03;
/
ST. GREGORY
AND THE
GREGORIAN MUSIC
BY
E. G. P. WYATT
PUBLISHED FOR THE
PLAINSONG & MEDIEVAL MUSIC SOCIETY.
1904.
ML
PRINTED BY SPRAGUE & CO., LTD.,
46-5 EAST HARDING STREET, FETTER LANE, B.C.
LONDON.
PREFACE.
CHE original conception of this little book was
due to the Rev. W. H. FRERE, and it could
not have been carried out at all without his help
and advice, which have been ungrudgingly given.
But he is not responsible for any part of the
book, except the notes on the tropes and the third
and fourth portraits of St. Gregory. Whatever else
in the book is of any value has been compiled from
the following sources :
MORIN. " Les veritables origines du Chant Gre-
gorien." Maredsous, 1890.
MORIN. " Revue Benedictine," for May, 1890.
Maredsous.
WAGNER. " Einfiihrung in die Gregorianischen
Melodien," Pt. i. Freiburg, 1901.
FRERE. " Graduale Sarisburiense." Plainsong and
Mediaeval Music Society, London, 1894.
" PALEOGRAPHIE MUSICALE," Vols. v. and vi.
Solesmes, 1896.
" RASSEGNA GREGORIANA," for March April, June,
and July, 1903. Rome.
E. G. P. WYATT.
IMAGINES.AD.VIWMJEXPRE55AE
S AN C
FROPE.BEATI.GREGORmMAGNI.ECCLESIAM
NECNON.EX.VITA.EIVSDEM.BEATI.GREGORII
A.IO ANNE .DIAC ON O.LIB.IV: C AP. LXXXIILE T.LXXXI V.
CONSCRIPTA
INTRODUCTION.
CHE Great Pope, the thirteen hundredth anniversary
of whose death is commemorated on March the
1 2th, 1904, was born at Rome, probably about
the year 540. His father, Gordianus, was a wealthy
man of senatorial rank ; his mother, Silvia, was re-
nowned for her virtues. He received from his parents
an excellent liberal and religious education. He further
applied himself to the study of law, and probably at
about the age of 30 was made praetor of Rome by
the Emperor Justin II. But he became dissatisfied
with his mode of life, and retiring to the monastery of
St. Andrew, which he had founded on the Ccelian hill,
lived there as monk and as abbot. He had long been an
ardent admirer of St. Bennet (who had been dead little
more than thirty years), and on his father's death had
made use of his patrimony to found six other monasteries
in Sicily. He was not, however, allowed to enjoy his
retirement at St. Andrew's for long, for Pope Benedict I.
ordained him deacon, and sent him to Constantinople
as his apocrisiarius or confidential agent. Pelagius II.
continued him in this office, making use of him especially
to appeal to the Emperor for aid against the Lombards,
who, while settling in North Italy, were wandering
southwards, devastating the country as they went.
When he was at length recalled to Rome, he begged
to be allowed to return to his monastery. The Pope
allowed him to do this, but employed him as his
secretary. It was either now, or just before he went
to Constantinople, that there occurred the famous in-
cident in the slave market, when, struck by the beauty of
some lads exposed for sale, he asked what was the name
of their nation. On being told, "Angles," he exclaimed,
"Good, for they have the faces of angels, and ought to
be fellow-heirs of the angels in heaven." In reply to
his inquiry as to the name of their native province, he
was told that its inhabitants were called Deiri. He
answered, " Good ; snatched from the wrath, and called
to the mercy of Christ." What was the name of the king
of that province? The answer was " ^Elia." Then said he,
"Alleluia! the praise of God ought to be sung in those
parts." He passed on, but did not forget the incident,
for he wrung permission from the Pope to go himself on
a mission to convert the Angles; but no sooner had he
started than the Romans clamoured to have him recalled,
and he had to return. He did not, however, forget his
interest in the nation, and when he was Pope he was
able to carry out those plans which earned him the
affectionate titles of "Gregory our Father," and "The
Apostle of the English," from those who owed so much
to him.
In 590 Pope Pelagius died. It was a time of great
misery at Rome ; there was famine and a pestilence in the
city, the Tiber overflowed its banks, and the Lombards
threatened invasion. The Popes were virtually the rulers
of Rome at this time, and all the inhabitants turned to
DEPRECAMUR TE DOMINE
D i '
E- pre- ca- mur Te, Do-
mi- ne, in om-ni
. ;r-\-^-
T=It
^=a
mi- se- ri- cor- di- a tu- a, ut au- fe- ra- tur
? f[ S ! fU
SS S ! . ..
i Bl "\ S , " " IV
B 1
3
i g i
fu-ror tu- us et i- ra tu- a a ci-vi- ta- te
9
ffi
is- ta, et de do- mo san-cta tu- a; quo-
a
ni-am pec- ca- vi- mus : Al- le- lu- ya.
Gregory as their only hope. His proved abilities and
high character were known to all, and he was unani-
mously elected by the clergy and the people. He shrank,
however, from the office, and even petitioned the Emperor
Maurice to withhold his confirmation of the election.
While waiting for the Emperor's answer, Gregory em-
ployed the occasion in preaching to the people, calling
them to repentance. A Litany was sung through the
streets of the city by seven companies of the clergy
and people, starting from different churches and meeting
at the Basilica of St. Maria Maggiore. From this
litany, perhaps, was taken the processional antiphon,
" Deprecamur Te Domine," which was sung by Augustine
and his companions on entering Canterbury at the outset
of their English mission. At length the confirmation of
his election arrived from the Emperor, and though
Gregory still tried to avoid the office, he was eventually
obliged to take it, and was consecrated September the
3 rd > 59-
During the thirteen years of his popedom, Gregory
had full scope for his talents as administrator, as well as
ruler. The Eoman Church had by this time become
possessed of a great "patrimony," and Gregory found
time in the midst of his work of reforming the clergy
and purifying the morals of the Church, to attend to
even the smallest details in the management of these
great estates. His letters give us the most vivid picture
of his work and of his character. In them he is con-
stantly giving directions and making arrangements that
8
no injustice should be done to even the meanest peasant
or serf on these estates ; that their rents should be fixed,
and no capricious exactions demanded of them, nor sur-
charges added to the payments legally due from them.
He showed to the Jews a toleration and consideration
which he did not always extend to schismatics, heretics,
and heathen. He seems to have reserved his most
violent language for Lombards and Patriarchs of Con-
stantinople. He called worldly or negligent bishops to
order, and in particular took vigorous measures to root
out simony, which was very prevalent. He sent
Augustine and his companions to England, and wrote
them letters of exhortation and instruction ; he found
time to send them also church furniture, vessels and
vestments, and a number of books.
