I had a long Facebook conversation the other day with a very talented and interesting Music Director. Something that he said gravely disturbed me - he mentioned that his choir had been singing all three propers from the SEP every Sunday. Since 2011.
Huh?
The Simple English Propers were a revolutionary project and are a resource that filled a very nice gap. They are a wonderful product that can be used as a beginning point for beginner directors and beginner choirs singing chant at Holy Mass. But how on earth could you sing them every week for years?
I worked at a Parish from last December until a week ago. It was, more or less, for the first 10 years of its existence a Life-Teen parish musically. Most songs during Mass were praise and worship on piano or guitar-based with a sprinkle of traditional hymnody thrown in. Chant, with the exception of Agnus Dei XVIII, seemed non-existent from the choir (though plentiful from the sanctuary). When I came in we made a rather drastic shift to using the propers found in the Lumen Christi Missal and in Fr. Samuel Weber's work, propers from the Gradual when we had time, and solid hymnody & organ music. The folks in the choir learned quickly how to do things, how to read neumes, etc. I did use the Simple English Propers (and once or twice the Ostrowski Mode II Propers) when needed - primarily when I knew I had a cantor who did not have time to come in and rehearse with me (single parents or working a hectic schedule) that could benefit from the YouTube videos available for the SEP that aren't available for the newer material (yet). But when I had time to rehearse with the singer? The SEP never entered my mind.
The Simple English Propers were a great place to start. But they're all the same... Every Introit by the same mode is nearly the same. Every Offertory in the same mode is the same. Ditto for the Communio. It makes the Propers (which should change with every Mass and have a melody and text that unite together beautifully!) seem stagnant and "ordinary."
The Simple and more solemn versions put out by Bartlett for the Lumen Christi Series, on the other hand, treat the text in a much more specific way. The text and the chant work together - each chant having a life of its own with the text - rather than being systematic. Similar things could be said for the Introits/Communios of Fr. Columba Kelly and the proper chants put out by Fr. S. Weber. They're really beautiful pieces of music that I think can really stand the test of time in a way that the SEP cannot. On weekends where we would do pieces from the SEP I would be dreading them by the 4th or 5th Mass of the weekend - but that is again not the case for the Lumen Christi chants or Weber chants. These have life - though not quite to the level of the actual chants of the Gradual - and can be repeated with success and without becoming tedious.
At my last rehearsal for the parish I mentioned above, I went through all of the Propers for the first few Sundays of Advent with them to give them a heads-up before they began working with the Interim Director of Music. Usually these required some real spoon-feeding (I sing the phrase, they sing the phrase, repeat, repeat, repeat). When we got to the Communio for Advent II from the Lumen Christi Missal, something amazing happened. They got it. Instantly. No repeating back and forth necessary. HOW COULD THIS BE? Well, they sang it the previous year - my first Sunday at the Parish. They began singing it better than they'd ever sung chant before. And it was different than when we'd occasionally use the SEPs and come across a Mode I Introit - they all knew that pattern and would pick it up but without excitement. This had excitement! It was like they were seeing an old friend for the first time in a year! The fluidity of the text and tune for the Communio of Advent II propelled them forth and they sang it like it was something they'd known for years! It was thrilling! Hearing the words "Jerusalem, arise and stand upon the heights," sore forward and upward gave me almost as much enjoyment of hearing the words "ad te levavi" sung by a professional choir.
I've put together a few examples of this, comparing the different versions of the vernacular chants available for specific days. I've included the SEP, Lumen Christi (simple or gradual), Fr. Kelly, and Fr. Weber's chants in these. I make no editorial comment on which of these I think is best in each case, but if you sing the SEP version and then ANY of the other vernacular versions, I'm sure you'll see concretely the point that I am trying to make.
The Simple English Propers were a necessity in 2011. They filled a gap that was left empty for too long with a neat and tidy easy to use book, a wonderfully put together website, and an easy-to-use resource. Now, however, we have to move beyond them. If you're not at the point of opening the Graduale Romanum every week yet, it's time to look at the other options: The Graduale Simplex, the Lumen Christi Missal/Gradual/Simple Gradual, Fr. Weber's resources, Fr. Kelly's resources, and others. The better the chants are that you are using, the more successful the future of sacred music will be. Any choir presently singing the Simple English Propers (except those who totally rely on the youtube rehearsal videos) could open the Lumen Christi Gradual and sing the simple versions this Sunday. We need to realize that the SEP can be a tool that is useful in some cases, but that in most cases it is time to move beyond them.
Perhaps we'd like to discuss the comparisons I've posted. Obviously if any of the owners of these chants would like them removed, I'd be glad to do so.