About

Gender

Male


Birthday:

December 3


Intérêt principal (principal interest)

Grégorien, Ars antiqua, Vieux-Romain, Ambrosien, Théorie musicale, Manuscrits (paléographie)


Présentation: travaux et (ou) intérêts (Presentation: works and (or) interests)

I have a profound interest in finding the authentic performance of Gregorian, Old Roman, and Ambrosian: namely discovering the right rhythm and melodic corrections, making sense of the paleography, ascertaining why certain deviations appeared in the Carolingian and Italian transmissions, parsing a correct interpretation of the Latin Theorists, and determining how best to depict the authentic chant in modern musical notations. To date, no satisfactory unified 'theory' over all the aforementioned has been made.


Activity Feed

Kevin M. Rooney replied to Raphael Cavalcanti's discussion Rhythmic Proportions in Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Chant sale or scan request in Mensuralistes
"The link is broken now.
Is it the first or second edition?  The second edition has corrected some typographical errors, and a larger index."
Dec 18, 2019
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Raphael Cavalcanti's discussion Cardine's critiques on Fr Vollaerts and Dom Murray in Mensuralistes
"Raphael,
The book is available from Solesmes, but it's not advertised in Solesmes' webstore.  You can contact them and request a copy, but they will ask for your Paypal or credit card number over email, so be smart.  Or private-message me if you…"
Aug 23, 2019
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Louis-Marie Salaün's discussion Notions sur la rythmique grégorienne par Dom GAJARD
"Antonio Thomas said:
D'où la conclusion logique que la distinction est dans l'information de nuances agogiques et pas dans des durées de proportion fixe 1+1 =2.



The musico-logical conclusion is that such passages either are corrupt in the written…"
Aug 23, 2019
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
""... so that the actual durations are, perhaps, 1.75, 0.25, and 1. ... so that 1.66 + 0.34 + 1 and 1.85 + 0.15 + 1 are both perceived by the ear as interpretations approximately equal to 1.75 + 0.25 + 1, as long as the total duration of the first…"
Nov 19, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"I regard the first two notes of (salvasti) me in the gradual Exaltabo te as exemplifying syncopation.
I also regard the fifth and sixth notes of sum in the Laon 239 notation of the gradual In Deo speravit as exemplifying syncopation.
Then there are…"
Nov 17, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"Concerning the Micrologus:
"Tenor" in Guido's own usage is the duration of any note, not just the end of a phrase. (I will address "ultimae vocis mora" later in this post.) Also from Guido:
Musica vox fit motione; motio autem habet in se tenorem qui…"
Nov 17, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"Alasdair, I do not see the discrepancy you see between the Commemoratio brevis and the performance tradition.  My replies to each of your points:

that the example of the antiphon Ego sum via indicates that a single pitch on a syllable is regarded…"
Nov 17, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"One can further argue that it is not the norm for communal Christian chant to allow pitches of intermediate metrical values to knock the regularity of the rhythm off kilter such that a regular rhythm is no longer to be heard; that it is the norm to…"
Nov 17, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"I would advance the argument that, because of its dating, Einsiedeln 121 ties into then contemporary sung repertoire which, by its very nature, exhibits “ingenuity”. I would also advance the argument that one can only copy from manuscripts…"
Nov 17, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"A/the tenor, that is, the 'mora' of the last note - which, however small it is in a syllable, is larger in a part and longest in a distinction - is a sign of division in these. And so it is necessary that the melody should be clapped as if with…"
Sep 24, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
""I have never thought of liquescence as being particularly connected either with melody transmission or consonant clusters, as you mention in point3."
Case 1: If you have heard "Ad te levavi" or a similar figure only ever sung with that 'liquescent'…"
Sep 24, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"Jerome F. Weber said:
If the notation is rhythmically ambiguous, the Cardine approach should receive as much respect as van Biezen or his predecessors. Earlier criticisms of nuanced rhythm usually referred to mensuralist theory as if eight 20c.…"
Aug 17, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"My observations on the aforementioned examples of notae debiles.
1. Communion Jerusalem (Graduale Triplex, p. 370).
The 'l' in 'Jerusalem' is a small consonant cluster, and moreover a liquid consonant, allowing for the second note of the clivis over…"
Aug 17, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"Alasdair Codona said:
I would be interested to see how you interpret the Commemoratio brevis with regard to the neume at the start of Sciant gentes



Commemoratio Brevis says that "all notes are long or short, always one twice the duration of the…"
Aug 17, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"Prof. Ricossa,
Thank you for your continued recordings. With each recording, your rhythm is growing closer to my view.
Excellent point on the Baroque. Recently I read a similar discussion on controversy over Bach's intended meaning of the fermata.…"
Aug 17, 2018
Kevin M. Rooney replied to Fyodor N's discussion Rhythm, Meter and Tempo of Gregorian Chant according to Jan van Biezen
"Alasdair,
Great video of the Coptic Trisagion. Thanks for sharing. The Gregorian Alleluias and prose-less Sequences strike me as a similar kind of chant."
Aug 17, 2018
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