza, non permettendo che nulla sia pubblica to, di cui non si possa dareragione conveniente e sufficiente. . . . Che se nella revisione delle melodie occorressero difficolta per ragione deltesto liturgico, la Commissione dovra consultare l'altra Commissione storico-liturgica, gia precedentamente istituita presso

'I la Nostra Congregazione dei Sacri Riti. . .(d) L'approvazione da darsi da Noi e dalla Nostra Con-I gregazione dei Sacri Ri ti ai Iibri di canto COSt composti epubblicati sara di t al nat ura che a niuno sara pili lecito di" approvare Iibri liturgici, se questi, eziandio nelle pa rti checontengono il canto, 0 non siano del tutto conformi all'edizione1pubblicata dal la Tipografia Vaticana sot to i Nostri auspici, 0per 10 meno, a giudizio della Commissione, non siano per talmodo conformi, che Ie varianti introdotte si dimonstrino pro-......... venire dall 'autorita di altre buoni codici gregoriani.


3/11

46There can be no reasonable doubt about the meaningof this document. Mark how, in the opening, his Holinessspeaks of the chant as having been guarded by the Churchjealously in her codices, and as having been restored to itsprimitive purity. Then, under (a) the work of the Commission is clearly defined . The melodies are to be reestablished i n t hei r integrity and purity. As criterion for

this is to be taken, in the first instance, the reading of theoldest codices. In the second place, however, account isto be taken of the legitimate tradition contained in thecodices of later centuries. This is necessary, particu larlyas some melodies are not contained in the oldest codices.Such is the case, for instance, with a large number of melodies of t h e ' Kyriale, ' which are not of Gregorian origin,but were composed centur ies a fterwards , some of themeven later than the eleventh century, the date of ourearliest staff notation MS5. Moreover, it is conceivablethat in some particular point the oldest MSS. may bewrong, as each of them represents the tradition of merelyone place. I t would be the business of scientific criticismin such an instance to determine the original version fromlater evidence. Finally, the pract ical use of the presentLiturgy is to be taken into account. Th is is necessary,because in some cases the wording of the liturgical texthas been slightly altered in our modern liturgical books.In such cases the original melodies must be adapted to thenew wording, unless, indeed, the Congregation of Ritescan be induced to restore the original wording, for whichthe Pope makes provision under (c).Again, under (c) the Commission is directed to see thatnothing should be published which could not be properlyaccounted for. The meaning of this is plain. I t wouldbe absurd to suppose that the President of the Commissioncould' account' for a passage by saying: 'This seems tome beautiful; therefore, I have put it in.'Altogether the document is most wise and statesmanlike, and we had reason to expect something very perfectas the outcome of it. But then something unexpectedhappened, as the novelist says. By a letter of his Eminence

47Cardinal Merry delVal, dated 24th June, 1905, Dam Pothier,the President of the Commission, was made the sale judgeof the version of the new edition, and the other memberswere reduced to the position of his helpers. What led upto this decision is not public h is tory , and I have no desireto l if t the curtain. Let it suffice to judge the proceedingsby their result.

Ostensibly the cry got up against the redactors, the501esmes monks, was that of 'archaism.' I need not gointo the question of archaism at length. Dom Cagin hasdealt with it admirably in the Rassegna Gregoriana, ofJuly-August, 1905. I will make only one remark. Icould understand a modern musician objecting to PlainChant altogether, because it is archaic. But if we acceptat all the chant of thirteen centuries ago, what differencedoes it make whether a phrase here and there is a littlemore or less 'archaic'?

