A Manual of Gregorian Chant: Compiled from the Solesmes Books and Ancient Manuscripts

Publisher Marketing: THIS little book is an adaptation to the special wants of the English speaking countries of the Manuale Missae et Olficiorum compiled from the Solesmes books, which has just been published by Messrs Deselee, Lefebvre & Co. It is chiefly intended to promote congregational singing in those places where the Solesmes books have been adopted, but it may be useful also in the Churches in which other editions are still in use. The Ordinary of the Mass and the Hymn at Vespers are the parts of Divine Service in which the congregation is supposed to join; the same ought to ee said of the Psalms, but as it is difficult to sing them without a pointed Psalter, it has been thought better to leave them out of this book, pointed Psalters having been edited in various places, especially at Solesmes. The chief feature of this English edition is the number of pieces which it contains for Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Some of these pieces are already in the Solesmes books: these have been printed without any alteration, for the sake of uniformity. The greatest number has been extracted from manuscripts in the British Museum, as far as possible of English origin: in this case, the English form of the melody has been kept, without any attempt to give a critical edition. As many people have complained of the lack of Plain Chant settings for the 0 Salutaris and Tantum ergo, a certain number have been printed in these books: some of them are already known; the others are transcriptions or adaptations of ancient hymns, mostly from English manuscripts: it seemed it would be better to revive these beautiful melodies than to compose new ones. The latin text of the Ordinary of the Mass is accompanied with a paraphrase by Dom Gueranger. The Lady Abbess of Stanbrook has kindly given permission to use the excellent translation of the Liturgical Year by Dom Laurence Shepherd O. S. B. Special thanks are due from the compiler to the Rev. G. H. Palmer, for putting at his disposal a copy of the Sarum sequences from the original manuscripts, thus saving much time and labour.