The Tones.

Antiphonale Romanum,

There are some mysteries which are so deep, that men can never fathom the dephths of their meaning. I have realised, that the Fourth mode is one of these mysteries.

Seriously, I've been chanting the office regularly for about three three years now, and yet the fourth mode confuses me. IT FAILS TO MAKE SENSE. I'll start off with an antiphon or responsory or hymn or something, and the whole thing will sound EXACTLY like the the first mode, and then, whoops, last note is different. That's where I was with they hymn Decora Lux last evening. It sounds and appears to be in first mode, and then the last note is different, so it turns out it's not. That makes learning it a bit harder. Sometime I wonder if the fourth mode is actually just a very successful trolling attempt that no one has figured out yet.

And also, everything they say is true: Pius XII/Bea psalter= COMPLETELY UNSINGABLE. Don't waste your time. Stick to the Vulgata or Nova Vulgata.The phrases are far too long for me personally. It seems like your stuck on the dominant for ever. Sometimes they're far too short, and you're on the dominant for a single syllable before going into the termination.

I'm still on the fence about whether the Nova Vulgata is better of the New Nova Vulgata. (Yup, they revised it. The revised version is in Lauds and Vespers, but I have he older version now. The only real differences are in the canticles.)

So that's why the concilium shortened the office.

Maybe IR Doing it Rong, but it takes me an hour and 15 to sing matins and lauds form the liturgia horarum.Today, with the full invitatory tone (Rather than a psalm tone) both hymns (Sacris Solemnis AND Verbum Supernum Prodiens) and the sung responsories, (I usually recite those on Sundays since I don't have access to anything with the responsories for the new offices in it) It took me an hour and 35.

I can't imagine having to add one and 1/2 more nocturns to matins,tripling the amount of responsories, and adding two more psalms to lauds. And don't get me wrong, I think that the reduction of matins to a single nocturn of of two very long lessons and responsories was unfortunate, and the triple nocturn of three or nine lessons is the ideal. But if if takes me the long to do what's essentially one nocturn plus an extra reading from matins of the old office of corpus Christi, I can't imagine how long it would take to sing the entire thing. And I don't sing slow. Slow chant becomes boring. So yeah, that's that.

Making it better.

Taking a good look at the General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours and the various issue of Notitiae have helped me to get around some of the more unsavoury parts of the new breviary by taking advantage of different lawful options. (Eg, it is permissible in the sung office to use antiphons other than those assigned, which means I can sing the office of Our Lady using the old antiphons. Permission is also given to use other appropriate readings, and in privileged seasons, the readings of one day of the week may also be used on other weekdays of the same season. It is also allowed, without abandoning the cycle, to choose a reading from one year of the cycle of matins readings to use on the same day of a different year.

What this eventually ends up meaning is that it is permissible, taking into mind the bounds of the rules regarding rank and season, to re-create old offices. You use the antiphons and readings from the old one as far as rubrics allow, and everything else is taken from the new one. One example where the CDW has done this is the office of the Assumption, where in place of the antiphons and long responsories of the new office, everything is replaced with texts from the old office of the Assumption. A similar thing is done on the Immaculate conception and All Saints. Taking into mind the rubrics for readings, at lauds and the little hours, one could take the chapters from the old office. (But not at vespers, since at vespers, the readings must be from the new testament.)

Another wonderful thing these rules do is help to re-instate something of the old tenebrae. Year two of the cycle of readings has restored the readings from the book of Lamentations read during Holy week and the triduum. This, with the fact that the Ordo Cantus Officii replaces many of the new office responsories with ones from the old office, and the same for antiphons, one could be using an office that is essentially an abridged version of the old office. ( And with the permission restored in the new breviary to anticipate Matins, it could even be done at the old times, something you cannot legally do with the '62 office.)

There are also other little things you have to root around to find out about. (E.g., that the Liber Hymnarius restores as an option the verse Impleta sunt quae fulgida from the Vexilla regis, and that the Dies Irae can be sung in the office of the dead throughout the year.

Personally, I think it would be helpful to unite some of these rulings in a single place, rather than having to scrounge about looking for them. I didn't even find out about the lamentations ruling till yesterday, and it would have been helpful to know that during holy week, but it's such an obscure rule that I doubt many people know of it.