I t seems that Dom Pothier himself no t long agodiffered very much from those who now talk of 'archaism,'for, speaking of t he var iant s of the Plain Chant melodiesthat crept in in the course of time, he said :-

Toutes ces variantes s'expliquent et, a certains points devue, peuvent plus au mains se justifier, mais aucune d'eUes neconstitue un progreso La maniere plus simple et plus degageede la melodie primitive est aussi la plus douce et la plus dis-tinguee, ceile qui a pour eUe, avec Ie merite de l'antiquite, celuide l'art et du bon gOllt. 1And Father Lhoumeau, his pupi l, and bu t the echo ofhis master, says : -

eet examen d'une simple melodie nous amene ades conclusions qui ressortent de l'etat general du chant gregorien, carce que nous voyons ici se retrouve partout . Si l 'on veut restaurer l'art gregorien il faut toujour revenir aux sources, et cequ'il y a de plus ancien, c'est ce qu'il y a de plus pur,de plus artistique, et non pas seulement de plus archalque,comme peuvent Ie croire certaines gens.21Revue du chant gregoriel1, 15th December, 1896, p. 70.2 Ibid . 15th June, 1895, p. 169.


4/11

49

Sta-tu- it..

VOL. XIX.

instead of (2)

Before I ta ke up the pieces contained in the ' Kyriale 'one by one, I have to make a couple of general reflections.The first concerns the German tradition of the chant,for which Dom Pothier shows a s trange predi lect ion. Oneof the chief peculiarities of this German tradition is thefrequent substitution of the minor third a - c for thesecond a - bb or a - b . Is this tradition a 'legitimatetradition'? I should think not. I t detaches itself at onepoint from th e general current of tradi tion which flowsfrom the time that we first can t race i t, down to our owndays, and remains in opposition to it ever afterwards. I tmay have a certain title to continued separate existence,but it has no claim to general acceptance. But there ismore. I do no t for a moment believe that Dom Pothieris going to accep t thi s German tradition in its entirety.

Surely he is no t going to make us sing (I ) Cf ..Sta-tu- itThere is a question , therefore, of making a selection.

On what principle, then, is thi s selection to be made?The


5/11

51tradition mentioned above, was almost universally changedinto c. Thus, the Liber Gradualis has

of temp/o, some have (ga) others (gb) C . . .= ..,.

C=t.S it . ~ a -

(7)

(6)

C: ~ . D = IIet omnes, ad quos perve-nit

Three syllables on c, three on b, nothing could be fairer ,and nobody has any right to complain! The procedure isa great tes timony to Dom Pothier 's amiability, bu t whatabout his cri tical judgment?In this same Vidi aquam we find the following :-

the best have (gc)

(8) , . . .tem- pIa

The MSS. are divided as t o the figure on the first syllable

et omnes, ad quos rerYe-nitIt seems to me that in many cases this change has beento the detriment of the melody. Thus in the example (5),the gradual r ise of the melody, which rests first on b, thenon c, and finally rises, on ista, to d, constitutes a greatbeauty, which is los t in the version at (6). Still , as thechange was almost universal, I could understand th eposition of those who cla im that it should be maintained.

But what does the Vatican edition do ? I t evidently goeson the principle of ' pleasing both parties,' and gives halfthe recitation to c, half to b, thus:

othpr , got into that publication. To give an exampleth e Vatican 'Kyriale,' in accordance with the Liber G r a ~

In the course of centuries this reciting note, owing probablyto causes similar to those that brought about the German

dualis, has the 'Paschal' Kyrie thus: (3)Ky-ri - e

All the MSS.) except the German ones, have:

(4) ; .. = Ky- ri- e

To me it seems that the double ac of th e Vatican versionis decidedly tautological, and that the older version withits gradual rise first to b and then to c is immensely superior.Dom Pothier evidently thinks differently. But I believehe has stated that in some cases he made too much concession to the modern t as te in the ' Kyriale' of his LiberGradualis, and accordingly those pieces have been changedi n the Vatican. edition. What guarantee have we that aftera few years he will no t find that he made too much concession to the German tradition?My next remark is about the reciting note of the 8thmode. I t of ten happens that in the course of amelody a number of syllables a re recited on one note.For such recitat ion the Gregorian melodies had , in the8th mode, the note b, while the reciting note of the psalmodyin that mode seems always to have been c, as at present.Thus we find'in the Antiphon Vidi aquam this passage:

C l'l.. II I II ttn- :..,.(5) =.. . . et omnes, ad quos perve-nit a- qua i-sta

so


6/11

San- etus

53

.

