English Chant Avalanche

I'm very excited to present to you four books that have nearly been lost to history, at least for Catholics, or perhaps just lost to me. In any case, I've looked for these for years and not found them. They were given for scanning by a generous benefactor to be given in turn to the world - and now they will be useful for Anglo-Catholic parishes and also the bulk of the Catholic world that uses Mass in English. They are authentic Gregorian Graduals in English notated with traditional neumes, put together by the geniuses G.H. Palmer and Francis Burgess, published variously between the 1930s and the 1960s. There are many aspects to these books that will be exciting. They are expertly prepared in every way and include the full Roman Gradual with sequences and Magnificats and Hymns of all sorts, including event Tracts in English (authentic tracts!).

I would like to note also that credit for this project goes to Owen Burdick, formerly of Trinity Wall Street. It is he who had the vision of making these books available to the world. The books belonged once to Beale Thomas of the Church of the Ascension and St Agnes Church, who left them behind when he retired.

Credit also goes to Haig Mardirosian, Burdick's predecessor at Ascension for not throwing the books out. Most all Anglican congregations that use these books have long relied on photocopies, generation after generation of increasingly fuzzy and crooked editions. This has been the standard way for many long years. To have them digitally available is only the next step in the process but now the editions are 500 dpi and perfect in every way. Thank you to Maestro Burdick, benefactor to humanity.

Golden Images did the scanning.

Finally, I would like to offer a special note of thanks to the Community of St. Mary the Virgin in Wantage for their liberal permissions and encouragement in the posting of these editions.

Feast your eyes:

The Plainchant Gradual Vols 1 and 2

The Plainchant Gradual Vols 3 and 4

The Salisbury Antiphoner

Introits of the Sarum Rite

There is more I can say about these but I'll leave it at that.