“The style of interpretation by Solesmes’ school is not authentic”. An interview with prof. Jacques Viret
Aurelio Porfiri
At least from XIX century, there were a lot of discussions regarding Gregorian chant and its interpretation. A major role in this was played from the French Abbey of Solesmes, that still today is considered the landmark for all those that want to approach this beautiful repertoire, that also the Catholic Church considered as her own, as stated in Sacrosanctum Concilium from Vatican II. Names as Dom Pothier, Dom Mocquereau, Dom Claire, Dom Cardine are considered as household names from all scholars of Gregorian chant. And of course they have great merit and the rediscover of Gregorian chant would not be possible without their studies and efforts, under the original impulse of Dom Prosper Guéranger, the great restorer of the Abbey of Solesmes.
There are some people that, even if they deeply appreciate the work done by Solesmes, have other ideas about Gregorian chant interpretation. One of them is Professor Jacques Viret, a French musicologist of Swiss origin. Professor Viret has studied Gregorian chant since the 70s and has published several books on this subject, as the very interesting "La modalite Gregorienne. Un langage pour quel message?" (Gregorian modality. A Language for what kind kind of message? 1996, Editions a Coeur Joie). Professor Viret's approach, that take into account the possibilities given from comparative musicology, the contemporary attention given to World music and the experiences of singers and researchers as Damien Poisblaud and Marcel Peres, is certainly very interesting and worthy to be considered with an open mind.
He was so kind to answer my questions.
Why you have became interested in Gregorian chant ?
"At the beginning, my interest was essentially about music: I would like to study the composition process of Gregorian Chant - this was the subject of my Doctoral thesis at the Paris-Sorbonne, a thesis under the supervision of Jacques Chailley (1981). This research open to me horizons on folk music, "world music". I became convinced that Gregorian chants are built on structures that are universal, a sort of musical archetypes. There isn't anything surprising here, because when the monks of Solesmes have founded in 1963 Keur Moussa Abbey in Senegal, they heard local people singing traditional songs that resemble some antiphons and hymns in Gregorian chant. So they were able, adapting the shapes of these melodies, to compose a beautiful liturgical repertoire in French and Wolof (a local language), half Chant and half African".
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