,.. ..g16- ri- am tuam

\5 .,.._- - - - ~ - .

(II)

magnam gloriam tuam: (1 2 )

Dam Pothier writes: (I3)

This piece is found in eight MSS. Seven of these have1; a b, one has g ace bag f. Dam Pothier takes the latter

Ky-ri-eIn the Gloria of this Mass all the MSS. have at pro pte,

III .....

g16- ri- am tu- amThe second Agnus of this Mass is an adaptation of atrope. All the MSS. without tropes repeat the melody ofthe first Agnus.In the first Christe of Mass III, all the MSS. have egg a.Dam Pothier changes this into e f g a.In the Gloria all the MSS. have a Podatus on the finalsyllables of Domine Deus and Domine Fili. The Vaticanahas single notes.The intonation of the Sanctus is thus in the Vaticana:

and that of the Vaticana; : 5] 1'0 : Ky-rie Chri-ste

52

1 The l as t note of thi s example Gught to be g instead of a.

The version of the Vat ican edition is not found in anysingle one!At dextro and the alleluia immediately following, all theoldest MSS. except the German have a b g a and gab a b.

The Vatican edition follows the German tradition in substituting c for b.I have already referred to the Kyrie of the Mass I(Tempore Paschali). I have now only to call attention tothe difference in the final figure of examples (3) and (4).All older MS5., neumatic and in staff notation, of all countries have the Pressus as at (4), only German MSS. of laterorigin have the reading (3) adopted by the Vaticana.A very striking fact is met with in the Gloria of thisMass. All MSS. and printed editions down to the nineteenth century ascribe this Gloria to t he 7 th mode, endingit on g. The edition of Reims-Cambrai (18S1), was thefirst to change the ending to b and t hu s make the Gloriaa 4th tone melody. The Vatican edition sides with ReimsCambrai! In this Gloria also the German substitution ofc for b has been accepted at excelsis, hominibus, and thecorresponding places.In the Agnus Dei nine MSS. of France, England, Spain,

and Metz have on Dei the figure a b d; one German,one Italian, and one French have g b d. The Vaticanafollows the minority.The Kyrie of Mass II (Kyrie Fons bonitatis) has beendealt with, in a masterly fashion, by Dam Beyssac in theRassegna Gregoriana, November-December, 1904, where

the MS; evidence is subjected to a thorough examination.I can confine myself , therefore, to giving some extractsshowing the difference between the version of the M55.(10)1E" : '"I'i L. ~ T ! ] : r- :Ky-ri- e Chri-ste Ky- ri- e

_ ......_ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . _ - - - - - - ~ ~ - = ~ - - - - - - ~ - ~


7/11

54

All MSS. are agreed in placing e on the accented syllableof miserere. The Vaticana has t. The melody of the secondAgnus in th e Vaticana is not to be found in any MS.In the Gloria of Mass IV, the vast majority of theMSS. have the last figure on, Glorificamus te as g t e.The Vaticana has g g e.

The Agnus of Mass V is found in two MSS. At tollis

version, bu t omits the b after c c. The reason for thi schange is easy to guess. I t is to avoid that diabolus inmusica of the medieval theorists, the tritone. I admitthat the tritone somet imes causes a little difficulty tomodern ears. But if we are to eliminate all the tritonesfrom th e Gregorian melodies, what is to become of them?And if we are to make this concession to the modern taste,why not change other things as well, why not, for instance,sharpen th e leading note? I think that the full toneunder the tonic causes far more difficulty to the modernmusician than a few tritones. As a matter of fact, in onecase, as we shall see below (Gloria of No. VII), Dam Pothierflas sharpened the leading note. So we cannot know whatmay happen before the Vatican edition is completed. Butwhy not go a step farther and do away with the antiquatedmodes altogether, and present all pieces of Plain Chanteither in th e major or the minor mode? And, finally,why retain that puzzling rhythm of Plain Chant? Whynot re-write it nicely with bars in ~ ~ and time? IlTIust confess I see no satisfactory answer to these questions.Once we leave the firm ground of th e tradition, we get intoshifting sands, and there is no stopping anywhere.

