Nocturns 7/ Resources for the responsories

In the previous post, we looked at what responsories are and their rubrics.  Today I want to look at where to find them.

There are basically three issues her as far as I can see:

• finding the Latin text;
• finding a translation to use to prepare them, even if you do have a breviary; and
• finding the chant settings for them.

Finding the responsories

The basic problem is that the Benedictine Office uses more responsories than the Roman, and the ones common to them both are not always used in the same order or on the same day.  That means that sites and resources such as Divinum Officium will only get you so far.  

For weekdays, the issue isn't a big one - although there are occasionally some variations between the Roman and Benedictine Office, the Roman responsories are a reasonable enough substitute on the face of it.  

In terms of Sundays, I am gradually attempting to fill in the gaps for Divinum Officium over at my Lectio Divina blog, and I am experimenting with a separate responsory database to see if it ultimately saves me time.  But assuming that I continue with it, it will take some time before it builds up to a useful level (though if anyone would care to volunteer to help, things could move faster!).

For major feasts, some of the responsories can be found in the Liber Responsorialis.  

But for a complete listing, the only option really is a breviary, and so I will provide a review of the 1963 breviary, and cover off issues around adapting earlier breviaries in due course.

Finding translations of the responsories

If you have a breviary, the next issue may be finding a translation for the text.  Divinum Officium provides a set of translations for those that are common to the Roman Office.  My Lectio Divina blog fill s in some of the gaps, and arranges the responsories in the order specified by the 1963 breviary.  In addition the Benedictine Responsory Blog should gradually include more and more of these.

If you are looking for them yourself, though, it is worth remembering that the Benedictine Office often 'borrows' the missing responsories from other days and feasts, so if you know the Latin key words, a Google search within the Divinum Officium website will often take you to a translation elsewhere on that website.  In addition translations for some responsories which have polyphonic settings can be found on the CDPL website.

Finally, most of the responsories are based on Scripture, but with a few words omitted, or the case changed.  Accordingly, either a google search, or a look at one of the chant databases (viz Cantus or Gregorien) will often point you to the particular source.

Finding the chants

The basic challenge relating to the responsories is that Solesmes, as far as I can tell, never really revived the singing of all of the responsories at Matins, and so has never published a Nocturnale for the Office.  As a result, most monasteries have perforce, resorted to psalm toning them.

Some of the chants can be found in the Liber Responsorialis, a few more in the Processione Monasticum.  But the best source for most of them in book form is the Standhofe Nocturnale Romanum, which has the virtue of having official approval in the form of an imprimaeur.  There are though, some particular to the monastic Office that are missing from all of these sources.

In addition, I have recently been pointed to an excellent website that does appear to fill in many (but I think not all, though I'm still working my way through it) of these gaps, viz Gregofacsimil.  There looks to be lots of wonderful material there, including complete sets of all the texts necessary for Matins on some feasts and Sundays, so do go take a look.

There are also a number of academic databases, most notably the Cantus website, which provides images of manuscripts and transcriptions for some chants that can assist if you are determined to sing all of the chants or to explore this wonderful repertoire.

Book review: Liber Responsorialis (1895)

Liber Responsorialis pro Festis I Classis et communi Sanctorum iuxta ritum monasticum Adnectuntur Invitatorium et Hymnus Aliorum Festorum, Solesmes, 1895

Why you should acquire this book

Even if you aren't actually planning to sing Matins, the Liber Responsorialis is worth a look since it contains some of the key texts that are missing from most of the psalters arranged for the monastic Office (such as the Clear Creek booklet or the Psautier Monastique).

In particular, it contains the antiphons (and lists out the psalms) for the Commons of Saints, as well as those for a number of major feasts.

For those who do want to sing some or all of Matins at least occasionally, this is a key reference book, though you will need to supplement it from other sources such as the Nocturnale Romanum and online sources.

Where to find it

The good news is that the Liber Responsorialis (with 1924 supplement) can be downloaded for free from the CC Watershed library: Liber Responsorialis (194MB).

You can also buy a reprint through Sarto Verlag.

The lack of chant books!

