Dom Saulnier goes Open Source

Dom Daniel Saulnier, current director of paleography at Solesmes Abbey and successor of Dom Mocquereau and Dom Cardine has placed his course materials for the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music online, in the common domain for all.

Granted, most of this is in Italian, but I find it striking that Saulnier has chosen Google Sites and Google Docs as the means of sharing some of his material in the commons. When first visiting the site a “translate” box in the lower right hand corner immediately pops up for the user. Perhaps not offering a scholarly translation, but it can certainly be helpful in getting a general understanding of the material for those who do not read Italian.

Just briefly browsing his dispensae has been fascinating. There are some very interesting studies here of cantillation, of word accent, of timbre.

I look forward to exploring these resources more. What a gift that he has shared these resources freely for all to benefit from–we don’t even have to wait 70 years after he is dead to freely access his knowledge and wisdom!