Description:

Gregorian chant, the Catholic Church's very own music, is proper to the Roman liturgy, but during the course of its long history it has experienced periods of ascendancy and decline. A century ago, Pope Pius X called for a restoration of the sacred melodies, and the result was the Vatican Edition. This book presents for the first time in English the fully documented history of the Gregorian chant restoration. The original French edition was published by the Abbey of Solesmes in 1969.

This book describes in careful, vivid detail the strenuous efforts of personalities like Dom Joseph Pothier, Dom Andre Mocquereau, Fr. Angelo de Santi, and Peter Wagner to carry out the wishes of the pope. The attentive reader will not fail to note that many of the questions so fervidly debated long ago are still current and topical today. Robert A. Skeris's new introduction to this edition illuminates the current discussion with documentation including the Preface to the Vatican Gradual and the "Last Will and Testament" written by Dom Eugene Cardine.

"The Restoration of Gregorian Chant is a multicultural icon . . . a historical exploration laden with intrigues, opinions, Episcopal approvals, memorandums, circulars, Congresses, verbatims, Vatican Commissions, copyrights, and Pontifical documents. Dom Combe's compelling sense of purpose is an incredible window of reason and energy, an oeuvre that clearly resonates the immortal Gregorian Chant."—Peter J. Basch, American Organist

"An engrossing story—replete with documentation but hardly without controversy and intrigue—of how the modern chant books came to be produced. It is essential to understanding the versions of chant we singtoday."—William Mahrt, Stanford University