He also became engaged in a controversy with John
the Faster, the Patriarch of Constantinople, about the
title of "Universal Bishop," which was arrogated to
the latter by himself and those about him. It was
not a novelty, but Gregory seems to have seen the
danger involved in its continued usage to the power
which he claimed for the See of Rome. A whole series
of his letters are consequently taken up with his vehe-
ment, not to say violent, protests against John's use of
the title. It is probably in connection with the fact
that the Emperor Maurice had supported the Patriarch
John in his claim of equality with the Pope of Rome,
that the explanation is to be sought of a circumstance
which remains the chief blot on Gregory's fame. Maurice
had given him little help against the Lombards, and had
in various ways seemed to oppose or actually opposed
Gregory in some of his reforms. When, therefore, Phocas
murdered Maurice and usurped his throne, the Pope wrote
him a fulsome letter of congratulation. He may not
have been fully acquainted with the infamous character
of Phocas, nor have fully known of the atrocious manner
in which he had murdered the Emperor and his family,
yet he must have known, at least, that he was a traitor,
a murderer, and an usurper. Nothing can excuse him
knowing this for writing in such a strain, saying "Glory
to God in the highest," and "Let the heavens rejoice
and let the earth be glad," at the hopes aroused by the
piety of the new Emperor.
He attached great importance to preaching, and
many of his sermons remain to this day. He also wrote
"Liber Pastoralis Curae," a treatise on the responsibilities
and duties of Bishops. This book had immense influence ;
it was circulated in Spain ; the Emperor had it translated
into Greek ; it was an authoritative text-book in Gaul
for centuries ; and it was translated into Anglo-Saxon by
King Alfred, and was widely disseminated in England.
But it is in the services and service-books of the Church
that he set his mark most conspicuously. He organized
and enriched them, even the Canon of the Mass in which
he added to the prayer of oblation the words " Diesque
nostras in tua pace disponas." The work which has been
traditionally ascribed to him in the department of Church
Music' we shall enter into more fully.
10
From his monastic life onwards Gregory seems to
have suffered from bad health, due in part, probably,
to his extreme asceticism while living in his monastery.
During the last few years of his life he was in continual
pain from gout, which makes his activity and his
achievements still more astonishing. For long he was
confined to his bed altogether. He died on March
I2th, 604. In contrast to the enthusiasm with which
his accession to the Papacy was greeted, he was now
accused by the fickle population of having caused the
famine, which was then raging, by his lavish ex-
penditure, though the latter was largely due to the
charitable relief which he habitually gave to alleviate
the distress which prevailed all the time that he filled
the Papal chair. But he was canonized after his
death by universal consent in the West, and the
Council of Cloveshoo, in 747, fixed the i2th of March
for his veneration: "That the birthday of the blessed
Pope Gregory, and also the day of the burial of St.
Augustine the Archbishop and Confessor (who being
sent to the English by the said Pope, our father Gregory,
first brought the knowledge of the Faith, the sacrament
of Baptism, and the notice of the Heavenly Country),
which is the 26th of May, be honourably observed
by all : so that each day be kept with a cessation from
labour, by ecclesiastics and monastics ; and that the
name of our blessed father and doctor Augustine be
always mentioned in singing the Litany after the in-
vocation of St. Gregory."
Mmmmmt
II
THE
GREGORIAN TRADITION.
CHE tradition that St. Gregory reformed the Plain-
song of his day, especially that of the Antiphonale
Missarum, seems to have been held universally
till 1675, when Pierre Gussanville brought out an edition
of Gregory's works, in which he threw doubts on the
tradition. He was followed in 1729 by George, Baron
d' Eckhart, a friend of Leibnitz, who put forward the
theory that it was Gregory II., and not Gregory I., who
had done this work. In 1772, at Venice, a new edition
of Gregory's works was published by Gallicciolli ; and in
this were reproduced the arguments of Eckhart, leaving
the question open for future investigation. Nothing
more was heard of the theory till 1882, when, at the
Congress of Arezzo, some speakers reproduced the doubts
of Eckhart and Gallicciolli.
This did not attract much attention at the time, and
the question was again reopened in 1890 by M. Gevaert
in a lecture given in the presence of the Academic and
of the King of the Belgians. The earlier " doubters "
had argued the question from a purely historical stand-
point : M. Gevaert lays stress especially on the musical
side of the question. Theirs was chiefly negative ; he
12
proposes a theory of his own. He wishes to substitute
Gregory II. or III. for Gregory I. The traditional view
has been upheld against him by Dom Morin, Dr. Peter
Wagner, and Rev. W. H. Frere.
The Historical Evidence may be summarized as
follows, working backwards from a time when the Gre-
gorian tradition was in existence beyond all question :
I. JOHN THE DEACON (c. 872), Vita St. Gregorii,
lib. ii., cap. vi., Antiphonarium Centonizans, Cantorum
Constituit Scholam. " In the house of the Lord, like a
most wise Solomon, knowing the compunction which
the sweetness of music inspires, he compiled for the
sake of the singers the collection called ' Antiphoner,'
which is of so great usefulness. He founded also the
School of Singers who to this day perform the sacred
chant in the Holy Roman Church according to in-
structions received from him. He assigned to it several
estates, and had two houses built for it, one situated
at the foot of the steps of the Church of the Apostle
St. Peter, the other in the neighbourhood of the buildings
of the patriarchal palace of the Lateran. There to-day
are still shown the couch on which he reposed while
giving his singing lessons ; and the whip with which
he threatened the boys is still preserved and venerated
as a relic, as well as his authentic Antiphoner. By a
clause inserted in his deed of gift, he laid down under
pain of anathema that these estates should be divided
between the two portions of the School in payment for
the daily service." (Pair. Lat., Ixxv., 90.)
13
This extract may be taken to prove that
1. In 872 at Rome Gregory I. was believed to be
the author of the Antiphoner which bears his
name.
2. The Schola Cantorum looked upon Gregory I.
as its founder and endower.
3. The Schola was still believed to possess his
"authenticum Antiphonarium " and certain
other objects connected in the popular mind
with the memory of what Gregory had done
for the cause of the ecclesiastical chant.
It is certainly an important point that the Schola
itself attributed its foundation to Gregory I. Such a
tradition would be carefully preserved in an important
corporation like this.
A further witness to the existence of St. Gregory's
couch is to be found in Notitia Ecclesiarum Urbis Rom&,
an itinerary assigned by de Rossi to the seventh century,
(de Rossi, Rom. Sot., vol. i., pp. 138143.)
II. POPE LEO IV. (847855) to the Abbot
Honoratus, Ex registro Leonis IIIL "There is some-
thing quite incredible, the sound of which has reached
our ears : a thing which, if true, tends rather to
diminish our consideration than to give it honour, to
obscure it rather than to give it lustre. It appears in
short that you feel nothing but aversion for the beau-
tiful chant of St. Gregory, and for the manner of singing
and reading laid down and taught by him in the
Church, so that you are in disagreement on this point
H
not only with the Holy See, which is near to you,
but also with almost the whole Western Church,
with all who use Latin to offer their praises to the
Eternal King and pay Him the tribute of harmonious
sounds.
" All these Churches have received with so much
eagerness and ardent affection this tradition of Gregory,
and after having received it unreservedly they find so
much pleasure in it, that even now they apply to us
for more of it, thinking that perhaps something more
which they do not know of, may have been preserved
among us. This Holy Pope Gregory, a servant of
God and a famous preacher and a wise pastor, who
did so much for the welfare of mankind, he it was
who also composed this chant, which we sing in the
Church and everywhere, with great pains and with a
complete knowledge of the musical art. He wished
by this means to act more powerfully upon men's
hearts in order to arouse and touch them ; and in fact
the sound of his sweet melodies has gathered in the
Churches not merely spiritual men, but also those who
are less cultivated and sensitive.
