Not sure about all this 'traditionalism'.

[johnquinn39]

I suggest that a small amount of plainsong has its uses. It is relatively simple, dignified music which can help to balance a parishes music programme and, were it widely adopted, it would give a little uniformity which would make visitors feel a little more at home.
[quote][/quote]

I thouroghly agree. In addition to this, do people think it might be a good idea to look at some of the music in the simple gradual? ('By fowing waters' ed. Prof. Paul Ford).

There are some beautiful and intriguing tunes in here, and it is in the vernacular, and written out in modern notation.

Has anyone tried any of this?

[docmattc]

'By fowing waters' ed. Prof. Paul Ford)...Has anyone tried any of this?

I asked for this book for Christmas last year but confess I've not used it terribly much. Sang the litany of saints from it last Easter and the cantor used it for the easter sequence, interspersed with the Greene/Scagnelli refrain. (Its essentially the same as the Greene/Scagnelli verses but she found it easier to read). I should revisit 'By flowing waters' and use more of it, perhaps advent is a time to get more 'chanty'.

[asb]

I suggest that a small amount of plainsong has its uses. It is relatively simple, dignified music which can help to balance a parishes music programme and, were it widely adopted, it would give a little uniformity which would make visitors feel a little more at home.

I thouroghly agree. In addition to this, do people think it might be a good idea to look at some of the music in the simple gradual? ('By fowing waters' ed. Prof. Paul Ford).

There are some beautiful and intriguing tunes in here, and it is in the vernacular, and written out in modern notation.

Has anyone tried any of this?

Have used some of the psalms unaccompanied, but congregation didn't seem to take to them.

[Southern Comfort]

The two problems with By Flowing Waters are that it uses the NRSV translation of the psalms, which is pretty alien to us Grail folk, and that Paul Ford's word stresses do not always coincide with the melodic stresses (following the principle of what happens when you're using Latin) so that the antiphons can come across as stilted. A pity, because there is a lot of useful stuff in there (and I think you should feel free to adapt it).

[nazard]

...This young-ish trad has no more desire to put the clock back than B16, no desire to resurrect the days of the Low Mass and servers reciting "I'm a cowboy, I'm a cowboy, I'm a Mexican Cowboy" in the confiteor...

I woke up in the small hours remembering the correct version of this. It should read "Me a cowboy, me a cowbot, me a mexican cowboy." There was also a prayer in the mass for a saint or sinner named Annie Marmea, and a fine motet by Palestrina called "Secret Service." The serious lesson from all this is that Latin is a foreign language, and it is sensible to speak it slowly and clearly, particularly as the texts are full of meaning and deserve to be thought about. Some trads are reviving the old abuses as well as the good bits. I refuse to attend one of the tridentine masses near us because it is so very bad. On the other hand, another is excellent.

[docmattc]

and a fine motet by Palestrina called "Secret Service."

I'm part way through teaching this to the choir. One of the altos has a far ruder version

But you're absolutely right. I don't believe the standard of liturgy was ever any better than it is now (and it varies from excellent to lousy in what I expect is a non-guassian way). It was only better when viewed through the Laetare and Guadete vestment tinted spectacles.