Schola Gregoriana returns to Highgate

Our Director Iain Simcock will again give a one-day Chant Workshop at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institute,

11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS, on

Saturday 7 October 2023, 10.30am – 3.30p

Members:  £55 Non-members: £65
Concessions: £10 (call the office 020 8340 3343)

The following is taken from the HLSI publicity material:

‘We are delighted to welcome back Iain Simcock from the Schola Gregoriana; Iain ran a very successful Saturday workshop for us last year and is back by popular request. Come and unlock the musical mysteries of Gregorian chant with Iain Simcock as the director.  The sung liturgical music of Western Christianity, known since the time of the Carolingian Empire as ‘Gregorian Chant’, represents an unbroken tradition of two thousand years of authentic Christian song. The chants, full of beauty and variety, and with a deep spiritual content, have been composed throughout the centuries and contain music special to many regions, while the Psalmody reaches back to ancient Jewish tradition. You will discover the profound beauty and infinite variety of this timeless music by learning to sing it. The emphasis throughout the day will be on practising the singing and enjoying the full beauty of the chants.

Singers of all abilities welcome.’

 

Schola Gregoriana returns to Highgate

Our Director Iain Simcock will again give a one-day Chant Workshop at Highgate Literary & Scientific Institute,

11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS, on

Saturday 7 October 2023, 10.30am – 3.30pm

For further information go to Events tab above

Dom Daniel Saulnier OSB

The Centre for Superior Renaissance Studies (CESR), University of Tours,

announces, with great sadness, the death of Dom Daniel Saulnier OSB, at Tours on the 30th April 2023.

Daniel Saulnier was trained as an engineer, at the National School of Public Works and worked from 1977 to 1980 at the Ministry for the Environment. Following his religious vocation, he was admitted to the Abbey of Solesmes on the 11th July, 1980. 

He studied theology and collaborated increasingly intensively with the monks working on the renowned Gregorian Chant research project by reviving their publication Gregorian Studies (Études grégoriennes). Daniel decided to work on a doctoral thesis on Medieval Musicology under the supervision of Marie-Noëlle Colette, at the École Pratique de Hautes Études and, during this time, he prepared new editions of the Antiphonale Monasticum (3 vols.) and of the Antiphonale Romanum. 

 In 2005, Daniel was invited to teach at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in RomeHe remained there until 2010, when he joined the Ricercar Programme at the CESR in Tours. He directed the research of the department in 2015. Within the CESR and the Department of Musicology, he was responsible for teaching Latin, Palaeography and Musicology. He also directed workshops and summer-schools on Gregorian Chant. Always available for his students, he dedicated himself to their progress, notably in Latin and Palaeography as well as supervising doctoral theses.

Daniel Saulnier has been a profound influence in musicological and liturgical research over the last thirty years. His book Gregorian Chant – an Introduction (2003: Solesmes) has been translated into Spanish, Italian, English, Korean, Japanese, German and Lithuanian. His detailed book Gregorian Modes (2005: Solesmes) exists also in Italian, Spanish and English. Earlier this year he was at work on the proofs of his new book synthesising the modes of plainchant (Edition Epitome musical, Brepols).

His influence remains and is greatly  appreciated at the heart of the CESR, but he leaves a void which cannot be filled. We wish to associate ourselves with the sadness of his family and close friends.

His funeral took place at the Cathedral of Saint Gatien in Tours on Tuesday 9th May 2023

The Abbot of Solesmes and Patron of Schola Gregoriana, Dom Geoffroy Kemlin,

giving the Homily at his funeral, referred to Daniel as a Missionary, through his work and teaching of the Chant, and went on to say:

‘ The Brothers and also his friends who visited him recently, a few days before his return to God, were struck by his serenity and inner peace.

Our Brother Daniel drew this peace from his faith and from Gregorian Chant, which he saw as a true commentary on divine revelation – a ‘musical patrology’ as he described it. The Chant illuminates the Word of God. It is so entirely at His service that it is almost indistinguishable from the Word. In this sense it is a formidable instrument in proclaiming the Gospel. It makes us missionaries. 