" I pray you not to allow yourself to remain in
disagreement either with this Church, which is the
chief head of religion, and from which no one wishes
to stray, or with all those Churches of which we have
spoken, if you love to live in complete peace and
concord with the Universal Church. For if which
we do not believe your aversion for our instruction
15
and for the tradition of our holy Pontiff is such that
you are not willing to conform in every point to our
rite, both in chants and lessons, know that we will
repel you from our communion ; for it is fitting and
healthful for you to follow the usages for which the
Roman Church, mother of all and mistress of you,
shows such great love and invincible attachment.
For this reason we order you, under pain of excom-
munication, to conform in the Churches both in
singing and reading exclusively to the order instituted
by the Holy Pope Gregory and followed by us, and
without fail to practise and sing it in future with
the utmost zeal. For if which we cannot believe
anyone shall attempt by any means whatever to turn
you from the right path by leading you to a tradition
other than that which we have just prescribed to you
for the present and the future, we not only order that
he be deprived of partaking of the Holy Body and
Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, but in virtue of our
proper authority and that of all our predecessors, we
decree that in punishment of his audacity and pre-
sumption he remain under a perpetual anathema. "-
(Cod. Brit. Mils., add. 8873, fol. 168.)
Pope Leo, the author of this letter, had himself been
a pupil at this same monastery of St. Martin. From
thence also the priest John, the Precentor of St. Peter's,
had set out 200 years before to teach the English the
system of chanting and reading followed at St. Peter's.
The above extract throws an important light on the
i6
progress of the Gregorian reform of the ecclesiastical
chant. In the latter half of the ninth century a powerful
monastery close to Rome had not yet adopted it. Com-
pare with this fact the presence of the Ambrosian chant
in the province of Capua in the middle of the eleventh
century (Kienle, in Studien und Mittheilungen des Benedictine?
und Cistercienser-Orden, 1884, p. 346), and the Ambrosian
rubrics of various books copied a little later for churches
at Rome itself (Tomasi, Opp. vol. vii., pp. 9 &> 10), and it
will be seen how gradually the Gregorian books attained
their universal supremacy.
III. HILDEMAR (between 833 and 850), author of
a commentary on the Rule of St. Bennet, speaks of
St. Gregory as the composer of the "Roman Office" :
"Beatus Gregorius qui dicitur Romanum Officium fe-
cisse." (Expositio Regula ab Hildemavo tradita, p. 311,
Ratisbon, 1880.)
IV. WALAFRID STRABO (807 849). De Ecclesias-
ticavum rerum exordiis et increments (composed about 840).
"The tradition is that St. Gregory, just as he regulated
the order of the masses and of consecrations [i.e., the
Sacramentary and the Pontifical Rituale] so also had
the greatest part in the arrangement of the liturgical
chants, following the order which is observed to this
day as the most fitting : as is commemorated at the
head of the Antiphoner." (Op. cit. c. xxi., Pair. Lat.,
cxiv., 948.)
This refers, strictly speaking, to the Antiphonale
Missarum. But the following extract treats directly
of the chants of the office contained in the Liber
Responsorialis, or corresponding volume for the hour
services.
" As for the chants for use at the different hours,
whether of the day or of the night, it is believed that
it was St. Gregory who assigned to them their complete
arrangement, just as he had already done, as we have
said, for the Sacramentary." (c. xxv., 958.)
These two passages establish the fact that there was
a tradition in the middle of the ninth century that
St. Gregory set in order the ecclesiastical music. It
seems also that there was an inscription at the beginning
of the Antiphoner stating as a fact that he had done
this. The following extract helps us to identify what this
inscription was.
V. AGOBARD OF LYONS (779 840). Liber de Cor-
rections Antiphonarii, c. xv., Patv. Lot. civ., 336. "But
because the inscription serving for title to the book
in question [i.e., the Antiphoner] puts in the forefront
the name of ' Gregorius Praesul,' thereupon some
people imagine that the work was composed by the
Blessed Gregory, Pope of Rome and illustrious
doctor."
He is here defending the chant of Lyons against the
ultramontane efforts of Amalarius to introduce the Roman
ways. He goes on to try to prove that the Antiphoner
defended by Amalarius cannot be St. Gregory's, because
he had forbidden the use of words not taken directly from
Scripture.
i8
VI. AMALARIUS OF METZ (815 835) is undoubtedly
the person who played the foremost part in the fusion
of the Galilean element with the rest of the Gregorian or
Gelasian Liturgy, from which combination has come in
substance the Roman Liturgy in use to-day. He had
travelled much, and had been at Rome. He is a weighty
authority in the present question. The following extracts
are taken from a supplementary chapter of his De Divinis
Officiis, published by Mabillon, in his Vetera Analefta
(Paris, 1723). He is speaking of the Pope Gregory who is
the author of the Dialogues, and who sent St. Augustine
into England.
" Amongst the monks who have been raised to the
Supreme Pontificate can be cited Denys, and Gregory
of incomparable memory. Now Gregory, amongst
many other things by which he furthered the ad-
vantage of the Church, had the glory of being the
chief organizer of the Office for clerical use." (p. 93.)
" In the time of St. Bennet the whole order of
psalmody had not yet been fixed with precision in the
Psalter and the Antiphoner : it was the incomparable
Pope Gregory of holy memory, himself a zealous
observer of the rule of St. Bennet and an imitator
of his monastic perfection, who afterwards regulated
the arrangement of it under the direction of the Holy
Spirit." (pp. 934.)
" Far from blaming those who preserve the Gre-
gorian usage, they should rather praise them." (p. 94.)
" In the authentic model of St. Gregory, the
19
Alleluia and the Gloria are suppressed at the Mass for
Innocents' Day, in order to express the grief of the
mothers or of the Church." (p. 96.)
Amalarius was commissioned by Louis the Debonair
to procure at Rome a copy of the Antiphoner to serve as
a model for an uniform use in place of the varying uses
then to be found. The Pope in answer to his request
replied, " I have no Antiphoner that I can send to my
son and lord the Emperor. Those which we had, were
taken to France by Wala, Abbot of Corbie, when he
came here on a mission." On his return to France,
Amalarius went to Corbie, where he found the four
volumes brought by Wala. They contained an inscrip-
tion saying that this collection was put in order by
Pope Adrian I. But he found that they differed from
the books at Metz, which were older still ; so in despair
he made a compilation of his own, taking from each
what seemed to him the best.
Now it has been argued that if these Antiphoners
had either of them borne the name of Gregory the Great,
Amalarius would not have had the audacity to alter
them in this manner, nor would he if there had existed
anywhere in Gaul any bearing his name. But this
idea has arisen from the confusion attending the name
" antiphoner." The book that Amalarius was dealing
with was not the Antiphoner for Mass, but the Anti-
phoner for Divine Service. There were great variations
in the latter in different localities down to the reform
by Pius V., far more than in the former. When the
20
" famous authentic model of Gregory " is spoken of, it is
the Antiphonale Missarum which is meant.
VII. AMALARIUS, Bishop of Treves (809 814).
Liber Officionim, from a MS. at Treves, quoted by Morin,
fol. 6, De Missa Innocentium. " The Mass of the Inno-
cents begins in the Diurnal with this Rubric : ' Gloria
in Excelsis Deo is not sung, nor Alleluia, unless it be
Sunday ; this day is passed in a sort of sadness.' The
Holy Pope Gregory, in whom dwelt in very truth the
Holy Ghost, and to whom is due the composition of
this office, means us to share the feelings of the pious
women who bewailed and lamented the death of the
Innocents. And if it is permitted to transgress the
order of so great a Father, it would equally be lawful
to chant Alleluia with the complete office of the day
on Good Friday."
