CURRENT LITERATURE.
MUSICAL BOOKS.
Medietral Music. By R. C. Hope. (Elliot Stock. 7s. 6d. net.)— Those who wish to explore the misty realms of "modes," plain song," and "descant" will find plenty of information in the present work. Mr. Hope tells us that it is quite certain that Gregory the Great had nothing to d9 with so-called Gregorian chants, which were of later date. The author has a very sensible chapter on the absurdity of using this medimval Roman to the exclusion of Anglican music. The sentimental clergy who imagine the chants they use when tricked out in chromatic anachronisms, to be a real representation of ancient use, are entirely mistaken. If some purist would only try a service with the chants sung in unison, the organ accompanying with triaphony, would not the congregation fly from the church as surely as they would if the glass windows of a Norman building had been removed during an east wind and the primitive straw mats put in their place ?
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