Solesmes has never, as far as I know, put out a book that contains all the chants for Matins.  Even in the new revised series of the Antiphonale Monasticum, that for Matins (supposedly Volume 4), remains conspicuously missing from its releases.

Accordingly, if you are looking for the chants, you have to hunt through several different books (and even then some remain missing).

The Liber Responsorialis though, prepared under the supervision of Dom Joseph Pothier, provides an essential starting point.

What it contains

The book provides the chant for invitatory, hymn, antiphons (and listing the psalms they are attached to) and at least some of the responsories for a selection of major feasts and seasons.

It also contains some of the 'ordinary' chants, such as the chant tones for Psalm 94.

The book can be frustrating in its gaps though.

The proper of time section, for example, contains the complete chants for Christmas and the Epiphany, for example, but then bypasses Lent altogether, skipping straight to Easter.  The separate 'responsories of time' section contains some of the responsories for Sundays of the year, but typically only one or two (out of twelve).

The list of feasts it covers is quite small and eclectic.

What it doesn't contain

The chants are for major feasts including some Sunday responsories - but it doesn't contain the weekday hymns and texts used throughout the year.  There are also quite a few responsories for Sundays of the year missing.

Alternatives?

If all you want is the texts (and which psalms to use etc), then a breviary is probably a better option, this is after all primarily a chant book.

And in terms of alternative sources for the chants themselves, the Nocturnale Romanum has a large proportion of the chants in the Responsorialis, as well as many others used on other days (although occasionally using alternative texts particular to the Roman Office) albeit not necessarily used in the same order/feast as the Benedictine Office.

In addition many of the chants are becoming available online through sources like Gregofacsimil.

Still worth having though in my view.

Resources for Matins - Overview

Over the next few days we have several major feasts (SS Patrick, Joseph and Benedict) and I plan to provide some notes on how to say the feast and where to find the texts for them rather than continue on rubrics notes on those days.

By way of a lead in to this, I thought today that it would be helpful to provide a bit of an overview on key resources for Matins.

The easiest starting point for Matins is the Monastic Option on the Divinum Officium website, which generally follows the 1962 rubrics.

The book problem

If you want an actual book however, the situation is more complex.

As I noted when I started this blog, one of the issues I want to cover is resources for Matins, and there seems to be a very high degree of interest in this topic from those who completed the survey (and again thanks to all those who have done that so far; and it is not too late...).

The basic challenge is that there is no real equivalent to the Monastic Diurnal, providing a Latin-English version of the hour, when it comes to the Matins.  There are, however, quite a few resources, many of them available online for free download, that can help you either to use a (Latin) breviary, or provide the texts to say the hour according to the 1963 calendar and rubrics.

While the listing of resources below includes a few comments on each, I would strongly suggest holding off actually buying any of these books (except for the Clear Creek booklet on Matins according to the Monastic Ritual) for the moment.  I plan to provide reviews of each of the key resources, focusing on what they do and don't contain, as we go along, so you might want to read those before you consider which one(s) best fit your needs.

The complete text

The official text for the 1963 Office in full is:

**Breviarium Monasticum summorum pontificum cura recognitum pro omnibus sub regula S. P. Benedicti millitantibus iussi abbatis primatis editum, Marietti, Rome, 1963, 2 vols, Latin only.

This is the current official version of the traditional Office and the only book that provides all of the texts necessary to say Matins.   It is out of print but can still (occasionally) be obtained secondhand.  Another option is to buy an older edition, and adapt it to the 1963 calendar and rubrics.

The closest equivalent to the Monastic Diurnal is arguably  the English-only Lancelot Andrewes  Monastic Breviary Matins.  But because it uses the King James Version psalms, and varies in places from the 1962-3 Sunday readings (and quite a few feasts), unless you are an Anglican, I don't actually think its a good option other than as a helpful resource for some translations.  From a Catholic perspective, beautiful as the translations are, they are sometimes jarringly at odds with the Septuagint/Vulgate tradition, and occasionally that means that the Patristic commentaries on the texts don't make any sense.

There are, though, other sources which will provide you with the texts you need and help with the translations.

The Psalter section of the breviary for Matins

The psalter section of the breviary arranges the psalms in the order they are said, and includes the most commonly used prayers in their proper places.

