1962 Liber Usualis with modern notation?

[ServusHumilis]

Anyone know of a copy of the Liber Usualis from 1962 with modern notation?

 

[elizaveta01]

There is a download of the 1924 Liber at ccwatershed.org. ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/mar/19/1924-liber-usualis-modern-notation-solesmes/ I’ve never been able to find a 61/62 in modern notation. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, of course.

Not sure where you would get a printed copy from. I do know that Solesmes does publish some of the pre Vatican 2 chant books, like the Antiphonale Monasticum. But they wouldn’t be in modern notation.

Anyway, I’m not sure of the difference between the 24 and the 62, but the download might have what you need.

 

[JM3]

ccwatershed.org/library/

 

[ServusHumilis]

…Anyway, I’m not sure of the difference between the 24 and the 62, but the download might have what you need.

Thanks, I’ve seen it but as the Holy Week was changed in 1955 (and who knows what other changes were made between '24 and '55) it wouldn’t be ‘current’ for our Extraordinary Form of the Mass. Some of the propers would surely be different.

ccwatershed.org/library/

Didn’t see anything here either.

I’m sure what I need is out there but I don’t know where to look. Modern notation is hard enough for me to read so Medieval notation is completely out!

 

[Spudbynight]

Funnily enough, from my experience, people with musical training find square notation hard. Those without any musical training find it easier to sing, than modern notation.

 

[ServusHumilis]

Funnily enough, from my experience, people with musical training find square notation hard. Those without any musical training find it easier to sing, than modern notation.

I played a couple insturments in highschool so know the basics of modern notation. When I hear the music and see the old notation it makes some sense to me but I’d sooner stick with what I know.

 

[OraLabora]

Funnily enough, from my experience, people with musical training find square notation hard. Those without any musical training find it easier to sing, than modern notation.

I have no formal musical training other than learning chant from a monk, and being in a choir, and I prefer square notation. first of all, for older eyes, it’s easier to read, due to only 4 bars instead of 5 on the staff. The notes are less “squished” together.

That said, I think for people serious about chant, they should use the square notation. There are too many subtleties of interpretation that will be lost with modern notation. Even better is square notation with neumes superimposed, as with the Graduale Triplex.

 

[Filioque]

They are around, but very hard to find. If it is only Holy Week you are looking for there are some other options for the Liturgy and Music in modern notation. If that’s all you need for now, I’ll look to see what may be available.

You may also want to look expand your search for the Liber as there were 1958 and 1964 editions which included the Holy Week reforms.

Are you looking for any liber, or only the liber with the English rubrics. If French or Latin Rubrics would be acceptable, and you are aware that there is in the introduction a method of translating the Gregorian numes into modern notation.

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

My roommate has one somewhere. Don’t know where got it from.

 

[rben20]

Why not just learn the chant notation? It is more basic than modern notation (serves as the foundation for all western music) It’s not as hard to pick up, just some getting used to. I recommend for anyone’s group the Liber Brevior from FSSP.

fraternitypublications.com/librin.html

Contains all you really need for a liturgical year plus the intro and guide to chant is in English. Our group uses this and the Usualis for our High Mass ordinary and propers.

 

[ServusHumilis]

My roommate has one somewhere. Don’t know where got it from.

Ask him?

Why not just learn the chant notation?

No, thanks. Yesterday I was looking at the propers for today’s Mass in the old notation and was so lost. Thanks for that link though… I may just have to break down and buy the Liber Brevior in the end. It worries me that is says it was published in 1954 though… has it been updated for the '62 Missal? I would assume so since it’s off of the Fraternity’s website.

 

[rben20]

…No, thanks. Yesterday I was looking at the propers for today’s Mass in the old notation and was so lost. Thanks for that link though… I may just have to break down and buy the Liber Brevior in the end. It worries me that is says it was published in 1954 though… has it been updated for the '62 Missal? I would assume so since it’s off of the Fraternity’s website.

Propers are always very hard so don’t feel inadequate. I’m still learning all the Mass settings for the Ordinary!

A 1954 Liber shouldn’t worry you whether Usualis or Brevior, it’s a great resource. All the chant that you would use is really the same, it’s just shuffled around. There isn’t a Liber Brevior for 1962 that has been printed yet. There is a Liber Usualis in 1962 but it is completely in Latin (guide and instructions to chant included).

The notation is actually a modern rendition. After St. Pope Pius X called for Gregorian chant to be held in higher regard (church music was already deteriorating in the early 1900s), the monks of Salem were able put together these Libers. It took over 50 years later for these books to come out and sadly the effort was largely wasted since by that time the Church was getting ready to blow up with Vatican II changes. Church music became guitar and drums, our “God is an Awesome God” etc. We all know the story.

