Rhythm, Meter and Tempo in Gregorian Chant

?Let the sober banquet resound with psalmody. And if your memory be good and your voice pleasant, approach this work according to custom. You give more nourishment to those dearest to you if we hear spiritual things and if religious sweetness delights the ear.?? Saint Cyprian of Carthage (A.D. 190?258), Letter to DonatusThis ancient counsel given to Church Singers speaks to the great spiritual benefit which their ministry can offer to their fellow Christians ? the final of St Cyprian?s three caveats being that their sacred work be done ?according to custom.? In this present work, Rhythm, Meter and Tempo in Gregorian Chant, authored by the world-renowned Dutch musicologist Jan van Biezen (PhD, Utrecht University 1968), Church Singers may harvest the sweet fruit of that age-old ?custom? from Dr. van Biezen?s decades of research of hymnography, most especially in the area of aspects of tempo and rhythm in Byzantine and Latin hymns.We are greatly indebted to Kevin Rooney, who has translated three of Dr. van Biezen?s preeminent articles from the Dutch-language originals: ?Het ritme van de officiumantifonen in relatie tot dat van de Byzantijnse stichera ? The rhythm of the Office antiphons in relation to that of the Byzantine stichera,? ?Het ritme van het gregoriaans ? The rhythm of Gregorian chant,? and ?Het ritme van de Latijnse hymnen ? The rhythm of the Latin hymns.? These groundbreaking works, of interest and importance to the professional musicologist as well as to the parish Choir Master and other Church Singers, read not as translations but as if they were authored in the English language, exhibiting this rare translating talent possessed by Mr. Rooney and his own love for and understanding of ecclesiastical chant.It is my prayer that you, beloved reader, may be blessed by this publication, and that it will indeed inspire our Church Singers to accomplish their sacred work ?according to custom? to the glory of the Life-giving Trinity, the upbuilding of the Holy Church and the salvation of souls.+BASILBishop of Wichita and the Diocese of Mid-America