Liturgical and music Schedule for Holy Week, 2011

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, West Philly.

MAUNDY THURSDAY
Solemn mass, the maundy, and procession to the altar of repose at 7:30 PM

Entrance: Lift High the cross (Crucifer)

Kyrie and Gloria: Simple, after organ improvisation, organ is silenced till the vigil.

Psalm: Mode VIII
Acclamation: After mass XI

Mandatum:
Proper antiphons from the Roman Gradual
Antiphons for the Maundy, Gregory A. Glenn

Offertory:
Ubi Caritas, M.Durufle
As Thou at Thy First Eucharist Didst Pray (Unde et Memores)

Sanctus: Simple chant.
Agnus Dei: David Isele, Holy Cross mass (In four parts)

Communion:
Psalm with antiphon, Simple Gradual.
Panis Angelicus, Palestrina

Procession: Pange Lingua Gloriosi

Stripping of the altars: Antiphon 'Diviserunt' with psalm 21, monotone. (Tenors and basses)

GOOD FRIDAY:
Mass of the Presanctified at 3:00 PM

Psalm: Mode 2d
Gradual: Christus Factus est, Felice Anerio
The Passion: Tomas Luis de Victoria
Veneration of the cross:
O Crux Ave Spes Unica (Palestrina)
Improperia, Victoria
Crux Fidelis (Chant)
If needed: Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle.
Procession from the altar of repose:Adoramus te Christe, Palestrina
Communion:
Crucifixus for 8 voices, Antonio Lotti
Ave Verum Corpus, William Byrd.

EASTER VIGIL:
Vigil and first solemn mass of Easter at 8:00 PM

Psalms and canticles after the readings:The Canticle of Moses, sung to the gregorian tone 2.d. The Canticle of Isaiah, sung to tone 8.c. Psalm 19, sung to tone 2.d Psalm 42, sung to tone 7.d.

Gloria: Mass in B flat ('Little organ mass'), Franz Josef Haydn

Alleluia:Roman Gradual and psalm 118 in English.

At the baptisms: Faith,Hope, and Love, Alexander Peloquin.

Renewal of baptismal promises and sprinkling: Sicut Cervus, G.P. da Palestrina

Offertory: Cantique de Jean Racine, Gabriel Faure.

Communion:
Proper antiphon and psalm,
Hymn: The Strife is O'er,
Ego sum Panis Vivus, Josef Surzynski.

Antiphon to Our Lady: Regina Caeli, Gregor Aichinger

Recessional: Jesus Christ is Ris'n today.

Postlude. Worthy Is the Lamb (Handel, adapted from The Messiah)

I'M DONE.

It only took me a week, but I've finished the booklet I needed to make for Christmastide. Going home for Christmas means that I can, at least temporarily, go back to my old manner of saying the office. This means that I need chants for the feasts and solemnities of Christmastide,so using This Wonderful Resource, I have lauds and vespers for the vigil of Christmas, Christmas Day, The Holy Family, The Holy Innocents, St.John the Apostle, the Maternity of Mary,Epiphany, and the Baptism of the Lord.

Compline is easy since it never changes, except for the hymn during Sapientiatide and the (semi) Octave of Epiphany. (It changes form Te Lucis to Christe, Qui Splendor et Dies.)

THE CHOIR.

Today, I did something a bit crazy, something I've wanted to do for a long while:

I joined the choir at Lourdes.

And it was great fun.
Without trying to spoil things, we practiced some pieces for the Philadelphia Red Mass, and some other things just for Lourdes that will be used eventually. In all, we went through: Bruckner's Locus Iste, The gloria form Haydn's Missa Brevis of S.John of God, and Pitoni's Cantate Domino. The latter I had trouble with, since I've heard it a grand total of Once, and although, thanks to years of practicing Gregorian Chant, I can sight-read quite well, the music and the text are quite hard to match up if it's taken at the right pace.

