Excerpt from A Complete and Practical Method of the Solesmes Plain Chant The end kept in view while compiling this "Method of Plain Chant" was to put into the hands of clergymen, organists, and choirmasters a book of practical instructions on Plain Chant in as concise a form as consistent with clearness and completeness. The history of Plain Chant is omitted, as well as rubrical precepts which may be learned from the official liturgical books, as Missale, Vesperale, etc. On the other hand, we have striven to unveil the art anc beauty of Gregorian melodies, convinced that the love and employment of these venerable and magnificent Chants will only return with their proper comprehension. This endeavor may be traced in our treatment of the subject. We thought, for instance, that we could render no better service to Plain Chant than to place it upon the basis of the universal laws of art, and laws of musical art in particular. By pointing out the presence and dominion of the supreme laws of beauty and art in Gregorian melodies, they are proven to be art productions. The recognition of this fact will excite feeling and reverence - two things which are indispensable in the dignified and artistically correct rendering. Apart from its manner of treating the subject, this Method has nothing new to offer. It is based upon well-known Plain Chant hand-books by authorities such as Dom Pothier Kienle, Tinel, Wagner, Haberl, etc. Particular assistance was rendered us in our work by a book which appeared a few years ago in Italy, "Mctodo compilato di Canto Gregoriano (Ravegnani)," which, on account of its practical arrangement, has found in Italy a wide circulation. We have taken from this work many of our practical examples. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Presents the "Solesmes Method" in two parts. The first part sets forth the principles that constitute the method. The second part presents the actual rules for singing.

The oldest written tradition of European music, the art we know as Gregorian chant, is seen from an entirely new perspective in Katherine Bergeron's engaging and literate study. Bergeron traces the history of the Gregorian revival from its Romantic origins in a community of French monks at Solesmes, whose founder hoped to rebuild the moral foundation of French culture on the ruins of the Benedictine order. She draws out the parallels between this longing for a lost liturgy and the postrevolutionary quest for lost monuments that fueled the French Gothic revival, a quest that produced the modern concept of "restoration." Bergeron follows the technological development of the Gregorian restoration over a seventy-year period as it passed from the private performances of a monastic choir into the public commodities of printed books, photographs, and Gramophone records. She discusses such issues as architectural restoration, the modern history of typography, the uncanny power of the photographic image, and the authority of recorded sound. She also shows the extent to which different media shaped the modern image of the ancient repertory, an image that gave rise to conflicting notions not only of musical performance but of the very idea of music history.

Since her death in 1179, Hildegard of Bingen has commanded attention in every century. In this book Jennifer Bain traces the historical reception of Hildegard, focusing particularly on the moment in the modern era when she began to be considered as a composer. Bain examines how the activities of clergy in nineteenth-century Eibingen resulted in increased veneration of Hildegard, an authentication of her relics, and a rediscovery of her music. The book goes on to situate the emergence of Hildegard's music both within the French chant restoration movement driven by Solesmes and the German chant revival supported by Cecilianism, the German movement to reform Church music more generally. Engaging with the complex political and religious environment in German speaking areas, Bain places the more recent Anglophone revival of Hildegard's music in a broader historical perspective and reveals the important intersections amongst local devotion, popular culture, and intellectual activities.