Joseph Pothier

Dom Joseph Pothier, OSB ( born December 7, 1835 Bouzemont in France, † December 8, 1923 in Conques Abbey, Sainte -Cécile, Floresville in Belgium), was a French Benedictine abbot of the Abbey of Saint- wall groove and explorer of the Gregorian chant.

Life as a monk and chant researchers

After studies at the Seminary of Châtel- sur -Moselle and the seminary of Saint- Dié, where he remained until his priestly ordination on 18 December 1858 Pothier joined the Benedictine Abbey of St. Pierre de Solesmes in 1859.

He was already entrusted on July 15, 1860, so even as a novice, along with Dom Paul Jausions with the further investigation and restoration of Gregorian chant, which the abbot of the monastery, Dom Prosper Louis Pascal Guéranger, had already begun.

This aimed at the most authentic interpretation of Gregorian chant for his monastery. For this purpose he had in 1840 in his "Institutions liturgiques " the principles which such restitution would have to follow postulated; his method, which he developed together with the operating in Le Mans canons Augustin Mathurin Gontier, appeared in 1859. Gontier had it placed greater emphasis on the practical aspects of the execution of the respective piece, Guéranger the importance of the restoration of the Georgian heritage in its original emphasizes purity. These two aspects of the restoration of the chant should also stay for work Pothier the determining.

" The principle on which one had to rely in this work was formulated by Abbot Guéranger in the words: " As soon as manuscripts from different countries and times coincide in one version, one must be sure to have the Gregorian melody set found ". [ ... ] The learned abbot, who knew that they could not reprint without a serious revision and without previous studies, the choir books of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, has commissioned two of his monks with the necessary preparatory work. The oldest manuscripts So were investigated and compared with the later, and by handing down a of Guéranger given, above-mentioned principle, the result showed: All pieces of the Gregorian melody collection are intact in the written before the sixteenth century manuscripts, often note to note, group to group to receive [ ... ]. This confirmation of a fact [ ... ] left no room for doubt: it is necessary to add this Gregorian tradition for both the melody for the execution back to life ".

While Jausions copied from spring 1862 to 1867 then the first pure Neumenhandschriften from a Missal available in the public library of Angers ( Manuscript 91 (83 ) ), Pothier began with the copy of the 1851 published by Louis Lambillotte Neumenhandschriften from the Codex Sangallensis 359 the Abbey Library St. Gallen, which contained significantly older than those neumes from Angers. Convinced of the unbroken tradition between adiasthematischen and dias -thematic codices, Pothier compared the melody version of St. Gallen Codex with those of ruled codices. The apparent success of this approach earned him the reputation of a " Champollion the neumes " one.

Between 1866 and 1867 kept the two monks, the results of their research and their interpretation of the traditional Gregorian chant written and justified by them established method from a musicological point of view. Dom Jausions limited are, first of all, to the questions concerned the treatment of the Latin text.

Dom Guéranger, but hesitated to publish these results, it approved all single points; Joseph Pothier they were then, five years after his death under the title " Les mélodies Gregoriennes " revised out

" Together with improvements and additions that he [ Guéranger ] for the most part even not specified. "

The date of the publication of this work was a milestone in the history of the restoration of Gregorian chant.

For Dom Guéranger the restoration of two chorale collections had special urgency: The Gradual of containing the choral singing of the Proper and Ordinary of the Mass, and the Antiphonale in which the pieces used in the liturgy of the hours are included. The research underlying manuscripts elected abbot of Guéranger together with Dom Jausions, the elaboration of a definitive melody version of each piece was for Dom Pothier.

To this end, he went on extended trips that took him to the storage locations of the most significant Gregorian manuscripts, of which he made copies, they studied and compared with each other. In 1865, led in these trips to St. Gallen, Laon, Colmar and Epinal, in 1866 again to Colmar and Laon, then on to Munster in Alsace, Basel and Troyes. His superior intelligence, his active mind, his enormous overview of all the relevant issues Gregorian chant and its striking quick learner, which made him almost all the details at first glance recognize were soon legendary.

From the year 1867, Dom Jausions turned more and more from the study of historical manuscripts of Gregorian chant, so this was the actual domain Dom Pothier.

The results of his research, he took in a gradual advance, which he left this monastery, who had spent a year in Solesmes come, Benedict Sauter, monk of the Archabbey Beuron and later cantor. This Graduale was corrected according to the best manuscripts and should allow Beuronese monks, Gregorian chant in her convent " rational, reasonable, harmonious " in a manner that is, according to the principles in this Solesmes formulated to present.

Work on the Liber Gradualis were completed in 1869.

As a monk, Pothier 1893 is sent as prior to the monastery monastery Ligugé, 1895 he is prior in the monastery Saint groove wall, where he was appointed first abbot of ( re) Saint- wall groove in 1898. In 1901 he moved with the Convention between France and Belgium in the monastery to Conques and was appointed President of the Pontifical Commission for the preparation of authentic choral books in 1903 by Pope Pius X.. As Chairman of this Commission Dom Pothier lived from 1904 to 1913 in Rome.

During his Abbatiates the St. Wandrille 1912 abbey in Canada founded a new monastery, later to become the Abbaye de Saint -Benoît -du -Lac in Quebec.

Dom Pothier died in the monastery of Conques in 1923.

Works

• Les mélodies Gregoriennes d'après la tradition, Nachdr d ed Tournai, Impr liturgique de Saint Jean, 1880, Olms, Hildesheim New York, 1982 ISBN 3-487-07199-1

• Benedictine
• Abbot
• Person ( Gregorian chant )
• Roman Catholic priest (19th century)
• Roman Catholic priest ( 20th century)
• Frenchman
• Born in 1835
• Died in 1923
• Man