New-York tribune., 1920-06-13

special dispensation, where deemed
necessary, will be granted until such
time as these regulations can be COM
piled with"
At the time we believe there
was only one Catholic church in
New York with an exclusively male
choir. Eight or ten weeks later a
choir Of men sang the Ordinary of the
mass at the Cathedral, music and per-
formance being lamentably like that OF
poor Mannerges for, mas
of the classical and modern masters
Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert,
Gounod and so on) violated the rubrics
of the Church in one way or another.
they had been banished, and efforts
were making to replace them with
masses by men whose names were known
only to those who could remember
the C@cilian movement, which followed
the effort made by Plus TX to do a
work similar to that undertaken by
Plus x and his successor-men like
Almendinger, Bilz, Deschermeier, Die
bold, Nikel, etc.
There was something beautiful and
spiritually uplifting in the singing Of
the Ordinary of the mass "De Angels"
by 5000 children at the opening of the
recent congress, and lovers of pure
-
by it in the hope that the next genera
tion might see a restoration of the
part which in almost primitive times
the congregation took in the Office OF
the mass. The question to what ex-
tent the Gregorian chant as restored
by the Benedictines will figure in the
popular service, however, cannot be
said to have been determined. One
thing is certain: There are few of the
missal hymns (the Ordinary, or Com
mon, of the mass) which can ever en-
ter into the popular repertory, if that
word is allowable, and a multitude of
the antiphons, graduals, etc, which
make up the proper" and are variable
with day and season that can never
be either learned or sung by either
choirs or congregation.
An Attempt to Simplify Battling
Fiorituri
When the service books were re-
vised, in the time of Palestri IA
(and partly by him at the IN
stance of Pope Gregory KID, an
effort was made to simplify the melo-
dies which had become too forid to
be practicable to church singers. In
their excessive ornamentation Gevaert
found evidence that they were of
Oriental origin, and he therefore
placed their Introduction into the
service at later date than the period
of Gregory the Great, attributing them,
in fact, to some of the Eastern popes
and singers. Something of what they
exacted in the matter Of vocalization
alone may be seen in the musical
example printed on this page. 1t is
the gradual "Tollite portas" as it ap-
pears in the "Liber gradualis," pub
lished by the Benedictines at Solesmes,
in 1895. There is something of inter
pretation in our transcription of the
melody from the medieval notation
in which the Benedictine books are
printed, but it is not much, and its
sole purpose has been to help the eye
Of the modern music student familiar
with the graphic devices of grouping
notes by slurs and stem connections.
There has also been some considera-
dictines on the subject Of accent and
the proper manner of singing the long
fourishes which occur on some syl-
tables. To what extent these forituri
offend the rule Of the Church requlr-
ing that the text be intelligibly sung
we shall not discuss, lest we be ac-
cused Of at least as much criticism as
Cardinal Gibbons INDUCED In when he
put in his plea for women singers. But
while we might be interested in hear
ing what a Bonci, Hackett or McCor-
mack would do with this chant, we are
pretty certain that it would be in
tolerable in the mouth of seminarian
unless he were artistically the equal Of
| the singers mentioned.
DR.. Gibbs Explains
We have said something about the
Gregorian situation in New York ff-
teen years ago, when the movement was
in state of fermentation. DR.. Harold
Beckett Gibbs, organist at the Church
of the Blessed Sacrament, who has
taught the Gregorian chant for more
than thirty six years, contributes the
following information as to the pres .nt
condition Of Gregorian music:
mo changes have been made in the
chant as it is used to-day" The edi-
tion known as the Vatican Edition, ano
the only edition permissible in Catho-
| lie churches, is the best critical ed,-
tion extant. One might perhaps com.
pare it with all the accepted editions
Of the classics, or OF the Bible itself
which are the best to be had.
"Thcrc are many mixed choirs, ai.
though their number is gradually de.