Friday, February 8, 2013

Bring Back the St. Gregory Hymnal

I don't know who holds copyright, but we need to see a swift return of this beauty asap.

Our foray into modern liturgical music in the Latin rite has proved in large part disastrous.

As a boy I often heard my father lament it's loss.  It contained his favorite hymns. 

6 comments:

  1. Noooooooo! Montani mangled almost every four part piece in that thing, especially the polyphony. Burn it!

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  2. It was singable for simple lay folk. Practical congregational singing. Taught in Catholic schools.

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  3. I recall well, during my school-in-short-pants days, every one of us knowing the hymns in The St. Gregory Hymnal. It was perfect for those in the pews on days when the choir was not in the loft for Masses. It may not meet the standards of those classicly trained, but it was a fine aid to the fostering of congregational singing. At least, with the help of this hymnal, others could not say that "Catholics don't sing".

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  4. According to the Internet Archive, it's out of copyright -
    http://archive.org/details/stgregoryhymnalc00montuoft

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  5. We loved singing the hymns. There were many beautiful ones that helped us to learn about our faith. We still have several copies.

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  6. Newman Press reprinted it: http://neumannpress.stores.yahoo.net/stgreghymand.html

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