It is a question here of the Antiphoner of the
Mass.
(fol. 7.) On the day of the Epiphany "we lose one
of the chants which we have at Christmas, viz., the
Invitatory. St. Gregory, the organizer of the offices,
meant by this peculiarity to recall to our memory
as strongly as he could what passed formerly at the
time of the accomplishment of the mysteries which
we honour. That is why we chant in the sixth place
the psalm which we had avoided in the beginning.
It is true that certain blunderers treat this with in-
difference and contempt, thinking it much better to
follow the ordinary usage of each day. But, as we
21
have already said, he wished by this to distinguish"
&c., &c.
This passage refers to the Antiphoner of the
Office.
(fol. 9 10.) " That is why Gregory, the author
of our office, has placed Septuagesima
However, Gregory the institutor of our office . .
It is a question of the Antiphoner and of the
Sacramentary.
(fol. 39.) " The author of our office, who is none
other than Gregory . . .
He is referring to a portion of the Antiphoner of
the Mass.
In the following passage Amalarius distinguishes the
work of the two first Gregories as to the Thursdays
in Lent.
(fol. 1 02.) " The Holy Pope Gregory in arranging
the offices of the year had left vacant the Thursdays of
Lent. ... A long time after him another Pope,
Gregory the younger, ordained that these days should
also be celebrated by Masses and Prayers, but with
less solemnity, and he borrowed wherever he could
material to form the offices of these Thursdays."
VIII. POPE ADRIAN I. (772 795). A MS. from
Saint Martial de Limoges contains this passage (Paris,
Bill. Nat., No. 2400.) " Adrian II., after the example
of his predecessor of the same name, completed the
Gregorian Antiphoner in several places. He also
arranged a second prologue in hexameter verse to be
22
chanted at High Mass on the first day of Advent.
This prologue begins in the same way as another
very short one composed by the first Adrian to be
sung at all the Masses of this first Sunday in Advent,
but that of Adrian II. is composed of a greater number
of verses."
We have seen the passage in which Walafrid Strabo
speaks of the inscription at the beginning of the Anti-
phoner, ascribing its origin to Gregory I,, and again that
in which Agobard of Lyons tells us that the inscription
contained the words " Gregorius Praesul." There are
five forms extant of the prologue in hexameter verse.
The shortest, and therefore the one probably composed
by Adrian I., is as follows :
" Gregorius Praesul meritis et nomine dignus
Unde genus ducit, summum ascendit honorem.
Renovavit monumenta patrum priorum : tune
Composuit hunc libellum musicae artis
Scholae cantorum anni circuli : Ad te levavi."
All the five forms begin with the same two first lines.
Eckhart got over the difficulty caused to his theory by
these lines by supposing that "Gregorius Praesul" meant
not Gregory the Great, but Gregory II. But he does not
explain how " Unde genus ducit," &c., can refer to the
latter. But it fits Gregory I. in this way : Pope Felix
was his great-great-grandfather ; so that, on succeeding
to the papacy, he as it were entered on a family in-
heritance.
This prologue proves that the Antiphoner was ascribed
23
by tradition to St. Gregory in the latter half of the
eighth century.
IX. EGBERT, Archbishop of York (732 766), is a
still more important witness. Born about 678, he was
ordained deacon at Rome, and received the archiepiscopal
pallium from Gregory III. in 735. He was the disciple
and friend of Bede, the confidant and benefactor of
St. Boniface, and the teacher of Alcuin. Shortly after
he became archbishop he composed a work addressed to
his brother bishops, and called De Institution* Catholica.
The following extracts from it refer to the Ember-day
Fasts.
" As for us in the Church of England, we always
observe the Fast of the First Month in the first week
of Lent, relying on the authority of our teacher,
St. Gregory, who has thus regulated it in the model
which he has handed down to us in his Antiphoner
and his Missal through the medium of our pedagogue
the Blessed Augustine." (Patr. Lat. Ixxxix., 441.)
" As for the Fast of the Fourth Month, the same
St. Gregory, by the same envoy, has prescribed in his
Antiphoner and his Missal the week which follows
Pentecost as that in which the Church of England
ought to celebrate it. And this is attested not only by
our own Antiphoners, but also by those which we
have inspected with their corresponding missals in
the Churches of St. Peter and St. Paul." (Ibid.}
Egbert brings us back to the seventh century, but
during that century (the beginning of which saw the
2 4
death of Gregory) we have no direct evidence. There
are some considerations, however, which may account
for this.
In the first place, we have very little light thrown
on the history of St. Gregory by the sources of the
seventh century. Apart from his Registrum there is
little recorded that would by itself justify his surname of
the Great. In the Liber Pontificalis there are only a
few lines about him, whilst the Hellenic Popes, who
sat in the Papal chair from 685 to 741, have detailed
biographies, generally very laudatory. The mission of
Augustine for the conversion of England is undoubtedly
one of the most striking facts in Gregory's life ; but the
only chronicler of the seventh century who mentions it
is the Continuator of Prosper. Is it surprising, then,
that there is a still more profound silence on a fact
less calculated to attract outside attention, such as is
the recasting of the liturgical books peculiar to the
Church at Rome ?
In the second place, care must be taken not to apply
the ideas of to-day to another age. It must not be
supposed that the Gregorian Reform was promulgated
throughout the Western Churches in the same manner,
for instance, as the Reform of Pius V. The modern
system of centralization did not then exist. When
Gregory took the liturgical books in hand, he had at
first in view only the Papal chapel, and the churches
at Rome under his immediate supervision. It was their
importation into England in the lifetime of *>t. Augustine,
7
p posit* -ttuazai+pjcnjiiiji urimjuamum
/"
p cdnicmuiiur : fi-ibfaiiicnti
K ; r
J - t A f ^ -S ~tepilericnf3:Cptnxtr h&n
25
and into the Prankish Empire two hundred years after,
under the pressure exerted by the first Carlovingians,
which gave the greatest impetus to their universal use.
In Italy, on the contrary, and even at Rome, it came
about gradually only through the insistence of such
Popes as Leo IV. and Stephen X. that the Gregorian
Chant in the end completely supplanted that in use in
early times in the Peninsula. This explains why the
first witnesses in favour of the Gregorian tradition come
to us from England and Carlovingian Gaul.
Again, one ought not to expect to find the chroniclers
laying stress on the Gregorian origin of the Roman
books in the lifetime of those who were contemporaries
and disciples of the great Pope, and who had themselves
introduced the book from Rome. The fact would be
taken as a matter of course. It would not be till these
had passed away that a tradition would begin to form,
and stress be laid on the fact ; and this brings us to the
date of Archbishop Egbert.
Besides, who would have suspected the full im-
portance of this Gregorian form, and, in particular,
have foreseen that it would put a limit to the period
of elaboration of the Western liturgy ? So many Popes
had already taken the matter in hand. The great work
of Gregory was to organize, set in order, and fix. But
only time can show what is really fixed. The greatness
of his work is only apparent after having remained
unaltered for centuries.
