I know there are some doubters of the effectiveness of the Missal chants out there, but I can attest first hand that they really are amazingly versatile and easy to pick up. For the octave, I've been singing the missal chants along with my sep-like Easter Octave propers (more to come... stay tuned).
To be perfectly honest, when the new pastor arrived a few months ago, they didn't know (or at least seem to know) a lick of chant. But yet when he intoned the english gloria on Monday morning, we whipped out the hymnals, and by the end of the gloria, we didn't sound half bad. Today, it was even better. I can't wait for tomorrow. Would this have been possible with a latin chant gloria, even gloria XV? I don't think so. Even the hurdles of their preconceived notions would probably have been too much.
Are they the ideal? Certainly not, and I think most of us recognize that. But like SEP, they are an invaluable bridge to help us get to that ideal. Thus endeth my rant.
To be perfectly honest, when the new pastor arrived a few months ago, they didn't know (or at least seem to know) a lick of chant. But yet when he intoned the english gloria on Monday morning, we whipped out the hymnals, and by the end of the gloria, we didn't sound half bad. Today, it was even better. I can't wait for tomorrow. Would this have been possible with a latin chant gloria, even gloria XV? I don't think so. Even the hurdles of their preconceived notions would probably have been too much.
Are they the ideal? Certainly not, and I think most of us recognize that. But like SEP, they are an invaluable bridge to help us get to that ideal. Thus endeth my rant.