That SEP Buzz

We’ve waited a long time for this – forty years for this book but a mere 8 months since its conception – and yesterday was the day that I finally looked at the final product, and it is amazing. If I could figure a way to post directly from my iphone to this blog, I would do it (will try again today).

It began with the arrival of the books in the ballroom.

Then I opened the box while many, including Arlene Oost-Zinner and William Mahrt and many attendees, ceremoniously stood by to get the first look.

Then finally we pulled out the first one: ooh aaaah! As we had hoped, this 460-page book is actually quite compact and manageable, due to a specialized paper style.

Then finally, here was the first look at the stuff inside. One can only stand in amazement: this is the first truly complete and accessible book of sung chant propers for the ordinary form of Mass.

And now I’m pleased to say that you can order yours too, from Amazon, with prime shipping available.

See: The Simple English Propers. The link says that they are out of stock but that’s because Amazon didn’t order enough to meet the demand over the last few days. In fact, I delayed posting this link just to make sure they they stocked up but their algorithms are dictating inventory levels (sometimes the human brain works better!). In any case, they will be there in a day or two. All this means is that you can’t get overnight shipping.

All that aside: it’s a new day for chant in the ordinary form! Congratulations to the brilliant, hard-working Adam Bartlett for his spectacular work.