These considerations tend to show that there is no
26
cause for surprise that it should have taken so long for
people to realize the greatness of Gregory's work in
setting in order the music of the Church.
INTERNAL EVIDENCE.
The oldest Antiphoners that we possess are some two
hundred years later than Gregory I. But they possess
two peculiarities which raise a presumption in favour of
an origin at least as old as St. Gregory.
The first peculiarity lies in the version of Scripture
from which are taken the portions to which the music
is set. This version is the old Latin one known as
11 Itala." Now even if at the time of St. Gregory it had
not entirely given place to the Vulgate, yet from his time
onwards the latter prevailed universally (except for the
Psalter, which was retained at Rome till the time of
Pius V., and is still used at St. Peter's), not only in
Rome, but in all the West ; so much so, that St. Isidore
of Seville could assert in the first half of the seventh
century, that St. Jerome's version had already been taken
into use by all the Churches as preferable to the ancient
one. It is natural to seek the explanation of preserving
an obsolete text of the words in the respect felt for the
melodies to which they were set. It is, therefore, reason-
able to conclude that these melodies existed for the most
part before the definite abandonment of the Itala at
Rome, that is to say before the middle of the seventh
century.
The second peculiarity which supports this con-
27
elusion is to be found in the comparison of the Offices,
known to have been added since the time of St. Gregory,
with the older portion of the Antiphoner. With very
few, and those very doubtful, exceptions, the materials
for these are all taken from older Offices. Sometimes
both words and tunes are transferred bodily ; sometimes
new words are set to the old melodies.
There are certain Masses of Saints, the chants for
which were taken from those which later were collected
together to form the Common. For the Feasts of the
Annunciation, the Assumption, and the Nativity of the
Virgin, all the chants were taken from older Masses, e.g.,
from the masses of Advent and of certain Virgins and
Martyrs. The Procession of the Purification, both words
and melody, was borrowed from the Greeks by Pope
Sergius. For the Mass of the Exaltation of the Holy
Cross all the chants were taken from elsewhere, with the
possible exception of the Communion. The Intvoit and
the Gradual were taken from Maundy Thursday, the
Alleluia from Friday in Easter week, and the Offertory
from Maundy Thursday, or the Second Mass for Christ-
mas-day. The Intvoit for the Purification is borrowed
from the Eighth Sunday after Trinity.
The compositions either in the Sanctorale or the
Temporale of the Mass that can be definitely dated
as introduced after the death of St. Gregory are very few,
and may perhaps have been borrowed, with the Festivals
themselves, from outside by the Roman Church.
It is a reasonable conclusion to draw, then, that the
28
addition of these portions in the seventh century shows
at least a great diminution of musical productive power,
and that the bulk of the Antiphoner of the Mass must
have been composed before this date. This inference is
supported by the conclusion which M. Gevaert draws
from his examination of the Antiphons of Divine Service
(La Mdop'ee Antique, p. 175), viz., that the Golden Age
for compositions of this class was the period 540 600.
The natural deduction from this is that the main settle-
ment of the Antiphoner of the Mass fell within the
same period.
Still it may not have been wholly due to a cessation
of musical activity that new music for the Mass gradually
ceased to be written in the course of the seventh century,
for a certain amount of music still continued to be written
for the Hour Services. It may have been due to a
feeling that the book was a closed and settled one after
a final and authoritative revision such as St. Gregory's is
traditionally held to have been, and that it was pre-
sumptuous to add to it. But whichever view is taken of
this, the Gregorian tradition is equally supported.
A further support to the claims of Gregory I. as
against Gregory II. is to be found in an examination
of the Communions of the Masses of Lent. These
form a series taken from the Psalms in numerical order,
i. to xxvi., with the exception of five for which have
been substituted texts taken from the Gospel. The
Thursdays in Lent, however, form an exception to this
scheme ; they are interpolations breaking the order of it.
2 9
Now we know that they were added by Gregory II.;
therefore the original scheme of the Masses of Lent,
at least, was drawn up before the time of Gregory II.
Of the twenty-four pieces contained in the masses for the
first six Thursdays in Lent, twenty-one appear in the
Sundays after Trinity. It seems certain that the Thurs-
days in Lent must have borrowed from the Sundays
after Trinity, and not vice versa; this is supported by the
fact that the Graduals and Offertories of the Thursdays
in Lent are all borrowed, and of the Sundays after
Trinity hardly any. So this addition, which we know
to be of the date of Gregory II., was made to a
scheme already in existence, and both words and
music were borrowed from other parts of the Anti-
phonale Missarum.
As against the claims made for the Hellenic Popes
of the seventh and eighth centuries, it is worth while to
examine the music which it is probable was introduced
by Hellenic influence during that time, and compare it
with the bulk of the "Gregorian." The tropes and the
melodies from which the sequences developed probably
come under this head, and some specimens of these may
may be seen in the Winchester Troper (Ed. Rev. W. H.
Frere, H. Bradshaw Society, 1894). An examination of
these melodies will show that their structure is entirely
unlike the structure of the Gregorian melodies, especially
in the close with a rise from the note below the final to
the final, which continually occurs at the end of the
phrases. This will be very clear from the accompanying
3
melody, Cithara, from which the sequence Rex Omnipotens
was formed. This form of close appears at the end of
each of the first five sections, and again at the end of the
seventh and eighth. In the rest of the sequence, the
melody rises to a higher range, and the close appears
a fifth higher in the ninth and tenth sections, a fourth
higher in the eleventh and thirteenth, and a whole
octave higher in the twelfth. This transposition of the
range of the melody is more developed here than in
most sequence melodies, but some such transposition
is a prominent characteristic of many of them. There is
nothing at all like it in the genuine Roman chant.
IN WHAT DID THE WORK OF ST. GREGORY
CONSIST?
John the Deacon describes his Antiphoner as a
"cento" (Antiphonarium Centonem compilavit], and speaks of
him, as we have seen, as "Antiphonarium centonizans."
" Cento " is a Low Latin word meaning patchwork,
combination, or compilation. " Antiphonarius cento "
would therefore mean an Antiphoner compiled from
various sources. And this is the character of the
Gregorian Antiphoner of the Mass, even of the nucleus
which remains after omitting the parts known to have
been added since Gregory's time. Indeed the whole
phrase quoted above has a ring of truth about it, and
makes the tradition which he reports of a more genuine
historical character, for if it had been a mere vague
CITHARA
.1 i>J 8 t
H '* J"
ma.
* J
g s
n
i-iv
f-^
3%
tradition in glorification of St. Gregory, he would have
been more likely to have spoken of him as the composer
of the Antiphoner, and not as a mere compiler. The
oldest part of the book is formed of the Feasts celebrated
in honour of events and saints spoken of in Scripture,
and of the oldest Roman Saints. The Masses for these
are taken from Scripture, especially from the Psalms.