Unfortunately, you limit yourself quite a bit if you are unwilling to learn the older notation since what we have is really only in this notation (Thank God for the monks and their libers). These books are the only works we have that were transcribed for modern day use. It’s crazy but every resource available today for chant only represents a drop of an ocean of chant that the Church has, there is simply so much. I would really try to learn the notation system, try to attend some chant workshops, find a good teacher perhaps…it really becomes second nature. We should always try to elevate ourselves to God, not demand that He comes down to us…it takes work!

 

[Filioque]

I had to look through my books. I’ve been able to collect over 50,000 Pre-VII Catholic books so it’s sometimes quite a task, as many are stored in boxes.

Another option is the Propers of the Mass by G. Rossini, yes the great classical composer who was also a priest. There is volume one for sale at the link below, If I recall correctly the first Volume is the Propers for Sundays and Major Feasts, and the Second is for minor feasts throughout the year.

Unlike the Brevior and Usualis, only the Propers and the ordinary which the Choir sings are included. With the Liber, you will have all of the Mass and the Office, so you can use it as a Missal or Breviary and follow, or pray the Mass and the Office. The Liber does require that you know some Latin if you want to follow the Mass or office, as it has no translation for the text of the office or Mass, only for the rubrics (depending on the edition you get they will be in Latin, English, French or German. I’ve heard of a Liber with rubrics in Spanish, but never seen one myself.

With the Rossini editions you just have the portions of the Mass that the Choir sings. There are two editions one smaller hardback in two volumes, and one larger paperback in One volume had the Sunday and Major Feasts. The J Fisher & Bro. editions have an introduction and notes in English. Both are in Modern Notation. The link below is just one of several listed at Amazon.

amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001TOTYDK/ref=nosim/addallbooksearch

 

[Filioque]

Here is a link to an online edition of the Rossini Propers, so anyone else who wants modern notation for a Choir can have access to at least this edition. It’s late and my eyes did not find an edition or date.

media.musicasacra.com/pdf/rossini.pdf

 

[Filioque]

The Revisions to Holy Week were primarily the parts which the priest and Sacred ministers would have sung or recited, so they would not really effect the Choir. Later Pope John XXIII modified Good Friday, replacing the Black vestments with Purple, and suppressing the folded chasubles for the Deacon and Subdeacon. He also allowed the people to receive Holy Communion from the reserved Sacrament on Good Friday during the Liturgy of the Presanctified…

 

[OraLabora]

The notation is actually a modern rendition. After St. Pope Pius X called for Gregorian chant to be held in higher regard (church music was already deteriorating in the early 1900s), the monks of Salem were able put together these Libers. It took over 50 years later for these books to come out and sadly the effort was largely wasted since by that time the Church was getting ready to blow up with Vatican II changes. Church music became guitar and drums, our “God is an Awesome God” etc. We all know the story.

Not quite factually true. The monks of Solesmes (not Salem) are in fact still at it. All the chant books have been revised for the post-Vatican II Mass and Offices, so that it is possible to celebrate Mass and the Divine Office to Gregorian chant with the correct references, new seasons, updated calendar, etc.

To date they have produced

Graduale Romanum (propers and ordinary for the Mass in Gregorian chant; plus Graduale Triplex, same thing with neumes as well as square notes) 1974

Psalterium Monasticum, 1981, antiphons for all the psalms for the ferial Office; can also be used to provide Gregorian antiphons for the Liturgy of the Hours

Liber Hymnarius, all the hymns for the Divine Office, both Roman (LOTH) and Monastic, 1983

Antiphonale Monasticum I, all the antiphons for the proper of the seasons for the Monastic Office (2005)

Antiphonale Monasticum II, ferial Monastic Office (2006)

Antiphonale Monasticum III, sanctoral for the Monastic Office (2007)

Antiphonale Monasticum V, Propers for the Solesmes congregation for the Divine Office (2009)

(Antiphonale Monasticum IV, for the Night Office or Vigils, is still in the works as it is a major undertaking)

Les Heures Grégoriennes (by the community of St. Martin in France but Solesmes provided the music), all the day hours to Gregorian chant for the LOTH (3 volumes)

Antiphonale Romanum II, Vespers of Sundays, feasts and solemnities to Gregorian chant for the LOTH (2010)

Plus a whole bunch of more minor works such as rituals for the Solesmes congregation, processions, chant books for the priest (for the EP), bilingual Gregorian missals, etc.

It may be true that in parishes Gregorian chant is hard to find, but it is still alive and kicking elsewhere, particularly in monasteries, cathedrals, etc., and all the chant books necessary for it have been revised post Vatican II.

 

[rben20]

Ahh mea culpa OraLabora Mea . No disrespect meant to the monks of Solesmes though there are monks of Salem!