The Christian West and Its Singers, by Christopher Page. This is the book of a lifetime. I picked mine up when it was first published and then it went out of print. It is back now. There is no Kindle version. But the physical version is an absolute treasure. The imagery is vivid. The story is compelling. This is the book that really connected me back in time to the singers of the 3rd and 4th centuries. They were human beings in a liturgical environment just like us. Their struggles were similar to ours. Page tells the story in a masterpiece of scholarship, one to last the ages.
The Musical Shape of the Liturgy, by William Mahrt. Professor Mahrt is the master of chant scholarship and practice, and this volume is his masterwork that does what no other book does nearly as well. He provides a coherent map of the place of music in the Roman Rite. In so doing, he makes an excellent contribution to liturgical scholarship. But this book is more than that. It is a guide for every parish musician. To understand the ritual and its musical structure makes an immediate difference in how one goes about the task of singing at Mass. It changes the manner in which you present Psalm, sing the acclamations, and make choices about what settings to sing and why. I’ve felt for years that this core knowledge is the missing piece in liturgical praxis today. This volume completes the picture. It is both citation rich and extremely accessible to everyone.
A Byrd Celebration, edited by Richard Turbet. William Byrd seems always to be in the process of being rediscovered. Once you approach his music and understand his task, you are struck by his genius and place in history, equal in many respects to that of Brahms or Beethoven. He also lived an extremely interesting life as a Catholic in the court of Queen Elizabeth, composing Masses for secret Catholics even as he produced excellent works for the court in English. This book of essays explores his sacred and secular works, the politics of the time, his personal life, his techniques, his legacy. All of the world’s experts on Byrd are featured in this book. For the serious musician who is interested in 16th century polyphony, this would make a great gift.
Evangelia Cantata: A Notated Book of Gospels, by Edward Schaefer. This outstanding book takes all the guesswork out of singing the Gospel at Mass. It provides the complete Gospels for the liturgical year. It can be used in any parish, and just owning it will provide one less excuse for why the Gospels are not being sung. Published with the approval of the Bishops Committee on the Liturgy, United States Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Here are some additional titles:
| Music Teaching | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Author | Sellers |
| Advanced Studies in Gregorian Chant | Justine Ward | Lulu |
| An Applied Course in Gregorian Chant | Joseph Robert Carroll | Amazon, Lulu |
| Gregorian Chant according to the Solesmes Method | Dom Gregory Sunol | Amazon, Lulu |
| Gregorian Chant for Church and School | Sr. Mary Antonine Goodchild | Lulu |
| Music First Year | Justine Ward/Elizabeth Perkins | Lulu |
| Music Fourth Year: Gregorian Chant | Justine Ward | Lulu |
| Music Second Year | Justine Ward | Lulu |
| Music Third Year | Justine Ward | Lulu |
| A New School of Gregorian Chant | Dom Dominic Johner | Lulu |
| The Technique of Gregorian Chironomy | Joseph Robert Carroll | Amazon, Lulu |
| Words With Wings (instructor guide) | Wilko Brouwers | Amazon |
| Words With Wings (student workbook) | Wilko Brouwers | Amazon |
| Chant and Choral Music | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Author | Sellers |
| Chants Abregés | Solesmes | Amazon |
| Chants of the Church | GIA/Desclee (1953) | Lulu |
| Communio: Communion Antiphons with Psalms (softcover) | ed. Richard Rice | Amazon, Lulu |
| Communio: Communion Antiphons with Psalms (hardcover) | ed. Richard Rice | Lulu |
| Communio with English Verses | ed. Richard Rice | Lulu |
| Graduale Romanum 1961: volume 1 (hardcover) | Solesmes | Lulu |
| Graduale Romanum 1961: volume 2 (hardcover) | Solesmes | Lulu |
| Graduale Romanum 1961: volume 1 (softcover) | Solesmes | Lulu |
| Graduale Romanum 1961: volume 2 (softcover) | Solesmes | Lulu |
| Kyriale Romanum (hardcover) | Solesmes | Lulu |
| Kyriale Romanum (softcover) | Solesmes | Lulu |
| Offertoriale with Offertory Verses | Solesmes | Amazon, Lulu |
| Officium Majoris Hebdomadae et Octavae Paschae, Cum Cantu | Ratisbon | Lulu |
| The Parish Book of Chant | CMAA | Amazon |
| Parish Book of Psalms | Arlene Oost-Zinner | Amazon |
| Plainchant Gradual, vols. 1 & 2 (in one edition) | Palmer/Burgess | Lulu |
| Plainchant Gradual, vols. 3 & 4 (in one edition) | Palmer/Burgess | Amazon, Lulu |
| Simple English Propers | Adam Bartlett | Amazon |
| Simple Choral Gradual | Richard Rice | Amazon |
| Versus Psalmorum et Canticorum | Solesmes | Lulu |
| Essays, History, Interpretation, Practical Guidance, Spirituality | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Author | Sellers |
| The Bugnini Liturgy and Reform of the Reform | Laszlo Dobszay | Amazon, Lulu |
| A Byrd Celebration (softcover) | Richard Turbin | Amazon, Lulu |
| A Byrd Celebration (hardcover) | Richard Turbin | Lulu |
| Catholic Church Music | Richard Terry | Amazon, Lulu |
| Chants of the Vatican Gradual | Dom Dominic Johner | Amazon, Lulu |
| A Dictionary of the Psalter | Rev. Matthew Britt | Lulu |
| Frequently Asked Questions on Sacred Music | CMAA | Lulu |
| Gregorian Chant: A Guide | Daniel Saulnier | Lulu |
| The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal | Rev. Matthew Britt | Lulu |
| The Musical Shape of the Liturgy | William Mahrt | Amazon |
| Pange Lingua: Breviary Hymns of Old Uses | McDougall/Fortescue | Lulu |
| Psallite Sapienter | B. Andrew Mills | Amazon, Lulu |
| The Rhythm of Plainsong | Dom Joseph Gajard | Lulu |
| Sing Like a Catholic | Jeffrey Tucker | Amazon, Lulu |
| The Spirit of Gregorian Chant | Marie Pierik | Lulu |
| A Study of Gregorian Musical Rhythm (hardcover) | Dom Andre Mocquereau | Lulu |
| A Study of Gregorian Musical Rhythm (softcover) | Dom Andre Mocquereau | Amazon, Lulu |