Liber gradualis

The Liber gradualis is a significant work by Dom Joseph Pothier, a French Benedictine monk and scholar. Pothier, along with his contemporaries, played a crucial role in reconstituting Gregorian chant. He collaborated on a new edition of choir books based on Gregorian chant manuscripts, and his publication Les Mélodies grégoriennes d’après la tradition (1880) became a standard work on the subject.1

The Liber gradualis, published in 1883, also incorporated earlier research and, alongside Les Mélodies grégoriennes, marked the beginning of a reform in liturgical chant. Pothier was later appointed chairman of a commission by Pope Pius X for the reconstitution of the music of the Roman Catholic Mass. The Liber gradualis is related to Old Roman chant, a repertory of liturgical melodies from Rome between the 11th and 13th centuries, though the exact relationship between Old Roman chant and Gregorian chant remains a complex and debated topic among musicologists.12