Gajard Joseph-Georges-Marie, Dom, *25 June 1885 Sonzay (Indre-et-Loire), †25 April 1972 Solesmes, French scholar and teacher of Gregorian chant, member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He studied at the seminary in Tours; in 1909 he was ordained a priest. In 1911 he took his monastic vows at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Pierre-de-Solesmes, which had been temporarily relocated from France to the Isle of Wight. Between 1911 and 1964 he contributed to the “Revue grégorienne”; in 1946 he became editor of the journal; between 1954 and 1970 he was editor of “Etudes Grégoriennes”. Between 1914 and 1971 he directed the choir of monks at Solesmes. Following the congregation’s return to France in 1922, Gajard helped establish the Institut Grégorien in Paris. From the outset of his scholarly and teaching career, he collaborated with A. Mocquereau, including on the edition of his vol. 2 of Le nombre musical grégorien (1927), the liturgical books of the diocesan (Editio Vaticana) and monastic (from 1913) chants, and the Monographies grégoriennes (from 1922). Following Mocquereau’s death (1930), he took over the editorship of the «Paléographie musicale» series and published, among other works, a new edition of the Antiphonale monasticum… (1934). Gajard took part in numerous international seminars and conferences, and organised congresses on church music (Rome 1930, Switzerland 1931, 1937, Spain 1936, Mexico 1949, Vienna 1954). In the course of his research into plainchant, he travelled to Spain (1959, 1961), the United States (1959, 1960, 1962, 1971) and Portugal (1963, 1964). In 1962, he was awarded the Legion of Honour.
The nature of Gajard’s scholarly and pedagogical work was shaped by the guiding principles of the Benedictine centre at Solesmes, and in particular by the endeavour—reflecting the reform of Gregorian chant—to reconstruct the corpus of chants, which were regarded, in accordance with the oldest manuscript tradition, as an integral part of the liturgy. This endeavour was expressed in the revision of liturgical books and in the creation of a historically grounded model of chant performance practice. Hence, Gajard undertook the editing of the plainchant repertoire and began research into plainchant music, placing particular emphasis on issues related to the palaeographic analysis of medieval sources (especially the problem of the rhythmic interpretation of the original notation of Gregorian melodies). As a choir conductor and teacher at the Institut Grégorien, he applied in practice the methods of chant interpretation established theoretically by the scholars of Solesmes, primarily by Mocquereau; the Solesmes ensemble’s performance interpretations were documented on a series of recordings released by Voix de son maître (1930) and Decca (1951–70).
Literature: M. Blanc L’enseignement musical de Solesmes et la prière chrétienne, Paris 1953.
Le chant “authentique” du Credo, with A. Mocquereau in «Monographies grégoriennes», III, Paris 1922
La tradition rythmique dans les manuscrits, with A. Mocquereau in «Monographies grégoriennes», IV, Paris 1924, English translation 1952
La musicalité du chant grégorien in «Monographies grégoriennes», X, Paris 1931
Pourquoi les éditions rythmiques de Solesmes? in «Monographies grégoriennes», XI, Paris 1935
Le nombre musical grégorien in «Monographies grégoriennes», XII, Paris 1935
Notions sur la rythmique grégorienne, Solesmes 1935, Tournai 2nd edition 1944, English translation 1943, German translation 1953, also Dutch and Spanish translation
Les mélodies de Noël. Simples commentaires, Paris 1949
La méthode de Solesmes, ses principes constitutifs, ses règles pratiques d’interprétation, Tournai 1951, German translation 1954, English translation 1960
Les mélodies de la Semaine Sainte et de Pâques. Simples commentaires, Paris 1952
Du rôle des principales familles de manuscrits dans la restauration de la leçon grégorienne authentique, in congress proceedings, Rome 1950
Notre-Dame et l’art grégorien, in: Maria vol. 2, Paris 1952
Les récitations modales des 3e & 4e modus, “Études grégoriennes” I, 1954
Lettre “Joculanda Laudatio” de SS. Jean XIII à Mgr L Anglès, “Études grégoriennes” V, 1962
Memorandum an die römische heilige Ritenkongregation, in: Bericht des 2 Internationalen Kongresses für katholische Kirchenmusik, Wien 1954, Vienna 1955
Quelques réflexions sur les premières formes de la musique sacrée, in: Musicae Sacrae Disciplina, Rome 1957, also in “Études grégoriennes” II, 1957
La valeur artistique et religieuse toujours actuelle du chant grégorien, in: Actes du 3° Congrès International de Musique Sacrée 1957, Paris 1959
Notations, neumes et modalité. Le rythme grégorien, in: Encyclopédie des musiques sacrées, vol. 2, Paris 1969
numerous articles in “Revue grégorienne”
editions:
«Paléographie musicale» vols. XIV–XVIII, Solesmes 1931–69
Cantus passionis, Paris 1916
Officium majoris hebdomadae et octavae paschae, Paris 1922
Officium in Nativitate Domini, Paris 1926
Antiphonale monasticum… ordinis Sancti Benedicti, Solesmes 1934
Officium de nocte Nativitatis Domini, Solesmes 1936
Officium in agendis mortuorum, Solesmes 1941
Rituale vestitionum et professionum, Solesmes 1952
Le graduel romain, Solesmes 1957
