Sunday, September 13, 2009

A Book to Marvel at and Use: Mass and Vespers

Mass and Vespers was published in 1957 at 2288 pages. It is a marvel, a sort of mega-Liber with English translations cleverly woven in for every proper and reading. It contains a mind-boggling number of chants for Mass, Vespers, Compline, and every occasion that one can imagine. One almost can't believe how many there are, even introits for Masses for American saints.

Believe me, you will only want to download this once, but what a treasure it is. For one thing, one can only shudder to think of the typesetting that went into this. This must have been the work of a lifetime for several monks at Solesmes. For another thing, it is extremely rare. 1957 probably wasn't a very good year for chant or not many were printed or something, but, in any case, it is super difficult to get at any price. Now it is given unto the world via digital media, capable of infinite copying and distribution now and forever.

It is a gift from the CMAA. P.S. I'm expecting a server crash. Please come back if it happens.

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