The most useful starting point for beginners is, in my view, the Clear Creek Matins booklet, Matins according to the Monastic Ritual. Put out by Clear Creek monastery, it provides the psalms and standard prayers for Matins each day in Latin and English and lays everything out in a way that is very easy to follow.  It does not, however, include the readings, Commons of Saints, or texts for feasts.

A key resource to download if you are interested in singing the Office at all is the (OSB) Psalterium  - this is an unofficial draft, and the text of the psalms contains a number of errors - but an important resource for the chants though as it provides the hymns and antiphons for the ferial and Sunday office.  But for the psalms themselves, you might want to use the Psalm tone generator.

An alternative to all of the above is the Psautier Monastique Latin-Francais du Breviare Monastique , 2012 (Le Barroux reprint of Desclee and Sons 1938 edition).  This provides a Latin-French version of the psalter section of the breviary and has the advantage of being an official book you can use for all of the hours (a lot cheaper for communiteis than buying a Breviary each!).  It does not include any chant tones, nor does it provide reading, the Commons or all of the seasonal texts (though most of them are there).

The other book in use in some places is the Psalterium Monasticum, which provides the psalms in various arrangements permitted in the 1977 Thesaurus, using the neo-Vulgate.  It includes the chant tones for the antiphons of Matins adjusted to conform with the neo-Vulgate).

Invitatory, antiphons and responsories

When it comes to the seasonal texts, and those for feasts, you will need to supplement your psalter with other books.  The sources I know about are listed below, I'll say more about these anon.

*Psalmus Venite Exultemus per varios tonos cum invitatoriis pro oficiis de tempore et de sanctis, Declee, 1928. Chants for selection of the invitatory antiphons, and for Psalm 94.

*Liber Responsorialis pro Festis I Classis et communi Sanctorum iuxta ritum monasticum Adnectuntur Invitatorium et Hymnus Aliorum Festorum, Solesmes, 1895.  Contains the antiphons (and lists out the psalms) for the Commons of Saints, as well as those for a number of major feasts.  Reprint can be purchased through Sarto Verlag or it can be downloaded for free from the CC Watershed library: Liber Responsorialis (194MB).

Gregofacsimil website - Fantastic resource providing responsories and assorted other texts from manuscripts and older books.

Nocturnale Romanum, 2002 - Good source for most of the responsories missing from the Liber Responsorialis.

The Processionale Monasticum also contains some additional responsories.

The Hymns

The hymns can mostly be found in the places above, but often not well laid out for those less familiar with the tunes.  The Solesmes Liber Hymnarius is a useful supplement from this point of view,  but note that texts and chants often don't line up with those in older books.

Liber Hymnarius cum invitatriis & aliquibus responsoriis, Solesmes, 1983.

 Liber Hymnarius website -  Sound files of someone singing the hymns of the Divine Office.  Based on the Roman Liturgy of the Hours, but many of the hymns have the same chant tone as the Benedictine Office so a fantastic resource, and nicely arranged so you can find the appropriate seasonal tone.

If you are looking for translations and more information on the hymns two useful resources are:

*Matthew Britt OSB, Hymns of the Office and Missal, 1922.  Reprints also available.  Provides translations and brief notes on the hymns of the Office.

Joseph Connelly, Hymns of the Roman Liturgy, Newman Press, 1957, reprinted by FSSP.

Readings

The Benedictine Office, when it has readings, generally follows the Roman, but rearranges the text to split into four readings on Sundays and feasts.  Divinum Officium is a great resource for these.

A very useful resource, not least because its translation are, in my view, superior to those provided on Divinum Officium, is:

Liturgical Readings.  The Lessons of the Temporale Cycle and Principal Feasts of the Sanctoral  Cycle according to the Monastic Breviary, Grail Publications, 1941.  

The official Latin text of the readings and responsories can be found in the breviary; translations of the Patristic readings, but not the responsories, can also be found in the book   A reprint of this book is available.

Others?

More anon, and please do let me know of any other resources that you are aware of.

PS I've also set up 'pages' providing links to posts on the rubrics and context and understanding the content.  I will add one for resources in due course.