Dear lovers of music, mystery, and meaning,
🐿️ I hope you are appreciating squirrels today. I know I will be.
🎼 Over at the International Chant Academy, Angela Rocchio (who lives here in St. Louis!) is always sharing marvelous resources in connection to Gregorian chant. Last month, she shared a lengthy article about the moods of the eight chant modes.
And she shares this list from Abbot Poisson
Mode I: gravis ~ peace, tranquility, equilibrium
Mode II: tristis ~ gravity, somber
Mode III: mysticus ~ humble dignity
Mode IV: harmonicus ~ that is, well ordered, "the mode without an end"
Mode V: laetus ~ trumpeting, firmness
Mode VI: devotus ~ simple joy, confidence, filial piety
Mode VII: angelicus ~ exaltation, triumphant joy, enthusiasm
Mode VIII: perfectus ~ certitude, stability, affirmation
This subject fascinated me when I took an online course on chant with Angela several years ago. The whole article is great, and she uses hymns and carols (in square note notation) to illustrate different modes.
🐦
“Lately I’ve taken to reading poetry, which is new for me. But I love how it forces me to slow down. You simply can’t speed-read a good poem. Last night I picked up the Christian savant and literary master T. S. Eliot. A little of it I even understood, like his line about ‘this twittering world’ where people are ‘distracted from distraction by distraction.’ Meaning, a world with just enough distraction to avoid the wound that could lead us to healing and life.”
– John Mark Comer. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Until next week,
-David
-David