For Feasts of non- Roman origin, the text is taken from
the Church from which they are introduced ; e.g., the
Feast of St. Agatha from the Sicilian Church, or the
Feasts coming from the Greek Church which were
translated from the Greek. The want of uniformity in
the arrangement of the text is seen by comparing the
different classes of chants in Codex St. Gall, 329. As a
rule, the words of one and the same Mass are all of
different origin. The most ancient part of the Masses
is the Graduals and Tracts, and all these (which are the
most ancient solos of the Mass) in the Gregorian nucleus
are taken from Biblical sources. This part of the
" cento Antiphonarius " is put together in one system
after an established tradition. In the oldest Feasts there
are Psalm-graduals, but Introits taken from other books
of the Bible. The parts other than the Gradual and
Tract were chosen on a different system, a considerable
number in fact have words not taken from the Bible
at all. The Communions, again, form a class by them-
selves, and were sometimes chosen with special reference
to the Gospel for the day, which is the case with no
other class of the texts of the chants.
32
Now this editing of the texts must have implied the
editing of the music also. In the middle ages the choir
played a more important part than they do to-day in the
Roman Church. For now the Service is complete with-
out their part, as the priest says the whole Service
whether the choir is there or not. But formerly it
was different ; all listened or took part, including the
celebrant, while the choir sang. The latter had a very
definite share in the liturgical order, which was incom-
plete without them ; in particular, the soloists had full
scope for their talents in the chants between the Epistle
and Gospel. In view of this intimate relation between
the choir and the altar, a revision of the text must
almost necessarily have implied a revision of the music.
And this is probably the chief part of his musical reform ;
in the saying about him, ascribed to Pope Adrian II.,
" Ipse Patrum monumenta sequens venovamt et auxit."
What was the musical material on which he had to
work, which he had to put into shape, and to which he
added new pieces ? It is probably substantially repre-
sented by the Ambrosian chant as we find it in the
oldest MSS. It seems most likely that it is the musical
counterpart of the primitive liturgy organized, as is
supposed, about the epoch of Pope Damasus, of which
the Ambrosian, Gallican, Mozarabic, and Celtic are
so many variations, due to national characteristics.
Documentary proof of this is but scanty, but a study
of the Lessons used at Mass supports the theory as
far as the text is concerned. It is further recorded
ANTIPHON
GREGORIAN
AMBROSIAN
- 8 -
O Sa- pi- en- ti- a, quae ex o- re Al-
O Sa- pi- en- ti- a, quae ex o- re Al-
i
'!
1
. . al r* a=y
tis-sim- i pro-ces- si- sti at- tin-gis a fi- ne
i* !> p.
us-que ad fi-nem, for- ti- ter su- a- vi- ter-que
- . t
us-que ad fi-nem, for- ti- ter su- a- vi- ter
1 g ^ y-^^
dis- po-nens om-ni- a : ve- ni ad do-cen-dum nos
-m -
$=f
?
dis- po-nens que om-ni- a : ve- ni ad do-cen-dum nos
vi- am pru-den-ti- ae.
-P. ; V
vi- am sci- en- ti- ae.
GREGORIAN
AMBROSIAN
INTROIT
.Li _... n. A:
f p p> 3 A- *ftf=fr-3
m m
Gau- de- a- mus om-nes in Do- mi- no,
i - - .-3. j t j
*a"V '-
Lae-te- mur om-nes in Do- mi- no,
J PM ^-- % 1 PV* ' - 5-S-n
di- em fes- turn ce- le- bran- tes in ho- no- re
h
-i
di- em fes- turn ce- le- bran- tes ob ho- no- rem
E . " . Hr
! A-
i a
A- ga- thae mar- ty- ris : de cu-jus pas-si- o- ne
^
A- ga- thae mar- ty- ris : de cu-jus tro-phae- o
j , aM ^y^g y.
^
^
gau-dent an- ge- li, et col- lau- dant
"jji " H[GZ^
"^ ni^'V^'
gau-dent an- ge- li, et col- lau- dant
, . . ....
1
i -^
*^ i %
Fi-
li-
um
De- i.
V
A
a
11 .A^" %
S
1 *
afl ,
* Fi-
li-
S 1
um
De- i.
GRADUAL
GREGORIAN
AMBROSIAN
ft =3 n. V .JU- *V
Ex Si- on
spe- ci- es
J SiV3^
Ex Si- on spe- ci- es
5 I
de- co- ris e- jus : De- us ma- ni-
J=^-^=^=I=^
de- co- ris e- jus : De- us ma- ni-
fe- ste ve-
-A-
m- et.
fe- ste ve-
m- et.
S^ ^*1^7^-
". Con-gre- ga-
te il-
f. Con-gre- ga-
te il-
/E P
91
-M*J
1 fi
3ZC
ES3
*\ p"% B
*
li
sane- tos e- jus, qui or- di na-
ve-
i .
. J
8 fa*
_>. - - _
? ^a
ft
'* !;"* .PL
. a "> ^>
lie sane- tos e- jus, qui or- di- na-
ve
runt
te- sta- men- turn
runt
te- sta- men- turn
jus
i- per sa- cri- fi- ci-
e-
jus
su- per sa- cri- fi- ci-
a.
a.
33
that at Monte Cassino the Ambrosian chant was
fused with the Gregorian by order of Pope Stephen
IX. (1057 8). Here the Pre-Gregorian chant is simply
called Ambrosian.
The theory is further supported by a comparison of
the most ancient MSS. of the Milanese chant with
the Gregorian Antiphoner. A considerable number of
melodies are practically identical with those in the
Roman books. The framework, so to speak, is the
same, but the details and embellishments often differ.
The Ambrosian melodies are sometimes rather bald, and
often excessively florid ; the extremely long neums
which they often contain appear to have been due to
Greek influence. The Gregorian, on the other hand,
appear to have been in some places pruned, in others
expanded, with the result that they give the impression
of being better balanced ; the different parts of the
musical phrases are more justly proportioned. In the
Ambrosian melodies the B natural occurs very constantly,
and gives them a masculine flavour, sometimes amounting
to harshness.
The examples here given will enable some idea to
be formed of the advance made by the Gregorian
version upon the Ambrosian, both in music and text.
But Pope Adrian II. says of St. Gregory not merely
"renovavit," but "auxit." He not only edited and
adapted the old melodies, but provided new ones for
the new texts which he added to the cycle of liturgical
worship. What were these musical additions ?
34
He extended the use of Alleluia to all Sundays and
Festivals throughout the year except in Septuagesima,
and it is probable that he added new melodies for the
new Alleluias. It is significant that the Alleluias are
the least stable part of the Antiphoner. At all events,
the Ambrosian alleluiatic verses differ entirely from the
Gregorian. The same consideration applies to the tracts,
the use of which he extended in Septuagesima.
Another tendency of Gregory's reform was his marked
desire to harmonize the text of the Communions with
that of the Gospel of the day. There are a considerable
number of these, hardly any traces of which are to be
found in the Ambrosian books. It is, then, reasonable
to ascribe to St. Gregory an important part in the
composition of these chants.
The further important question arises, did Gregory
carry out this musical work himself, or was it done by
others under his direction ?
It is natural to think of his Schola Cantorum in this
connection. The foundation of this must have had a
profound effect both on the standard of the performance
of the chant, and on the spread of the Gregorian reform.
Books were scarce in those days, and musical notation
defective. Teaching was chiefly by word of mouth.
The Director of the Choir had his manuscript to teach
from, and his pupils had to learn the melodies by heart.
The chief singer also had his liber cantatwius from which
to sing the solos, such as the Graduals and Tracts.
The School was, necessarily, not merely for teaching
35
correct versions of the chant, but for preserving the
correct tradition of the method of performance. Most
of the seventh century popes were connected with the
School or proceeded from it.
