The Advent Project : The Later Seventh-Century Creation of the Roman Mass Proper

In his final accomplishment of an extraordinarily distinguished career, James W. McKinnon considers the musical practices of the early Church in this incisive examination of the history of Christian chant from the years a.d. 200 to 800. The result is an important book that is certain to have a long-lasting impact on musicology, religious studies, and history. In his final accomplishment of an extraordinarily distinguished career, James McKinnon considers the musical practices of the early church in this incisive examination of the history of Christian chant from the years 200 to 800. The result is an important book that is certain to have a long-lasting impact on musicology, religious studies, and history.According to accepted wisdom, Christian chant evolved from Jewish psalm recitation, and the texts assigned to each day of the liturgical calendar (the Propers) gradually accrued over many centuries. But McKinnon offers persuasive evidence that the Mass Proper texts and music primarily came into being during a very few years at the end of the seventh century as part of a concerted effort he calls "the Advent Project". According to McKinnon, the schola cantorum in Rome, wishing to consolidate a uniform practice, began with the Advent-Christmas season, composed appropriate texts and music, and then moved on to the next sequence, Lent. Analyzing the Mass Proper as a whole, McKinnon says, leaves the distinct impression of an ambitiously conceived project undertaken to provide Proper chants for every day of the church year. Too large a task for perfect realization, the project ended with a number of compromises and was transmitted northward in the eighth century, becoming what we know as Gregorian chant.Drawing on musical, historical, and liturgical scholarship, McKinnon's findings will fundamentally change the way we think about one of the most important repertories of Western music. Despite its detailed description of complex material, the book reads easily, and McKinnon's enthusiasm for his subject is apparent throughout.

In this study in 'musical archeology,' James McKinnon reveals one of the most important layers in the early development of Gregorian chant. With equal attention to musical and ritual practicalities, McKinnon applies an unusual combination of scholary skill and sensitivity to reconstruct how words and melodies might have been assigned to the whole church year, beginning with Advent. If liturgy is 'people doing things for which they have forgotten the reasons,' McKinnon shows us some of the reasons for the creation of the Gregorgian Proper chants of the mass.—Richard Crocker, author of An
Introduction to Gregorian Chant

[It] is so richly imagined and so well supported with facts and argument that the reader is compelled by its plausibility even while remembering that (s)he is peering behind what has often been depicted as an impenetrable curtain. McKinnon uses his exceptional knowledge of the sources of late antiquity, common sense, imagination and persistent belief that the story ought to make sense to piece together the history of Christian chant from 200 to 800 as one might piece together the shards of a hopelessly smashed ancient artifact. The results are simply stunning.—Edward Nowacki, University of Cincinnati

Simply one of the half-dozen most important works of chant scholarship in the entire twentieth century. The scholarship in the book is not just superior. It borders on the inspired.—Alejandro Planchart, editor of the Beneventanum Troporum Corpus

Preliminaries......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 List of Tables......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 1. The First Centuries......Page 34 2. The Later Fourth Century......Page 50 3. Centuries of Silence: Gaul......Page 75 4. Centuries of Silence: Rome and England......Page 92 5. Sacramentary, Lectionary and Antiphoner......Page 116 6. Dating the Mass Proper I......Page 140 7. Dating the Mass Proper II: The Sanctorale......Page 169 8. The Introit......Page 210 9. The Gradual......Page 237 10. The Alleluia......Page 264 11. The Tract......Page 295 12. The Offertory......Page 313 13. The Communion......Page 341 14. The Creation of the Roman Mass Proper......Page 371 Epilogue......Page 390 Notes......Page 420 Works Cited......Page 460 Index......Page 470 This book considers the musical practices of the early Church with an incisive examination of the history of Christian chant from the years A.D. 200 to 800