Singing a different tune for LotH Hymns

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Hello! I am preparing a Compline booklet for a small group of college students. It is based off of the LotH English translation, and I want to make sure everything is liturgically correct.

I have chosen to put “O Christ You are the Light and Day” (the English translation of the ancient “Christe qui Lux es et Die”) in the book as the hymn, as, unfortunetely, that seems to be the only more “traditional” option available. Traditional, that is, in the sense that it is the only hymn in the English LotH that has links to the Compline of the past, where either that or “Te Lucis” was sang.

However, the tune that is included in the Christian Prayer book is not the original hymn tune, but some tune called “Saint Anne”. Boo. Why they did not include the original tune is beyond me. So my question is, could I set “O Christ You are the Light and Day” to the original tune in square notation, and have them sing that in accord with the rubrics? My other concern is copyright issues, as the translation is potentially under copyright.
 
Absolutely. Even in Latin you can substitute another melody of the same meter (mostly 8,8,8,8) to any hymn. The Liber Hymnarius has melodies for seasons, ferias, Sundays, memorials, feasts and solemnities, for Compline.

Ordi Cantus Officii says (translating from the French introduction):
It is possible to sing a hymn from any melody of another hymn of the same metre.
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So substitute away! I myself, for Compline, have simplified it to two melodies. I use the melody of ferias for ferias and memorials, and the Sunday melody for feasts and solemnities. I do however, use the seasonal melodies for other times. Since I know Te Lucis by heart, I can sing it in the dark.
 
You are not required to use any particular hymn or setting in the Liturgy of the Hours. I find a number of the ones in most versions of Christian Prayer to be dreadful so during private recitation I use others that match the tone and time of the day. The hymns listed are merely suggestions so you are free to chose any hymn or meter that suits the group.
 
I was under the impression that official English edition didn’t have recommended to hymns and that the editor of your particular edition puts them in. If that’s true then you must be pretty free to do what makes sense within reason.
 
Since I’m not familiar with many of the hymns, I substitute my own simple little melodies all the time. If I had to look up the actual melody, rusty as I am when it comes to reading music, I would likely give up the prayer altogether. If I had to search for it played online, again, it would disincline me to pray the Liturgy, that’s just how lazy and impatient I am when it comes to most things 😞. Better to pray as I can than to not pray at all 😀.
 
I was checking this once myself. I checked the 4 volume LotH, Christian Prayer, Shorter Christian Prayer, Universalis, and iBreviary against each other for (Lauds) and on most days, they all had different Hymns. Also, the 4 volume set offers alternates and seasonal hymns.

Patrick
AMDG
 
Thanks for all the advice everyone! I will be chanting to different tunes.
 
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