The skilled musicians belonging to this School may
have helped to carry out the reform under Gregory's
direction. But no tradition appears to have been pre-
served to that effect, and the unity and uniform charac-
teristics seem to point to the work of one genius, even
in the smallest details ; and the characteristics there
displayed seem to fit in with what we know from
other sources of his character, in his writings and in
his actions.
In conclusion it is submitted that the evidence here
put forward, though in some respects rather scanty,
yet, in the absence of any strong evidence to the contrary,
is quite sufficient to justify the tradition that St. Gregory
was the organiser, reformer, and to some extent the
author of the Antiphoner of the Mass. It is, of course,
more difficult to say definitely what his work actually
was in these three divisions, but a quite sufficient
amount of certainty has been attained for us to realize
the extent and the nature of the debt which succeeding
ages have owed to the great Pope, and so far the
attacks that have been made on the tradition have only
resulted in setting it on a firmer and more definite
basis.
THE PORTRAITS OF ST. GREGORY.
The oldest portrait of which we have a record is one
of which a very full description was given by John the
Deacon, Gregory's biographer. This likeness was to
be seen in John's day (in the latter part of the ninth
century) in Gregory's house, which he had converted
into a monastery, in a small room behind the brethren's
store-room or granary. It was surrounded by a circular
plaster frame. Probably the whole figure was not repre-
sented ; at all events, the following description which
he gives stops at the hands.
" His figure was of ordinary height, and was well
made ; his face was a happy medium between the length
of his father's and the roundness of his mother's face, so
that with a certain roundness it seemed to be of a very
comely length, his beard being like his father's, of a
rather tawny colour, and of moderate length. He was
rather bald, so that in the middle of his forehead he had
two small neat curls, twisted towards the right ; the
crown of his head was round and large, his darkish hair
being nicely curled and hanging down as far as the
middle of his ear ; his forehead was high, his eyebrows
long and elevated ; his eyes had dark pupils, and though
not large were open, under full eyelids ; his nose from
the starting-point of his curving eyebrows being thin and
straight, broader about the middle, slightly aquiline,
and expanded at the nostrils ; his mouth was red, lips
thick and sub-divided; his cheeks were well-shaped, and
37
his chin of a comely prominence from the confines of the
jaws; his colour was swarthy and ruddy, not, as it after-
wards became, unhealthy looking; his expression was
kindly ; he had beautiful hands, with tapering fingers,
well adapted for writing."
The description goes on to say that Gregory wore
the penula (cloak) of chestnut colour, and over it the
sacred pall, and that in his hands he carried the book
of the Gospel. We learn, further, that he did not have
the round nimbus, but a rectangular or square one, with
which it was the custom to adorn the heads of portraits
of eminent people in their life-time. John considers this
a sure proof that the painting was executed during the
life of the saint ; if it had been done after his death,
he would have been given a circular nimbus.
In the same monastery were portraits of his father
and mother, Gordianus and Silvia. But of course all
have been destroyed.
The portrait (frontispiece) here reproduced is a re-
construction from John the Deacon's description, made
by Angelo Rocca, Bishop of Tagaste, and a noted
archaeologist of his time (1597). He combined the
three portraits in one.
Another reconstruction from John the Deacon's de-
scription may be seen in Rassegna Gregonana for June,
1903. This follows the description more closely than
does that of Rocca.
At a later date there grew up the custom of repre-
senting St. Gregory always with a dove. According to
John the Deacon it was already customary in his day
(c. 872). This is seen in our second illustration
(opposite page n), taken from the Antiphoner of the
monk Hartker of St. Gall (date between 986 and ion).
This illustration has the characteristics found in the
greater number of representations of Gregory ; the dove
(the symbol of the Holy Ghost) is represented as
inspiring him, and he is dictating to the scribe, who
is said to be the deacon Peter. The veneration felt
for his writings, and in particular those of the eccles-
iastical chant, was such that they were felt to be due
directly to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Here
the Pope is represented as wearing an alb, a dalmatic,
a planeta and over it the sacred pall, and on his left
forearm, a maniple.
The third picture (opposite page 16) is prefixed to
two Coronation Services in a miscellaneous volume
formerly belonging to Christ Church, Canterbury, on a
page now numbered 8. The pages 9 18 comprise
a Coronation Service of the x./xi. century, and on
pp. 19 29 there follows another service of the xiiith
century. On p. 30 is another picture, probably of
German workmanship, representing a man writing.
Each seems to be independent of its surrounding
leaves ; there seems no connection between the two,
unless it be that they depict the same person.
The former of the two clearly depicts St. Gregory ;
it has been constantly said on the strength of the legend
above, "Dunstani Archiepiscopi," that it represents St.
39
Dunstan, but the dove points clearly to St. Gregory ;
the legend is possibly a later addition, and if St. Dunstan
is to be found upon the page at all it is in the archie-
piscopal figure kissing the toe of the great figure. This
act of homage suggests that the large figure represents
a Pope. Moreover, St. Dunstan is shown prostrate at
the feet of Christ in another picture, which may very
possibly be from the saint's own hand; it is, therefore,
reasonable to identify him with the figure below.
Possibly also it may be suggested that this picture,
too, represents St. Dunstan's handiwork.
St. Gregory wears a pall over a yellow chasuble,
and over this above is a red fringe ornament which is
probably a rational. The purple dalmatic with scarlet
border is very conspicuous under his chasuble ; the
under-vestments are less distinct, but the ends of the
stole show over a very dark garment, which is, perhaps,
a tunicle. The mitre is of very early shape. The archie-
piscopal figure below wears a similar mitre, a pall over a
light green chasuble; underneath a pink dalmatic and
a purple show at the arms, as well as below.
The monk who balances him is in a white habit, but
the figure kneeling below is in a black habit of the same
pattern, ungirt, and with a cowl.
The colouring of the whole is crude, and the drawing
lacks delicacy.
The fourth portrait (opposite page 24) is taken from
a MS. of The Dialogues of St. Gregory (Harl. 3011), at
the British Museum, /. 69 v., at the end of the 3rd book.
4
The background is bright green, with a brown border
round it. It is a brown-ink drawing, with some yellow
wash. The inscription above it is Teodericus depinxit hanc
imaginem Gngorium patvcm. It exemplifies once again the
symbol of the dove, which is here evidently not con-
nected specially with the musical work of St. Gregory,
but with his literary efforts as a whole.
THE PLAIN SONG AND MEDIAEVAL
MUSIC SOCIETY.
PRESIDENT.
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DYSART.
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
THK RIGHT REV. THE BISHOP OF ARGYLL AND THE ISLES.
SIR HICKMAN B. BACON, BART.
SIR J.F. BRIDGE, Mus. Doc.
THE RIGHT HON. THE VISCOUNT HALIFAX.
THE VERY REV. VERNON STALEY.
H. ELLIS WOOLDRIDGE, Esg.
REV. MAURICE BELL.
W.J. BIRKBECK, Esg.
REV. A.E. BRIGGS.
R. A. BRIGGS, ESQ.
SOMERS CLARKE, Esg.
WAK.ELING DRY, ESQ.
REV. W. HOWARD FRERE.
A. HUGHES-HUGHES, ESQ.
COUNCIL.
REV. E. J. NORRIS.
REV. G. H. PALMER.
