Settings of the Proper

[tuviskazinai]

Hi everyone,

I’m sure this question has been posted here a million times before, but I’m new to the Liturgy section and thought I’d ask anyway. Sorry if it’s redundant!

I’m wondering where the musical settings of the Proper come from. (I think that is the right term: by that I mean, the Gloria, the Sanctus, the Eucharistic Prayers, etc.) Is there a set, finite number of settings? If a composer composes a new Gloria, for instance, does it need to be approved somehow? I am also wondering about the prayers which the priest would say alone – if he chose to sing the Institution Narrative, for instance (“On the night He was betrayed” in EP III, etc.), could he sing it any way he wanted?

By now you get the gist. Thanks very much! I’ve always wondered about this.

Peace,
+AMDG+

 

[Cluny]

Proper come from. (I think that is the right term: by that I mean, the Gloria, the Sanctus, the Eucharistic Prayers, etc.)

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These are examples of the ORDINARY.

The Proper of the Mass are the texts which change from mass to mass, such as the Readings, prayers, Responsorial Psalm, and the like.

I would imagine there are chants given in the Missal/Sacramentary for the Words of Consecration, as there are for the Sursum Corda, Preface, and other chants that belong to the priest alone.

 

[VociMike]

You need to distinguish between the Propers (those parts of the Mass that change day to day, sung by the people - often as represented by choir or schola), the Ordinary (those parts of the Mass that stay the same, sung by the people) and the parts sung by the priest.

Among the many complications created by the switch to the vernacular Mass, one is that, at least for the English translation, one must pay the ICEL to use the Mass texts. This is obscene, IMO, but they’re quite insistent on it. Apparently no other set of liturgical texts in any other religious organization is so encumbered.

 

[tuviskazinai]

Ah, yes, many apologies, I meant the Ordinary – don’t know why I wrote Proper!

I didn’t realize that the parts sung by the priest are not included in the Ordinary. (Is there a name for that part of the Mass?)

So yes, I am wondering about the musical settings for the Ordinary and the priest’s parts. Thank you, Cluny and VociMike, for your answers so far. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the ICEL?

Thank you!
+AMDG+

 

[VociMike]

ICEL (International Commission on English in the Liturgy) is the committee that translates the official Latin liturgical texts into English. icelweb.org/

Some people believe that one of the reasons many English versions of the Mass Ordinary do not use the official (ICEL) translation is to avoid having to pay fees to ICEL. That such thinking is even invited, due to ICEL’s copyright enforcement, as a way for composers and publishers to save money is an outrage. Translated Catholic liturgical texts belong to the Church, not to some commission.