Guide to the Graduale Romanum

The Graduale Romanum is the Church's official book for the choir. This book of beautiful liturgical chants is supposed to be the primary source for the processional music (Entrance, Offertory, Communion) at Mass, as well as for the chants after the First Reading and before the Gospel. Yet many musicians, having obtained a copy of it, end up unable to use it. Why? Usually for one of two reasons: all text is in Latin, even headings and instructions, and the music is in chant notation (neums).

This guide was written to address the first of these two issues. It has three basic parts. In the first section, there is a detailed summary of the principles of use described in the introduction. The second section contains a translation of the headings and major descriptive text for the entire book. The final section is a list of translations of common abbreviations and words that are used throughout the Graduale.

One copy of this guide is provided free of charge with every purchase of the Graduale Romanum. Those who need just the guide may purchase it separately.