In the Agnus of this Mass all MSS. are agreed in havinga single note on th e f irst syl lable of Dei. The Vatcanahas three. All MSS. are agreed in having a Quilisma ontollis. The Vaticana has a s imple Podatus. All MSS. are .. = Spi- ri-tu--he Vaticana(18)C b ~ -Spi- ri-tu

and miserere the one has b, the other b ~ The Vaticanahas c.In Mass VI, in the second last Kyrie, nearly all theoldest MSS. have two notes on the second syllable, andnearly all MSS. mark a bb. The Vaticana has one note on

ri and has b ~ In the Gloria the vast majority of MSS. have two noteson the final syl lable of excelsis. The Vaticana has one.At the first peccata all the MSS. that have substantially thereading of the Vaticana, have the figure ab c . No MS.whatever has a c as the Vaticana. Of the Amen severalvariants are found, but no t amongst them the version ofthe Vaticana.In the Kyrie of Mass VII, the vast majority of the MSS.and all the best, place the Clivis a t on the second syllableof eleison. The Vaticana places it on the first.The Gloria is found only in some English MSS. Theyall write it in c and have a flat at the cadence of Deus Pateromnipotens. The Vaticana writes it in f and omits theflat, thus sharpening the leading note, as mentionedabove. At Cum saneto Spiritu the MSS. read

55

The Agnus of MassVln is found only in one MS. (ParisBibt. Nat. Lat., 905 fol. A.). On tollis it has the notes ted c,Dom Pothier changes this into t d d c. At mundi the MS.has t g g t, Dom Pothier writes t g f. On the second syllable of miserere the MS. has g, Dom Pothier writes g a. Onthe second Dei, the MS. has ca b c, Dom Pothier writescage. At the second tollis the MS. has a gag, Dom Pothierwrites a g a. I t is hard to suppress one's indignation atthis. But we have a long way to travel yet. So I hurryon with the bare enumeration of facts .

In the Gloria of Mass IX all old MSS. have c on th::first syllable of deprecationem, Dom Pothier has d. At

(17)

peccata

heVaticanareads:(16)

a 1 ~ e d ~ . = , ..reading _(IS) peccata


8/11

56

Similarly at Domini. The figure at Deus is found in noMS. At tua most MSS. have b'tJ a g a. No MS. has thereading of the Vaticana, bb a g.

ci----=---(24) D""

A- men.

Cum (sancto Sp.) thirty-nine MSS. have e, three have d e,Dom Pothier follows the minority.In the Sanct'Us the MSS. write (19) b ~ ~ .

Sa- ba- otb

57

Ky-ri- e

IIi ~ r (27)

II _,. - ~ - = ~Ky-ri- e

C 6; !"Ky-ri- e

h . t (5 ) C ....Pothier changes t IS In a 2 ~ ' t . .A- men.

Dom

(26)

In the Gloria eight MSS., and these not very good ones,

Dom Pothier writes (28)

The Sanctus of this Mass is not found anywhere. I tseems to be Dom Pothier's own composition. The sameholds of th e Sanctus No. III, and the Agnus No. II, of theCantus ad libitum. Now there is not, of course, any objection to Dom Pothier or anybody else composing new piecesof Church music, and if they select to write in the style ofthe Gregorian music, they are at perfect liberty to do so.But I certainly think that such compositions ought to haveno place in the Vatican edition, which purports to be acollection of medieval music. There might be some excusein the case of new texts, for which no melody exists, thoughI should consider it better to arrange some existing melodyto them, as was the general usage from the seventh to thefifteenth century. In the Ordinary of the Mass, however,for which we have such a large number of medieval pieces,such a procedure is altogether unwarranted.