Father Daniel Saulnier was a true Missionary through the Gregorian Chant courses which he led for many years in Fontevraud, Solesmes and elsewhere.’

 

Dom Daniel filmed at Solesmes

 The Director of Schola Gregoriana, Iain Simcock, writes;

I first met Daniel at the end of December 1993, by which time he was already famous across the world as a remarkable musicologist, applying astonishing rigour and method to his study of manuscripts.  I remember him saying to me, one has to be careful to let only the neumes tell us what they are actually saying. A film made at Solesmes shows Daniel taking out a pen and singing the Introit Puer natus, while writing the neumes at the same time, with an elegant artistry. 

I took part in many sessions with Daniel and my playing of the complete works of Bach during the liturgies at Solesmes during the 1994-1995 liturgical year, gave us a natural musical connection. I last spoke with him on the telephone for 40 minutes at the end of December (he was always generous with his time) whilst pondering projects for Schola Gregoriana. His natural courtesy, elegance of speech and serene nature – eminently Benedictine – gave his intellect a cloak of discretion which I found truly humbling. 

Only an in-depth biography can hope to render faithfully his astonishing contribution to the development of Chant understanding. His work improving the quality of transcriptions of neumes into square notation, has released us from many errors previously circulated. His book Gregorian Modes is a tour-de-force of musical understanding and sensitivity. Put plainly, I cannot think of another person alive capable of writing such a musically penetrating work. 

Daniel Saulnier was the last of a long line of gifted monks working on the Chant at Solesmes, thanks to an abundance of Providence, and it is hard to see how he might be replaced.

Père Daniel – requiescat in pace.

 

Julian Berkeley writes:

The founder of Schola Gregoriana, Dr Mary Berry, was working on her English translation of Dom Daniel Saulnier’s Le Chant Grégorien at the time of her death in 2008. Mary shared with Daniel the missionary ardour for promoting the  Chant, referred to in Dom Kemlin’s address (above). Both of these remarkable musicians were committed to guiding others to a deeper understanding of the Chant through careful analysis of the early source material. 

Having participated in Mary’s Chant Workshops, I myself was fortunate enough to be accepted for Daniel’s course at Solesmes in 2010. His edition of the new Antiphonale Romanum had just been published by the Abbey and it was an exciting moment to explore the mysterious neumes of the Laon, Saint Gall and Einsiedeln manuscripts. These had been the precursors of the square-note Vatican editions prepared and edited by Solesmes which were now being revised in the light of the research undertaken to produce the amazing Graduale Triplex, combining all three manuscript sources with the familiar ‘modern’ square note system. 

Daniel liked to open a Graduale at a random page and ask all the course participants to sing a chant together. He would then dismantle the successive phrases in order to demonstrate how they took their form from the neumes in the original manuscripts. The best part of this process was when he actually sang the phrases to us. There was something quite extraordinary in his soft, gentle timbre which was intensely moving. It was the sound of his chanting – rather than singing – in a completely natural way, as though he were simply vocalising the inflexions of the Latin text which had evolved into the contours of the melodic line. This subtle vocalisation is the distilled essence of ‘live’ Gregorian Chant. I can still hear it in my memory today and I have no doubt that Daniel’s deep love of these ancient melodies lay at the heart of his ability to convey them so affectingly to all of us. 

 

Dom Daniel in the Library at Solesmes

 

Dom Daniel Saulnier OSB

  

The world of Gregorian Chant suffered a great loss with the death Dom Daniel Saulnier OSB last April, at the age of 69.

He was the pre-eminent interpreter of the earliest Chant sources and he managed to combine his academic research with the direction of practical courses for anyone aspiring to sing Gregorian Chant. His great expertise – together with his modest and gentle manner – drew a worldwide following and he will be very greatly missed.

Click on the News and Opinion tab (above) for tributes from:

The University of Tours, The Abbot of Solesmes and our Director, Iain Simcock.

