The second part of the Gregorian restoration concerns the efforts and struggles it took to gain acceptance of the restoration, particularly in Rome. We will focus on this aspect, drawing mainly on the correspondence of Dom Mocquereau, Msgr. Carlo Respighi, consultor of the Congregation of Sacred Rites and pontifical master of ceremonies, and Father Angelo de Santi, editor of Civiltà Cattolica, who was to be the mainspring of the Gregorian reform. Dom Mocquereau’s great achievement, the Paléographie Musicale, was crucial for Father de Santi in this regard, because it showed that Dom Pothier’s work was in complete conformity with the...

Once he returned to Solesmes, Dom Mocquereau soon had good news from Rome. On October 19, 1891, Father de Santi told him, in fact, that the Pope had ordered the Congregation of Sacred Rites to review the Regulation of September 14, 1884, which had followed the decree of April 26, 1883, published after the Arezzo Congress to maintain the privilege of the Ratisbon edition,⁴¹ and to publish another, the interpretation of which would leave no room for hesitation concerning the Gregorian question, and which could serve as the rule for all Churches. Father de Santi also knew, through Cardinal Rampolla,...

It was St. Pius X, elected Pope in August 1903, who brought the Gregorian restoration movement to its fulfillment. We will see the assistance provided to Pius X by Father de Santi, with regard to both the wording of the motu proprio of November 22, 1903, and that of April 25, 1904, and the establishment of the Vatican Commission responsible for reforming the liturgical books of Gregorian chant. Yet, although the honor for this restoration is justly due to this great Pope, it is equally just to point out those who promoted that movement.¹³⁹

On August 4, 1903, Cardinal Sarto...

The meetings of the Commission began on the afternoon of April 29. Six meetings were held between April 29 and June 27 at the Circle of St. Peter, at the offices of the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, and at St. Anselm, the Benedictine house. The purpose of these meetings was purely practical: to organize the work, and to determine the steps to be taken. In these first six meetings, there were never more than seven members of the Commission present: Dom Pothier, the President, took part in the first meeting only, and Dom Mocquereau participated only in...

Dom Pothier returned to Rome at the beginning of February 1905, and was received by the Pope on February 15 (Revue du Chant Grégorien, March–April 1905, p. 137). The meetings of the Commission had resumed February 12. In spite of Father de Santi’s wishes and those of Dom Mocquereau, the number of consultors remained the same. On November 12, 1904, Father de Santi had nonetheless written to Dom Mocquereau that the Pope agreed that there should be a greater number of consultors so that the preparation of the Vatican Edition might be given the best possible guarantee of success....

At the time when the two monks returned from Germany, Solesmes was no longer involved in the task of editing the Vatican Edition, which was being done without its cooperation or that of its friends and defenders. In 1905 and over the following year, several attempts at reconciliation were made between the Commission and the Editors, without result. But before mentioning anything more about this, a word must be said about the relentless wrangling directed against the Solesmes rhythmic editions, for the monks were challenged even with respect to the rights that had been graciously given them by Pius X,...