A perspective on the oldest written tradition of European music, the Gregorian chant, is presented in this book. It traces the history of the Gregorian revival from its romantic origins in a community of French monks at Solesmes, whose founder hoped to rebuild the moral foundation of French culture on the ruins of the Benedictine order. The book draws out the parallels between this longing for lost monuments that fueled the French Gothic revival, and traces the technological development of the Gregorian restoration over a 70-year period, as it passed from the private performances of a monastic choir into the public commodities of printed books, photographs and gramophone records. Issues discussed include architectural restoration, the modern history of typography, the power of the photographic image and the authority of recorded sound. The book also explores the extent to which different media shaped the modern image of the ancient repertory, an image that gave rise to conflicting notions not only of musical performance but of the very idea of music history.