Colloquium with László Dobszay

Alter ad Alterum: The Seraphic Voice in the Liturgy
A Colloquium on the Possibilities for Chant at Mass and other Occasions

Led by László Dobszay, Liturgist, Musicologist, and Fellow of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Sponsored by the Society of St. Catherine of Siena and the London Oratory School.

The colloquium will be held in London on Monday, 1 June 2009 from 1.45pm–6.30pm. Places are limited so if you would like an invitation, please email Dr Laurence Hemming for further information.

Some further information from the Society of St Catherine of Siena:
The colloquium will examine a variety of possibilities for reintroducing Gregorian chant into the life of ordinary Catholic Parishes, in all forms of the Roman rite.

In the first session Prof. Dobszay will give a presentation drawing on his experience over two decades of fostering and developing traditional chant in the vernacular and in Latin, at all forms of the Roman rite (old and new), at parish celebrations of Mass and Vespers with several kinds of adult choirs, a student schola, and scholas from Catholic parochial schools.

In the second session Prof. Dobszay will illustrate future possibilities in the form of an initial proposal for a ‘Graduale Parvum’ for parish use, in English and Latin, based on a return to practices widespread at an earlier stage of the development of chant, practices that were – somewhat unsuccessfully – adapted to the ‘Graduale Simplex’ published by the Vatican in 1967, and republished in 1970 in a version arranged for the 1970 Missal.

There will be ample opportunity in each session for wide-ranging discussion, covering everything from the experience of directing professional choirs to managing a small number of parish singers, and encompassing experience of all forms of the Roman Rite. The day will end with a brief reception to give participants a chance to talk to Prof. Dobszay in person.

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