A. H. D. PRENDERGAST, Esg.
ATHELSTAN RILEY, Esg.
J. RUSSELL, Esg.
PERCY E. SANKEY, ESQ.
REV. H. URLING SMITH.
REV. G. R. WOODWARD.
J.T. MICKLETHWAITE, Esg.
E. G. P. WYATT, ESQ.
AUDITORS.
MESSRS. GERARD VAN DE LINDE & SON.
HON. TREASURER.
E.G. P. WYATT, ESQ.
HON. SECRETARY.
PERCr. E. SANKET. ES^., 44 Russell Square, London. W.C.
C&e Plain0on0
The Society is founded for purely antiquarian purposes with the
following objefts :
1. To be a centre of information in England for students of Plain-
song and Mediaeval Music, and a means of communication
between them and those of other countries.
2. To publish fac-similes of important MSS., translations of
foreign works on the subject, adaptations of the Plainsong to
the English Use, and such other works as may be desirable.
3. To form a catalogue of all Plainsong and Measured Music
in England, dating not later than the middle of the sixteenth
century.
4. To form a throughly proficient Choir of limited numbers, with
which to give illustrations of Plainsong and Mediaeval Music.
The subscription for Members is i per annum, entitling them
to all publications gratis. Clergymen and Organists are eligible for
election Associates, at a Subscription of 2/6 per annum, which will
entitle them to ihe annual publications at a reduced price.
1 90
Address
requests to be admitted a ^Member (or Associate) of THE
TLAINSONG fef MEDIAEVAL MUSIC SOCIETY.
'Proposed by
Seconded by
To be sent to the Hon. Secretary, P. E. SANKEY, Esq, 44 Russell
Square, London. W. C.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY.
Price.
THE MUSICAL NOTATION OF THE MIDDLE AGES (out of print)
SONGS & MADRIGALS OF THE 1 5th CENTURY, containing 14 specimens,
with fac-similes and rules for translating the music into modern notation
(Quaritch) i. 6.
GRADUALE SARISBURIENSE, a fac-simile of a ijth Century English
Gradual, with an introduction giving a history of the development of the Graduate
from the Antifhonalc Missarum of St. Gregory, with elaborate Indexes to the
Offices, Graduals, etc., and to works on Liturgiology. The volume contains
102 pages of Text and 293 pages of Collotypes, and represents the most im-
portant part of the Ecclesiastical Music of the Middle Ages (Quaritch) 4.. 2.
ANTIPHONALE SARISBURIENSE, a fac- simile of a i^th Century English
Antiphoner. This work, when complete, will be uniform with the Graduate
SaridntriatK) and will contain over 700 pages of Collotypes. It is being pub-
lished in yearly parts. Parts I, II, III & IV, now ready with portfolio, price 4. 2.
THE SARUM GRADUAL, being the introduction to the GRADUALE
SARISBURIENSE with four fac-simile pages (Quaritch) 15/9
EARLY ENGLISH HARMONY, from the lothtothe 1 5th Century. Vol I.,
containing 60 Collotype Plates of music by composers from St. Dunstan down
to John Dunstable (Quaritch) ... ... ... ... ... ... i. 6.
The above 'works are folio and on thick paper.
MADRIGALS OF THE i;th CENTURY, containing six Madrigals in
modern notation, quarto (Novello) (out of print)
BIBLIOTHECA MUSICO-LITURGICA, a descriptive hand-list of the
Musical and Latin Liturgical MSS. of the middle Ages preserved in English
libraries. Fascicle I. and Fascicle II., making Vol. I., quarto, 164 pp. with 13
facsimiles (Quaritch) ... ... ... ... ... ... 1.5.6.
S. GREGORY AND THE GREGORIAN MUSIC 2/8
THE ELEMENTS OF PLAINSONG, edition de luxe (out of print)
THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS, edition de luxe (guaritch) ... 7/10
PLAINSONG HYMN-MELODIES & SEQUENCES, edition de luxe (QuantcX) 7/10
RECENT RESEARCH IN PLAINSONG, edition de luxe 3/3
The above editions consist of numbered copies to 'which the issue is limited.
THE ELEMENTS OF PLAINSONG, cloth, 3/9
A GENERAL OUTLINE OF PLAINSONG (being Chapter I. of above) 3^.
"CHOIR RESPONSES 3^.
DEPRECAMUR TE (as sung by St. Augustine and his companions) ... id,
THE INVITATORY PSALM (Venlte exultemus), set to its Proper Melodies
in the IHrd, IVth, Vlth and Vllth Modes each 3^.
THE PASCHAL ANTHEMS (Pascha nostrum) $d.
TE DEUM 3</.
MAGNIFICAT & BENEDICTUS set to the Peregrine Tone jrf.
THE CANTICLES $d.
ADDITIONAL SETTINGS of certain of THE CANTICLES, being the four
previous publications in one volume ... ... ... ... lod.
Price.
RESPONDS AT VESPERS for ADVENT, CHRISTMAS-TIDE, LENT,
and COMMON OF SAINTS (Others in preparation) ... 2/3
*THE PSALM TONES & OFFICE RESPONSES ... $d.
THE SARUM PSALTER (Gio. BELL & SONS.) 2/10
THE INTRODUCTION to ditto, with the Tone-table and Examples ... %d.
*THE LITANY & SUFFRAGES Bound 8</.
THE ANTIPHONS TO MAGNIFICAT 4/4
*THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS (7 Masses in English) 2/9, Cloth 3/9
*THE PLAINSONG OF THE HOLY COMMUNION, two easy melodies
for the Kyrie, Sanffus, Agnus & Gloria in excclsis, with the Creed & Choir
Responses ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ~jd.
MISSA REX SPLENDENS (Organ accompaniment by Dr. Pearce) ... 1/2
*THE MUSIC OF THE MASS FOR THE DEAD, adapted to the English
Text from the Sarum Manuale ... ... ... ... ... ... 1/8
VESPERS OF THE DEAD 5</.
THE ORDER OF THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD ... d.
PLAINSONG REQUIEM SERVICES, being Vespers, Mass & Burial of the Dead 2/8
PLAINSONG HYMN-MELODIES AND SEQUENCES 2/9
The WORDS only of the SEQUENCES together with sundry EUCHARISTIC HYMNS and
ANTIPHONS ... ... ... ... ... ... ... jd.
A SELECTION OF INTROITS, GRAILS & ALLELUYAS 2/4
EUCHARISTIC HYMNS & ANTIPHONS iod.
SALVE ! FESTA DIES for 5 Great Festivals 7 d.
RULED MUSIC PAPER, per quire Sd.
Organ accompaniments can be obtained in MS. from the Community of S. Mary
the Virgin, Wantage.
*A reduction allowed to Choirs. Prepayment is necessary in all cases.
The above prices include the postage, and copies can be obtained upon application by
letter -with remittance of the Hon. Secretary
PERCY E. SANKEY, Esg.
44 RUSSELL SO.UARE, LONDON, W. C.
The Society has arranged for instruction in the correct rendering of plainsong
to be given to Clergy, Organists and others, also for a Choirmaster to assist Choirs
adopting the music. For particulars apply to the Hon. Secretary.
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
ML Wyatt, Edward Gerald
3082 P enfold
W9 St. Gregory and the
Gregorian music
Kusic
