Chants of the Vatican Gradual, by Dom Johner - Church Music ...

Foreword to the First German Edition
xi
It would be astonishing, indeed, if only pearls of great value were to be
found in its rich storehouse of treasures. These occasional imperfections
give greater prominence to the beauty and sincerity of expression of the
other melodies.
The sequence of the words in the Latin text has, as much as possible,
been retained in the translation. Those unacquainted with Latin can
in this way more easily compare the translation with the original text
and its melody. For this reason, also, the division and phrasing indicated
by the larger pause signs in the Vatican Gradual has been accurately
retained and for the sake of clearness is shown here by numbers.
The present work is the outgrowth of the author's lecture course in
the High School of Music in Cologne.
May God bless the work! May it be the means of ever more fully
realizing the desire of the saintly Pope Pius X, and of teaching the Catholic
world once more to sing as the chant of the Church sings, and to pray
as it prays!
Feast of the Purification, 1928, Beuron.
THE AUTHOR