Patrons of Schola Gregoriana

The Trustees of Schola Gregoriana are delighted that the Abbot of Solesmes, Dom Geoffroy Kemlin, has kindly agreed to become a Patron. His predecessor, Dom Philippe Dupont has agreed to remain associated with the Schola by accepting the role of Patron Emeritus. The association with Solesmes, which dates back to the foundation of Schola Gregoriana by Dr Mary Berry, CBE in 1975, is greatly valued by our organisation today and we look forward to collaborating with the Abbey on future projects and events.

Report on Highgate Literary & Scientific Institute Chant Day

Schola Gregoriana was delighted to have been asked to run a Gregorian Chant Day for

the HLSI in October 2022 and our Director, Iain Simcock has provided the following

account of the occasion: Chant course Highgate 29:10:22

Gregorian Chant Festival at Douai Abbey, 2 – 4 May 2023

This special festival presented by Schola Gregoriana and the Association for Latin Liturgy at Douai Abbey (near Reading RG7 5TQ) will prepare and use Chant for Compline, Vespers and Latin Masses in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite.  All Options include tuition, rehearsal, provision of music, other events and daytime catering but other options include full board from the afternoon of May 2 to lunch on May 4. A limited reduction of fees may be available to clergy, full time students and the unwaged.  For details contact John Curran; (JPCSedate@aol.com or by ‘phone 01509 852259 [before 8pm]).

Schola Gregoriana and The Association for Latin Liturgy at Douai Abbey, 2-4 May 2023

ADVANCE NOTICE of a residential Chant event. Further details will be available from the end of January.

Malvern Chant Day

A good opportunity to discover the character of each of the eight modes and their relationship to one another.

This fascinating talk was first presented by Schola Gregoriana Director, Iain Simcock, to a capacity audience at Highgate Institute in

October. Iain’s report of that event included the following:

After an initial historical lecture on the origins of the chant and development of Christianity (up to and including the wonderful providential revival undertaken by the monks of Solesmes), we started by singing the Gloria Patri… in all the modes, pointing out the feel of different reciting notes, in relation to the intervals of surrounding notes in each mode. Looking at tones for intoning a short Vespers reading also showed the power of music to communicate text: show commas, full-stops, question-marks and endings. We then did sing a Psalm, in mode 3, as done in the 1980s with the ‘c’ reciting-note. Having mastered this, I then got them to try a bit again with the corrected ‘b’ reciting-note. This was startling to them, illustrating the beautiful mystery of mode 3 “Tertius mysticus” (DOM Gajard).

We then turned to the vast repertoire of Mass, singing the Kyrie ‘rex genitor’, with its inspirational rising ornamentation for the final Kyries. As well as being very satisfying to sing, it is visually useful for becoming accustomed to identifying musical motifs and recurring patterns in chant. The next step was perceiving these in all the modes, each with different cadential and final characteristics.

So, progressively we made the fabulous journey through all the modes, with the help of some of the greatest chants that ‘Incertus’ has left us. Alleluia, Ave Maria (GR 412) was particularly moving for all (like being under a spell in a tunnel), the Ecce Deus (GR 307) was felt as a strong declamation – the power of mode 5 and the Tract Absolve (GR 672) was structurally seen to be ornamented from more archaic origins. The presence of a specialist in singing the Psalms to ancient Jewish music in the synagogue was very exciting to me.

As we got to the end of our journey with mode 7 “angelicus” and mode 8 “perfectus”, the sense of accomplishment for us all was palpable and the astonishing enthusiasm, concentration and demands for more of this were most gratifying.

Anyone within reach of Malvern should not miss this. It will start at 10am and costs £10 per person. It will finish at around 4.30pm. All are welcome and it will also be an opportunity to visit the grave of Edward Elgar, who is buried behind the church. Malvern is 1 hour maximum from Birmingham, 1h30 from Oxford and trains are frequent.

 

Malvern Chant Day

Schola Gregoriana Director, Iain Simcock, will be running a Chant Day at St Wulstan’s Church in Malvern on:

Saturday 25th February 2023

The plan is to start at 10am and finish around 4.30pm

Click on the Events tab above for further details.