The new Roman Missal is historic in many ways – and a remarkable relief for so many Catholics who have prayed for something to be done to restore dignity and solemnity to the Mass – but a major feature of the Missal is the music itself. It has rendered traditional Gregorian chant into English in a way that is very beautiful and provides a way for real sacred music to be part of every parish life. In this way, the new Missal is a large upgrade over the previous edition.
Until now, you had to buy the entire Missal to get the music in a book. The Liturgical Press has provided an excellent service in pulling all the music out of the Missal – and not all editions have contained all the music written for the book – and putting it into a very beautiful single volume. The book is Chants of the Roman Missal. It is called a study edition and it is indeed that. But it is also useful for use in liturgy itself. Any priest who is seeking to learn to sing the Mass will find this edition extremely useful. It is a good book to have for musicians who are in a position to teach priests the chants. It will be great for seminaries and seminars too.
The binding is great quality and the print of the music is very clear and crisp. It is very much worth the $50. It would make an excellent gift for any Catholic musician or priest. The book is Chants of the Roman Missal.