Fr. Columba Kelly, OSB, a Saint Meinrad monk and chant composer, completed his doctorate under Dom Eugène Cardine of Solesmes at Musica Sacra in Rome, pioneer of the “semiological” approach to reading the very earliest notation.
The music on Saint Meinrad's Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter CDs reflects that study in two ways. The interpretation of the Latin chant seeks to reinstill the vitality of the chant recorded in the oldest manuscripts.
Secondly, the English chant that Fr. Columba created is grounded in English word accent and the natural rhythm of the language.
The result is strangely modern: modal, free rhythm music. Fr. Columba died on June 9, 2018, at age 87.