But oh well, it was good. And apparently, people think I have a nice voice. I can't see it. I always think my voice is a little too much in the throat, and not in the head enough. When I was at home, I went through scales and lines in hymns, and some choral pieces as a way to try to practice it out of that sound. It helped quite a bit, but not to my liking. Eventually, you guys (At least the ones near here) are going to be forced to tolerate, at least for the next choral season.

Our Lady of Mercy, Sweet and Pure

I've set the proper antiphons for the office of the feast of Our Lady of Mercy to the gregorian versions of the antiphons for the ones I could find, and similar antiphons for the ones I could not find an exact match for. If I can get a working scanner hooked up to this computer, I'll let you guys see them.

*Tries to find the right drivers*

Tones for the office.

One thing that always confuses me is that for the office, all of the psalm tones, besides the tenor and meditation,all have different multiple endings. This is differentiated by the numbers and letters that follow them (eg, tone 1 D is tone 1 with the D ending, while tone 1 D2 is tone 1 with the D2 ending, etc.)

Well, the second tone is usually listed as "2.D". But, there is no other ending. It's not like tone 8 where there's two endings, (G, G* and C) Os the sixth, where there's only one. It's listed as "2.D" as if there were some ending other than the D. I wonder why that is?

Some day, I'll have to ask a chant scholar.

Assumpta est Maria in Caelum....

(The antiphon for the magnificat for first vespers, according to the revised Liturgy of the Hours)

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is my favourite feast of the entire year. It was the day I got my father's permission to go to RCIA, after a novena. It was the day I first started singing the divine office using Gregorian chant. It the feast of hope for all Christians, who hope for the joy of the resurrection of the body at the last day, for Mary was the first of redeemed humanity to take part in it.

It also has one of my favourite offices. Whether one uses the Roman Breviary or the Liturgy of the Hours, the office of the feast has the texts of the second oldest Marian office in the breviary. (The first being that of Mary, the Holy Mother of God on the octave of Christmas.) In the new breviary, which is what I use for the daily office, the texts of the antiphons are taken from a 14th century French breviary, and both textually and musically, they're quite beautiful. This will be my third time going through the sung office, and for the third year in a row, I'll be using new antiphons. For my first year, I used all the antiphons from the old office, as that was all I had. Last year, I used the texts as in the breviary, set to the chants from the Liber Usualis. This year,I'll be using the right antiphons: Those stipulated to be used in the Ordo Cantus Officii.

Unfortunately, in going through them, I saw an unfortunate trend in the texts of the new breviary: The texts in the breviary are shortened forms of the actual antiphons. Compare that antiphon (Of which the first sentence is missing) to the comparative antiphon used in the Liturgia Horarum:

"Ascéndit Christus super cælos, et præparávit suæ castíssimæ Matri immortalitátis locum, allelúia."

You can see, they only used One Sentence out of the whole antiphon! It creates a silly discrepancy between those who recite the office and those of us who sing it. I hope some day this will be resolved.

As far as the mass setting goes,

You're all going to want to kill me in some violent yet comedic way, but after finishing it, I've begun re-writing it again. See, I struggled with the gloria because I wanted it to be in a style that I can;t put into words. Think the kyrie from Rheinberger's 'cantus firmus' mass, with some late polyphonic influences thrown in. I decided that I wanted it to be unaccompanied, so I had to add a second tenor line, and then I realised that the theme from the agnus dei really fit what I wanted the gloria to sound like .(Slow, walking pace, constantly moving and full of dynamics.) So now I've got to do that. People are going to say that the sanctus does'nt fit the mass. For two reasons. Firstly, the USCCB outlawed polyphonic/choral sanctuses, and secondly, it's in a minor key, it's short, and it's composed of chords with no independently sung lines.
But on a better note, I do already have four masses and three mass parts based on chants written. They use the glorious new translation of the Roman missal, and I'd like to get them published, but I'm far too poor to afford it.* They're called, and based on:

Mass of Our Lady of Mercy: Litanies of the blessed virgin/Antiphon Laeva eius.
Mass of S.Peter: Missa Pater cuncta
Mass of Redemption: Missa Lux et Origo
Mass in C major: Kyrie Deus Genitor alme,Sanctus II (Cantus ad libitum), Agnus Dei II (Cantus ad libitum) all from the Liber Usualis.
Credo in C: Mode 2 tone, Liber Usualis Pg. 777
Credo in G. : Invitatory tone, Liber Usualis Pg.765
Ambrosian Gloria: Gloria 'More Ambrosiano'

These are simple, congregational chant-based masses. Hopefully, I could see how they go with my own parish. No longer having a keyboard to use means that I only get one guaranteed chance a week to write my music.

