Some other useful books for a choir

I'm wish to highlight a couple of books today. Other than the hymnals (which I will review in an upcoming post) and a Liber Usualis or the Graduale Romanum (not the new edition used in the New Mass!), several other books can be considered helpful. Anyway, yours truly doesn't even own a Liber Usualis himself as a new copy costs more than US$100 a piece (gulp!) but we have some donated copies from the Singapore priory and neume from free online sources.

First on my mind would be the well-known Fr. Carlo Rossini's "Proper Of The Mass" which are propers set to Gregorian psalm-tones with organ accompaniment. Beautiful, yet simple enough for most congregations to start a choir in order to sing the propers, if going full-scale Gregorian melodies seems intimidating at first. Republished by Neumann Press, this indispensable book is readily available in either hardcover or spiral-bound. In fact, our choir use pieces from this book especially for overtly long Gregorian melody pieces, such as the Tract for the First Sunday of Lent. Singing that piece alone in the original Gregorian melody actually takes about 12'30"!!! I guess that's why it's used to start Lent.... a penitentially long piece. (grin)


Next, I was alerted to a book published by Roman Catholic Books. The title is "Papal Legislation on Sacred Music". Though I have yet to get my hands on this book, it seems like a complete and authoritative compilation of papal and SCR (Sacred Congregation of Rites) decrees on sacred music, going all the way back to the time of Pope St. Damasus. I guess it would be useful for those involved in Church music to refer to this every now and then, to remind ourselves on the duties and responsibilities as well as what's permitted and what's not permitted in the Sacred Liturgy. Now, anyone willing to sponsor this as a gift for us? (wide grin)