The question of Gregorian chant rhythm has been of intense interest to scholars. During the period of the restoration of Gregorian chant in the late 19th and early 20th century, a system of understanding Gregorian rhythm was put forth by Dom Andre Mocquereau, O.S.B., a priest of the Benedictine Abbey of Solesmes and a great Gregorian chant scholar. His method became widely used throughout the world and gave the chant the beauty for which it was renowned. One of his students, Dom Eugene Cardine, O.S.B. (also a monk of Solesmes) sought to study the question of rhythm anew. By returning to the manuscripts, he sought to bring forth rhythmic subtleties which had not been addressed in the method of Dom Andre Mocquereau. This little book seeks to introduce the reader to Gregorian Semiology, that is reading the ancient notation and the rhythmic signs of the ancient manuscripts. This book is a wonderful introduction to reading the the neums of St. Gall. This will also ease the reader into understanding and using the Graduale Triplex (a version of the Graduale Romanum with the medieval square notation, the neums of Laon, and the neums of St. Gall). To those musicians who would be interested in learning the chant, I can think of no better beginning resource than this.

A good, simple introduction to gregorian chant. Don't get this book thinking that when you finish you'll be qualified to start a gregorian chant choir at your church or to consider yourself a scholar on the subject. What this book does accomplish is familiarize you with enough of the notational basics that, (1) if you're a listener you can better appreciate the music, (2)if you decide to do further study you'll have the necessary background to get started, or (3) if you're already leading a choir, you could add a couple of the book's short, simple chants to your repetoir.