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The bulk of recordings on this historically valuable double CD set from Parnassus derive from the flourishing of recording activity in Gregorian Chant between 1928 and 1930. There had long been interest in Chant on disc – though the earlier cylinder recordings of the turn of the century have seemingly all been lost and acoustic disc recordings were only sporadic at best. However in the first half decade of electrical recording companies big and small – Columbia, HMV, Polydor, Parlophone, Victor, Electrola, Christschall and Anthologie Sonore amongst them – all recorded significant contributions to Chant on disc and much of it has been lovingly collected here. The most famous of the early discs of Gregorian Chant were those made in 1930 by the monks of Solesmes under Dom Joseph Gajard – later released on an early LP they are now on a Pearl double (CDS 9152) and are not duplicated, despite their near canonical position, in this set.

The Rome sides of c.1933 are some of the rarest and are fascinating not least because they contain the earliest known example of an offertory with verse on disc – the melodic crest and fall is indeed extraordinary here, with prominent vibrato, as expected, and a particularly slow tempo, well sustained. The slightly earlier (c.1929) discs by the White Fathers of St Irmenin, Trier were recorded for Christschall – fourteen in all. By comparison with the Rome recordings of the Choir of Benedictine College of Sant’Anselmo, Rome (directed by Beatus Reiser it’s assumed but not stated on the labels) the Trier choir is considerably less romantically free; there’s a rough copy or two but the Anti: Salve Regina is splendidly forthright and robust. By contrast with Trier and even more so than Rome the Franciscan Fathers of Venray, Holland directed by Eliseus Brüning are also romanticized in phrasing and dynamics – listen to the Anti: Confitemini to hear their very expressively personalised way with variation of dynamics and the implicit verticality of sound engendered.

The English School is represented by some HMV sides of September 1930 made by the Monks of St Lawrence Abbey, Ampleforth directed by J Bernard McElligott; robust, straightforward, unsentimental and unromanticised – there are some slightly muddied discs but the choir, which doesn’t sound large, copes well. The Schola Cantorum of Paris, directed by Amédée Gastoué, was a mixed choir – and as Jerome F. Weber observes (and his notes are invaluable for much of what I’m relating) theirs is a very distinctive and extreme vibrato. The students may each have been cultivating distinct theatrical pretensions because there is an almost melismatic crypto-operatic feel to the performances (finding its analogue in the almost contemporary recordings of the violinist Renée Chemet, whose queasily unrestrained vibrato said something about the extremes of French expressive style at the time). The Berlin State Academy Choir directed by Hermann Halbig and recorded January 1930 recorded one side that to my ears sounds rough and ready and untutored. Les Paraphonistes de St-Jean-des-Matines directed by Guillaume de Van are splendidly incisive with a virtuoso singer in the Armenian Agop Agopian and the more immediately appealing intimacies of the Nuns of St Ehrentraud Abbey, Nonnberg, Salzburg presumably comes about because they are accompanied by an organ. The Choir of the Pius X School of Music are more romanticised in their delivery – High School and college girls with organ accompaniment – even though they are a little dimly recorded. The expressive potential is firmly established in the Common Preface: Missale Romanum where the tonal purity is most impressive. Only three 78 sides of actual chant were made by the Escolania and monks of Montserrat Abbey directed by David Pujol but they are more than sufficient to establish their authority – despite the wear on the discs and the big echo - because there is gravity and warmth in equal measure. I was also greatly taken by some of c.1929 recordings of the Dortmund Municipal Conservatory Choir – another mixed choir – and although Jerome Weber calls them business-like I have to say I have admiration for the way they sing the Kyrie VIII (5) LU37b – quite refined, elegant and whilst not affecting, enjoyable.

All texts are printed, full recording details produced where definitively known; a bibliography outlines sources of further study. Weber, an acknowledged leader in the field who has written the definitive discography amongst other things, is lucid and historically helpful without parading his expertise. The rarity value of some of this material is clear and its continued utility to gauge contemporary performance practice of Gregorian Chant is considerable. In addition the discs are responsibly presented and attractive.

Jonathan Woolf

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