From the Introduction of the new Antiphonle Monasticum 2005....
The dot and the vertical episema do not correspond to any traditional information about Gregorian chant. They do not appear in any medieval manuscript and have only been introduced into Solesmes editions in order to promote a rhythmic theory of Gregorian chant (based on the views propounded in Le Nombre Musical Grégorien), which has long since been demonstrated to be obsolete. Moreover, they have shown themselves to be in contradiction with the elementary principles of reading medieval neumes. More precisely, this rhythmic theory, to the extent that it inflicts a rhythmic distortion on the words and phrases that are chanted, appears in contradiction to the elementary principles of liturgical music composition, which must be set fundamentally at the service of the sacred text.
The horizontal episema only appears in two or three medieval manuscripts of the office out of several hundred documents which have come down to us. It is not a rhythmic sign, but an expressive one. It does not inform the singer about basic rhythm, it only indicates – and that in a way very ambiguous for a XX century singer[33] – a minute nuance of rhythm (called agogic by musicians for the last century).
The dot and the vertical episema do not correspond to any traditional information about Gregorian chant. They do not appear in any medieval manuscript and have only been introduced into Solesmes editions in order to promote a rhythmic theory of Gregorian chant (based on the views propounded in Le Nombre Musical Grégorien), which has long since been demonstrated to be obsolete. Moreover, they have shown themselves to be in contradiction with the elementary principles of reading medieval neumes. More precisely, this rhythmic theory, to the extent that it inflicts a rhythmic distortion on the words and phrases that are chanted, appears in contradiction to the elementary principles of liturgical music composition, which must be set fundamentally at the service of the sacred text.
The horizontal episema only appears in two or three medieval manuscripts of the office out of several hundred documents which have come down to us. It is not a rhythmic sign, but an expressive one. It does not inform the singer about basic rhythm, it only indicates – and that in a way very ambiguous for a XX century singer[33] – a minute nuance of rhythm (called agogic by musicians for the last century).