Graduale Simplex

- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

Use: Liturgical Year
Required Resources: Unison voices
Language: Latin

While the Graduale Romanum is the Church's official book for the choir, some beginning scholas (chant choirs) may not be up to the full, extensive chants presented in this book. For them the Church offers the Graduale Simplex for use in smaller churches.

The General Instruction on the Roman Missal (2002) indicates this book as a secondary source for the processional music at Mass (Entrance, Offertory, Communion) and for the chants after the First Reading and before the Gospel. The number of Mass propers has been streamlined and the music has been simplified considerably, making the Graduale Simplex accessible to beginning choirs and to the congregation.

CNP's version is the 1999 reprint from Libreria Editrice Vaticana (Vatican Editions), the official press of the Holy See. Unlike the Graduale Romanum which sets each text of all the Mass propers throughout the year, the Graduale Simplex includes simplified versions of texts for most Sundays of the liturgical year, as well as for major solemnities and feasts. During Advent, Eastertide and Ordinary Time the Graduale Simplex offers a few "composite" Masses, from which one may choose a Mass to use during any Sunday of that season.

Contents (515 pages):

• from the Kyriale
  • Music for chanting all the Mass texts
  • 5 Mass settings (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei)
  • 3 Credos
• Proper of the Seasons

  2 Advent Masses, All Masses of Christmastide

  All Masses of Lent, Holy Week & Triduum

  2 Eastertide Masses plus Ascension & Pentecost

  8 Masses for Ordinary Time & Solemnities of the Lord

  Each Mass Proper has these chants:
  1. Antiphona ad introitum (Entrance Antiphon)
       1a. Psalmus (use to extend the Entrance Antiphon)
  2. Psalmus responsorius (including refrain & several verses)
  3. Alleluia or Tractus (refrain with 2 verses)
  4. Psalmus alleluiaticus (refrain with many verses)
  5. Antiphona ad offertorium (Offertory Antiphon)
       5a. Psalmus (use to extend the Offertory Antiphon)
  6. Antiphona ad communionem (Communion Antiphon)
       6a. Psalmus (use to extend the Communion Antiphon)
• Proper of the Saints
    with Mass Propers arranged by calendar date (e.g. November 1 - All Saints)
• Commons (e.g. Dedication of a Church, BVM, Martyrs)
• Ritual Masses (e.g. Marriage, Religious Profession)
• Various Masses (e.g. For Vocations, For Christian Unity)
• Votive Masses (e.g. Sacred Heart, Holy Eucharist)
• Services and Mass for the Dead
• Tones for the Gloria Patri
• Tones for the Responsorial Psalm
• Appendix (with Sprinkling Rite, Te Deum, various hymns, Litany of the Saints)
• Indices

All the texts in the Graduale Simplex are in Latin, the official liturgical language of the Roman Rite. All music is in neums (chant notation). A textbook on singing Gregorian chant will be available from CNP this winter. Check back at this website for more information.

As an exclusive feature, when you order a copy of the Graduale Simplex from CNP you also get our handy Guide to the Graduale Simplex. This booklet leads the uninitiated musician/liturgist through the complexities of the book's format and Latin titles and rubrics.

Unlike the larger Graduale Romanum, the Graduale Simplex is definitely a book that invites congregational participation. The short refrains allow the congregation an easily-learned phrase, which can be sung between the choir's or cantor's verses.

The Vatican edition of the Graduale Simplex has a heavy, flexible green cover and is printed on quality ivory paper in black and red ink. Each serious schola member would be proud to purchase and own this volume, making the financial impact of outfitting a chant choir negligible on the parish. Gregorian chant is due "pride of place" in our liturgy, and this is the practical book to actualize that!