In the Kyrie of Mass XI the vast majori ty of MSS.have on Christe the figure d c b a and suppress, in the secondeleison, the f g a bb of the first. Dam Pothier skips the bon Christe, and writes th e second eleison like the first. Forthe second Kyrie th e vast ma;ority of MSS. have either

rDe- i r.Ii r-

Two have : /'II(23) =--i+4l-t--

~ ~ .. ......- ----!-II r..Sa- ba- othIn the Agmts the Vaticana writes (2 I)

Of eighteenMSS. sixteenhave (22) De- i De- iThe version of the Vaticana finds, therefore, no authorityat all in the MSS. Similarly the note on qui in the secondAgnus is no t found in any MS.

The Kyrie of Mass X, which is th e older form of thatin No. IX , is found in three MSS. All three have doublenotes on the accented syllable of eleison. The Vaticana hassingle notes.The Gloria is found only in one MS., the one publishedwith the Sarum Gradual by the Plainsong and MedicevalMusic Society. The Amen runs thus in this MS.

Dom Pothier (20)

!, !,e'

:;,,

I:,

I

" "

"

"

"

:,

I

:" ,

.'',

-' I


9/11

E - ~ - - - - - - - _ I ~ - - - - - - - - -IIIi I I . =----=1Jr----.m-: .......- -11111-- :.=-.- - ._ ~ I I I I -Domi-ne De- tis, Agnus De- i, Fi-li- us Patris

Dom Pothier changes the c on Agnus into I, thereby losingthe pret ty effect of the varied middle phrase! Could anything be more discreditable to an edi tor?The Sanctus is found in two MSS.,Worcester and Sarurn.

59In the Kyrie of Mass XIV all the MSS. have a" in thesecond Kyrie melody. The Vaticana omits it . In theGloria, on the last syllable of miserere, practically al l MSS.have a four-note Climacus; the Vaticana has three notes .

In the Amen the German codices are followed against allthe others.In the Kyrie of Mass XV the second eleison takes thereading of one MS. against forty. In the Gloria, at Tusolus Dominus, most MSS. have the intonat ion eg a org a a. No MS. has the reading of the Vaticana.

In the Agnus of Mass XVI, on the last syllable of thefirst miserere, one MS. has a Clivis, thirty-seven have aPodatus. The Vaticana has a Clivis.F or the second Kyrie of Mass XVII the sources are oneMS. and one printed book, both of the sixteenth century.Both divide the figure on eleison after a (c b" a g a I t e g)as the Ratisbon Edition and the Missal (Benedicamus forAdvent and Lent) do. The Vaticana writes the notes a f eas a Climacus.

For the figure on the second syllable of Hosanna inthe Sanctus the MS. evidence is : one for, th ir ty- fouragainst.

In the Kyrie of Mass XVIII all the MSS. that have thatmelody give three notes to the first syllable of the secondeleison. The Vatiyana has two.In the first Credo, at visibilium and in all the corresponding phrases, two MSS. of the late fifteenth centuryhave a, all the others g. The Vaticana has a. At Genit um

one MS. of the f if teenth century is followed against allothers.At de Spiritu only the Cistercians and Dominicans sharethe reading of the Vaticana. At venturi the vast majorityof the MSS. and all the old ones end on d, no t on e, as theVaticana does.We corne now to the Cantus ad libitum. In passingI may note that the Kyrie II has only two Christe, evidentlyan oversight. The Kyrie VI is a later form of the Paschal

1 Kyrie dealt with above. I may remark that here wemeet the Pressus e b b g, that is simplified in the other

~ ==ome sixty have(30 )

Domi-ni. Ho-sanna

Do-mi-ni. Ho-sanna

Domi-ni Ho-sanna

;;-;-0---01'---___- - - ~ -t j . . I'--=-=ii--=.Ill-t,. ~ . -

Dom Pothierwrites (35)

Sarum has (34)

Worcester has(33)

write(2g)Qui se-des Qui se- des

The Vaticana sides with the minority.In the Gloria of Mass XII at Filius Patris two Treves

MSS. end e e, twenty-five others have e I. The Vaticanahas e e, though in the corresponding place at tu solus sanctusit has e f.

