Considerations on the Necessity of Restoring the Chant of the Church of Rome in All Churches of the Empire

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we have the good fortune to possess a large number of objects in the most beautiful state of preservation, would one not look upon it as a barbarity to destroy or bury those that do not enjoy the same advantage? One should, with greater reason, say as much of the destruction of the Chant of Rome, the only remainder of the Music of the ancients; and this destruction would not delay in being accomplished if, following the preference given to any other body of Chant, this one ceased to be in general use.

But independently of the rights given to it by its antiquity, the Chant of the Church of Rome has even greater ones in its own excellence and in the superiority that it enjoys over all those that have been made to this day, and that one could attempt to compose subsequently.

2°. Excellence and superiority of the Chant in the Church of Rome.

The excellence of the Chant of the Church of Rome is recognized by considering it in itself, its superiority by comparing it to all those that were made subsequently.

If one considers this Chant in itself, one will be convinced that it has all the qualities that constitute a good melodic composition, that is to say, an exact modulation, a very singing phrase, a just application to the sacred texts, and a true expression. One could cite a large number of pieces of this Chant which, despite the nullity of the rhythm, present ideas of Chant that could not be more happy and could not be more agreeable. In modern Chants, on the contrary, all those that have