*Avoids another rant on copyrights.

Palm Sunday, Post II

At the blessing of the Palms:
Ant: Hosanna to the Son of David

Let us pray.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God,we pray thee, sanctify and bless + these palms with thy blessing, that we, who exultantly follow Christ the King,may through him arrive at the eternal Jerusalem.
Who liveth and reigneth.
Second prayer:

Let us pray.
INCREASE, we pray thee, O God, the faith of thy devoted people, and mercifully give ear to their humble supplications; that, they who this day honour the triumph of Christ by the carrying of palms, may through him offer unto thee the the fruit of good works.Who liveth and reigneth.
The palms are sprinkled and incensed.

V.Let us, imitating the acclaiming crowds, proceed in peace.
R.In the name of Christ. Amen.

Ant.Pueri Hebraeorum..portantes.

Ant.Pueri Hebraeorum...vestimenta

Hymn: Gloria, laus, et honor.

Responsory: Ingrediente Domino
Collect of the mass:

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hast given to mankind an example of humility to follow in Our Saviour's taking upon him flesh and suffering the death of the Cross: mercifully grant that by following the example of his patience, we may also merit to be made partakers of his resurrection. Through the same

Sine Cantu.

It's time for my annual liturgical abuse, and I don't know how I'm going to do it this year. I'm speaking about vespers on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, which since 1955, are no longer said in the Roman Rite by those who attend the services of those days. I say them anyway, since I have the time and I might be tempted to spend the time doing something other than praying or spiritual reading anyway.

Anyway, that's not the principle reason of this post.

The reason for this post is the almost vague rubric that serves as the title. Namely, that after the mass of Maundy Thursday,  in choro dicuntur  Vesperae sine cantu. That's it there: Sine Cantu.

It seemed obvious two years ago, when I though it meant what it said: That you recite vespers without singing anything.But then, I realised that recto tono chanting, (i.e., singing everything on one note) is called reciting. Okay, so you do sing, you just recite everything recto tono. So we're good, right?

WRONG.

Because, the Liber Usualis* gives melodies for the psalm antiphons and magnificat antiphons for these days. Okay, so it seems that we sing the antiphons to melodies, but recite the psalms and canticle recto tono, (i.e., sung on one note) right? That makes sense. So we're good, right?

WRONG.

Because, the Liber Usualis* also gives psalm-tones with the antiphons. Why this? Why tones? Why give us melodic antiphons and psalm tones when the rubric says to sing everything on one note? Do you ignore the psalm tones and pretend they're not there? Are the noted antiphons and psalm tones for places where there already exists a (contra legem?) custom of singing vespers?Are they from an old, now rarely used custom of singing vespers? *Sigh* I thought the rubrics of the older missal and breviary were supposed to be clearer than the modern Roman liturgical books.

Of course, I'm talking about the Old Liber*, By the 1961 Liber, vespers on this day are said as on Holy Saturday, which has melodic antiphons and psalms pointed for singing with psalm-tones. But, I generally refer things to the way they were before any serious reforms were made to either the missal or breviary (i.e., the Pius X breviary and the pre-1955 Roman Missal) And it's the pre-'55 Holy Week ordo that I base my Holy Week offices on.

*Mine having been printed in 1934

Well, that's helpful.

And then it isn't.

The antiphon 'Vide, Domine" from Lauds of Holy Thursday was in the old breviary on another day during Holy Week.(Tuesday) So I don't have to set it myself!
Problem though:
I would need access to an antiphonale, not just a vesperale, so that I can find it. There are lots of Antiphonals on the internet, but because of the large volume such a document would inevitably have, many of them do not load correctly or load with missing pages or page errors. The last I tried (The antiphonal for the day hours according to the Dominican rite) had a file error and stopped after page 2. Luckily, I have one sure source: The hours from the Sarum Office that I get from This Site. I'll try it and see what happens.