Fo r the Gloria of Mass XIII there is only one MS. I thas the intonation thus C=--.------------

(3 I) r. = ,.. = , . . .Glo-ri- a in excelsis De- 0

Dom Pothier cuts out the I on in . Later on the MS. has

58


10/11

60

What does Dom Pothier do? He changes the first c intob! Qui potest capere, capiat.

For the Gloria II we have three 1\155. They are agreed

At dcprccationem nostram the M55. have e e for nostram.Dom Pothier writes d d, although in the correspondingplace, at unigenite, he has e.For Gloria II I there are nine 1\1SS. They have aPressus at excclsis (g f f e) and double d at te (Laudamuste, etc.) Dom Pothier has a simple Climacus and a singled. At Domine Deus, Rex crelestis six MSS. have

61

Dorni- ne=r.Tom Pothier'sversion (40)Do- rni- ne

i J i - ~ =(39)is not found i n any MS. Similarly, the melody of the finalPatris is no t found i n any MS.

We have come to the end of our weary journey. I twould be difficult to see any definite principle in all thecases where Dom Pothier has defied the evidence of theMS5. In some cases, as we have seen, he followed a specialcurrent of tradition against the general tradition; in othersa morbid fear of t he t ri tone made him introduce changes3But for most cases the only actuating principle that couldbe assigned is h is '


11/11

F"

"

...........

62could no t resist the temptation to reform to some extent.Thus, to mention only a couple, we have the edition ofReims-Cambrai still yielding to the fear of 'barbarisms,'and t he edition of Cologne reducing all Gregorian rhythmto duple time. All these editions have come and gone,and now in their wake we find the Vaticana, really thesaddest spectacle of all, because none of the others werethe direct outcome of an act of the central authority of theChurch.

What next? One thing is certain to me. The Vaticanacannot last. Dom Pothier has, indeed, al ready got a considerable number of authoritative pronouncements infavour of his edit ion. There was first a letter from CardinalMerry del Val, of 3rd April, 1905, of which Professor 'Wagnergives some extracts in a paper published for the GregorianCongress at Strasburg. Then the other letter of 24thJune, quoted above, and finally two decrees of the S.R.C.,dated n th August and I4th August, which, to some extent,annul the wise and liberal regulations as to other editions,laid down in the Motu Proprio of 25th April, I904, sub (d)quoted above. But what is this compared with the formidable array of decrees that backed up the 1\,fedicaea ?And yet, with one s troke of the pen, an enlightened anddetermined Pope cancelled them all. No, this questioncannot be settled by decrees. I f the Vaticana cannot standon the st reng th of it s intrinsic excellence, no art ificialpropping up by decrees will prevent it from tumblingdown.

But what are we to do? The best thing, in my opinion,would be, if the Solesmes Benedictines would publish theMS. version of the 'Kyriale.' I t seems to me that thewhole world, as far as it is interested in Pla in Chant, isanxious to know the MS. version of i t, and th e monks ofSolesmes would sat isfy a general demand by publishingthat. But if for some reason o r other they should choosenot to do so, or if Dom Pothier, through the power of theCongregation of Rites , should succeed in prevent ing theoriginal form of the melodies of the Church from beingpublished, then we shall have to be satisfied with the

"" 63Vat ican edi tion for a t ime. 'V'le may console ourselves bythe thought that of all existing editions the Vatican editionis decidedly the best. I f we compare it with the ' Kyriale 'of the Liber Gradualis or Liber Usualis, we find not onlymany of their melodies much improved, bu t also a considerable number of new ones added, some of them ofgreat beauty, particularly the older and simpler fOlTIlS ofthe Asperges and of the Kyrie de Beata and in Dominicis- per annum. The labours of the Solesmes monks have notall been in vain. But I hope sti ll that before long theunconditioned return to the tradition, so happily inaugurated by the early acts of our reigning Pontiff, will befully accomplished.

H. BEWERUNGE.

From the Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume XIX, January t o June, 1906, pp. 44-63.

Documents

Rev. Henry Bewerunge Attacks Pothier