Dom Joseph Pothier, O.S.B. (1835–1923) was a worldwide known French prelate, liturgist and scholar who reconstituted the

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

Benedictine life

Born in 1835 at Bouzemont,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Dom Joseph Pothier was ordained a priest in the diocese of Saint-Dié in 1858, before immediately joining St Peter's Abbey, Solesmes under Abbot Dom

Prosper Guéranger Prosper Louis Pascal Guéranger (; 4 April 1805 – 30 January 1875) was a French priest and Benedictine monk, who served for nearly 40 years as the abbot of the monastery of Solesmes (which he founded among the ruins of a former priory at Sol ...

.Leachman OSB, James. "Dom Joseph Pothier", Liturgy Institute, February 17, 2012
/ref> By founding, in the then derelict priory of Solesmes, the first new abbey of the Order of Saint Benedict in France, Dom Guéranger had re-established monastic life in the country after it had been wiped out by the French Revolution. Pothier later was made subprior (1862-1863 and 1866-1893) of Solesmes, then claustral prior (1893-1894) of St Martin's Abbey, Ligugé, also a former deserted priory which had been resettled by Solesmes. In 1895 he became superior of the colony of monks from Ligugé sent to repopulate the monastery of St Wandrille (Fontenelle), an ancient and abandoned Benedictine abbey - also suppressed during the French Revolution - in

Saint-Wandrille-Rançon Saint-Wandrille-Rançon () is a former commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north west France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Rives-en-Seine.Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. Pope

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

having restored the abbatial title of Fontenelle specially for him, Dom Pothier was eventually raised to the dignity of Abbot of St Wandrille's Abbey (installed on 24 July 1898) - becoming the first abbot of the monastery since the French Revolution and its first regular abbot since the 16th century. Cardinal Guillaume Sourrieu,

Archbishop of Rouen The Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Archbishop of Rouen's ecclesi ...

and Primate of Normandy, assisted by the abbots of Solesmes and Ligugé as co-consecrators, conferred the abbatial blessing upon him on 29 September 1898, in the presence of three other prelates and 150 priests. Following the French "Association Laws" against religious congregations passed by Minister

Waldeck-Rousseau Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (; 2 December 184610 August 1904) was a French Republican politician who served for three years as the Prime Minister of France. Early life Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Brittany. His ...

, Dom Pothier moved from France to Belgium with his exiled community in 1901.

Music

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, disciple and collaborator of Dom Prosper Guéranger, Dom Pothier contributed to the reconstitution, the restoration and the renewal of the Gregorian chant, a form of

monophonic Monaural sound or monophonic sound (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduce sou ...

, unaccompanied sacred song of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Besides being the composer of many Gregorian songs (''Officium Defunctorum'', 1887) and the writer of a huge number of articles, Dom Pothier was also the head and editor of the ''Revue du Chant Grégorien'' (1892–1914) - supervising the publication of several works (Hymnes, Christmas office, Antifonario, Cantus mariales) -, the founder of the ''Paléographie Musicale'' publication for the dissemination of medieval liturgical manuscripts, and the author of a new edition of the choir books based on manuscripts of the Gregorian chant and of several studies on the

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive for ...

, including ''Les mélodies grégoriennes d'après la tradition'' (Gregorian Melodies According to the Tradition), 1880, his chief work which became the standard work on the subject. Dom Pothier was appointed president of the newly created Pontifical Commission on the Vatican Edition of the Gregorian Liturgical Books by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

in 1904. As chairman of this commission for the reconstitution of the music of the

Roman Catholic Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ ...

, Dom Pothier lived in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

from 1904 till 1913. His ''Liber Gradualis'', 1883, marked the beginning of a reform in liturgical chant and was used as a basis for the ''Gradual Vatican'' which was published, under his responsibility, in 1908. Dom Pothier died at the old priory of Conques,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in 1923; the Bishop of Luxembourg and six prelates attended his funeral at Clervaux abbey,

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

(his remains later were transferred to Saint-Wandrille in 1962). The exiled community of St Wandrille's Abbey, under Dom Pothier as Abbot, founded in 1912 a new priory in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Saint Benedict Abbey, Quebec Saint Benedict Abbey () is an Abbey in Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Quebec, Canada, and was founded in 1912 by the exiled ( Fontenelle Abbey) of St. Wandrille, France under Abbot Dom Joseph Pothier, liturgist and scholar who reconstituted the Gregorian ...

, which later became independent within the Solesmes Congregation.

References

Sources

*''Dom Joseph Pothier, abbé bénédictin de Saint-Wandrille, Restaurateur du Chant grégorien'', X.M.L., 1999-2009 (available at

R, partially based on ''Dom Joseph Pothier, Abbé de Saint-Wandrille, et la restauration du chant grégorien'', a biography by Dom Lucien David, O.S.B. (A.S.W). {{DEFAULTSORT:Pothier, Joseph French Benedictines 19th-century French musicologists 20th-century French musicologists People from Vosges (department) 1835 births 1923 deaths Christian chants Abbey of Saint Wandrille Benedictine bishops