Hooray!

Hooray!

Thoughm considering the distance, I doubt I'll be able to join it. I don't even have a way to get to S.Clements, except for the rare day when I can borrow someone's transpass.

Help a brother out?

Since, you know, you're such a kind and generous person, print my chant booklet and help a poor, Catholic boy do what Psalm 47:7 says? Because Holy Week isn't far away, and as you can see, it's still a work in progress.

So yeah, either give it to me in person (I'll let you know which mass I'm serving this Sunday) or just send it to me in the mail. I can provide a shipping address. And no, it's not My address. Stalkers. I'll give you the address of someone who I know will hold the pages for me.

It's only five-six pages long, and it's the text of the chants only. I'll do the lines and neumes myself. There are four medium-sized woodcuts in it, and each antiphon has a cardinal initial.It's all in black and white, so don't worry about using your color ink.
Send me an e-mail and I'll send it to you as an attachment.(Either PDF or word document, your choice.) I'd link the PDF here, but I don't know how to do that.

Damn printer.

These past two days, I have been going through the WORST computer hell that I've even experienced.

So, I bought some ink for my Kodak ESP-3 yesterday. This is NOT a printer I would have wanted, but my dad thought it was a good deal and bought it. Well, I got home with the ink yesterday at around 2:30 PM. I worked on the printer attempting to print things until well after 12:30 midnight. Straight.Without a break. And no dinner. The stupid thing only printed blank sheets, one after another.Then It finally printed, but it printed so lightly that I thought I was looking at the reverse side of my sheets where the ink might have soaked through.I of course turned them over expecting to see the real images, only to find that this light, almost invisible thing WAS the image. It didn't print any text either. I did test sheets from the control panel, same thing. The printer does nothing whatever when I clicked the 'maintenance' icon.After the first three hours, I got an acceptable print. The images were a bit lighter than I would have wanted, and the text was a bit small, but I can live with the first and I can change the second.
So we're good, right?
Wrong.
Immediately after that, I tried to print my document. Blank pages and almost invisible images yet again. I spent the next few hours changing the settings, checking to make sure the cartridges were in place properly, making sure the printer head was in right, etc. Same problems. Around 12:36, I quit and went to bed.
Then I overslept and missed mass and the office.
I decided again to see what I could do. I went back to Kodak's diagnostic site.The first test did nothing to help. Some Google searching made me think that the printer head might be dried out.I took it out and looked at it.
It is most definitely Not dried out.
I let the printer clean it automatically about three times.Tried to print again, but still not different. The tech sites I visited suggested that it might be clogged or dirty, not dried out. Too bad the 'maintenance' icon is unresponsive, else the printer could have cleaned the printer head itself.
So I fiddled around and worked with things till around 11:36 today.

Then, an epiphany.

I went back to Kodak's site and went through the step-by-step solutions and repair a second time.This time, however, the things it suggested were exactly what my problems were. They prompted me to print a demo sheet. It came out okay. So I tried to print my document, same problems. I went back and changed one answer, and continued. Once again, the suggested errors were exactly what was actually happening. They said that the printer head is defective, and once I supplied the correct information, a new one would be sent to me free of charge.

I hope to God that It works, because It'll take me forever to attempt to hand copy those chants. I doubt I'll get it done in time.
And yes, please, please, please answer the post above this.

KTHNXBAI.

Chant: Tenebrae for the Triduum.

I did'nt do it last week, and time is running out for me to get together the chants for Holy Week.
This was last year's stuff. Most of it is the same, but there are a few changes.

Maundy Thursday:
At Lauds:
Antiphon:Vide, Domine
Psalm: Miserere; Tonus 8.G
Antiphon:Exhortatus est:
Canticle: Deducant oculi mei lacrimam; Tonus 4 A*
Antiphon; Cibavit nos Dominus
Psalm: Iubilate Domino; Tonus 8 G.
Capitulum Videmus Iesum
Responsorium Redemisti nos Domine, in tono versiculo.
Antiphon Desiderio desideravi;
Canticum Benedictus ; Tonus 1.g;
Preces:Recto tono, in a low voice
Pater noster: Tonus simplex

Good Friday:
At Lauds:
Antiphon:Proprio Filio suo
Psalm:Miserere mei;Tonus 7.c
Antiphon Dum conturbata fuerit
Canticum: Domine audivi auditionem tuam; Tonus 1.f
Antiphon: Crucem tuam adoremus, Domine,
Psalm: Lauda Ierusalem Dominum; Tonus 8.G
Capitulum Ecce prospere aget
Antiphon: Christus factus est pro nobis;
Antiphon:Posuerunt super caput eius
Canticum Benedictus; Tonus 1.g
Preces: Recto tono, low voice
Pater noster: Tonus simplex


Holy Saturday :
At Lauds:
Antiphon: Plagent eum;
Psalm: Exaudi Deus ; Tonus 7.b
Antiphon: A porta inferi;
Canticum: Ego dixi in dimidio dierum meorum; Tonus 2.D
Antiphon:O vos omnes
Psalm: Laudate Dominum; Tonus 8.c
Capitulum : Dicit Dominus: in tribulatione sua
Antiphon: Christus factus est pro nobis;
Antiphon:Mulieres sedentes
Canticum Benedictus;Tonus 1.g
Preces: Recto tono
Pater noster: Tonus simplex.

My dad is supposed to get back his camera that he let someone borrow some many months ago. Hopefully, I can record parts of the office.
You can see that some of the psalms and/or antiphons are different than those from last year. That's because I discovered two resourced that I had never heard of until recently: namely, the Ordo Cantus Officii, and rubric 274 of the Liturgia Horarum*. The former giving the actual proscribed antiphons for the sung office, some of which differ from those in the breviary, and the latter giving permission for one to select any other appropriate antiphon when there is no chant available for the one given in the breviary. To these, I also decided to take advantage of the rubric in the brveiary which allows one to use the psalms of Friday week III on Holy Thursday. That way, the miserere which was traditionally recited daily at lauds during the triduum will be used as it traditionally was.

Ha! You thought I was going to say Rubric IX.

Episema.

I really don't know how to interpret these correctly. I know that they are supposed to be held a bit longer than a regular note, but whenever I try, it ends up sounding like a punctum mora. I don't mean horizontal episemas, those are easy to sing, it's the vertical ones that I do wrong. But it's odd though, because I think I can get it right when the episema is part of a salicus, but out of that, I tend to accent it too much and it sounds more like a held note than an accented one.

Not that it matters much. I've been told that, like the Graduale Simplex, the Vatican endition of the new Antiphonale Romanum no longer uses the vertical episema.I don't know id they're using any of the other possible accents for the notes, because I have'nt yet seen it.

*Sigh*

I'd heard that some of the antiphons in the Latin edition,and therefore also in the English edition of the breviary are edited or shortened versions of their originals,but now seeing the originals in the full form (As specified by the Ordo Cantus Officiii) I'm a little saddened at what things got left out. For example, this is the third antiphon of lauds of the common of the blessed virgin:

"María Virgo, semper lætáre, quæ meruísti Christum portáre salvatórem."

And this is what the OCO specifies to be sung,the full version.

"María Virgo, semper lætáre, quæ meruísti Christum portáre, caeli et terram conditorem:quia de tuo utero protulisti mundo Salvatorem."

*Sigh* Why do that? It was a lovely rhyming antiphon,and from what I found, It comes from a medieval French breviary.

(Jealous, Jealous, Jealous.)

Jealous.

And it's only about $55! That's only $15 more than I paid for my breviary. Of course, in my current financial situation, even $55 is a lot of money to spend on something that's not absolutely necessary, so I'll probably have to scrimp and save any money that does'nt go to house bills or my school debt, and hopefully I'll have the money by Lent II. It seems to be a handsome volume, it has half the pages of my breviary*, and the ability to sing the office without spending countless hours writing out/adapting antiphons is a big plus.

So now I'm 'questing' it, as we say on Gaiaonline. That means, you see an item you want, and you don't spend any money until you get it. You let everyone know that you want i, in hope for donations.