LOTH assistance
  • Hi everyone, our cathedral music director is a fabulous organist and is very interested in proper liturgy and all that we espouse. He is just very young and does not know where to find many things. I'm helping as I can, but the one area that I have purposefully little knowledge is the LotH - Vatican II version. I recall some discussion here, but I can't recall the best place to locate melodies for antiphons for the new LotH. Psalms shouldn't be a problem. Can someone point me to a good resource for those hard-to-find musical elements of the LotH?

    Thanks
    Mike
  • RagueneauRagueneau
    Posts: 2,592
    that's great news ! Deo Gratias !
  • dvalerio
    Posts: 341
    You have the three-volume «Les heures grégoriennes»: more information here. This was already mentioned in this forum in this discussion. These books contain everything you need for all hours bar the Office of Readings (the OF mutation of Matins). I never saw the books, but comments are generaly positive and there is a set of CDs with all chants recorded.

    But 1) these volumes include a French translation, not an English translation, and 2) they will cost you 340 US$ (or 215 € if you prefer).

    For the hymns, there is the «Liber hymnarius». (Google that to find lots of sellers.)

    On the other hand, you can try to do it yourself. Download the Ordo cantus officii. For all things not covered by this Ordo, use the Liturgia Horarum, which you can find online, in Latin, in its entirety, in this site. Then you just have to find the hymns and the antiphons (the other elements are trivial). Most hymns and antiphons can be found in the 1912 Antiphonale (actually Diurnale); a few more you'll find in the 1961 Liber Usualis. But not everything is found there. You'll find some more in Dominican Rite chant books which you can download here (yes, I know that Dominican chant books differ from Roman ones, but not that much, and when you can't find an antiphon anywhere else it's really not a bad idea to use them), or in this edition of Sarum rite chants (similar comments apply). There used to be some useful collections of antiphons by Holger Peter Sandhofe (who organised a Nocturnale Romanum for the EF), but he passed away some years ago and his websites are no longer online; they included lots of neo-gregorian antiphons composed by him for the LotH, but also had many authentic antiphons that came in handy. And when everything else fails and you still have no music for a particular hymn or antiphon you can 1) post in this forum and ask for help, 2) try to find the antiphon in some medieval manuscript here or here (if you have patience) or 3) resort to a rubric that says that when there is no authentic music available you can choose another similar antiphon.

    I have prepared two booklets for Compline and for the Office of the Dead compiling elements freely available in the Internet, so you can see that this cut and paste method works, though it takes some time to do the spade work (the current version of the booklets has typos and mistakes that I will hopefully correct in the next few weeks).
  • Many thanks. I do understand that it is quite a task to assemble all that. That's why I personally stay away from the LotH and have my schola only sing the Traditional Vespers. I'll pass this info on to Adam.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    The new Antiphonale Monasticum (3 volumes) may have some of the new antiphons too.
  • dvalerio
    Posts: 341
    > The new Antiphonale Monasticum (3 volumes) may have some of the new antiphons too.

    Quite right. Google the name to find sellers.

    And, by the way, I downloaded all Holger Peter Sandhofe's files (all I knew of, at least), and so if someone needs them just let me know. They were online for a long time and the only reason they no longer are appears to be that nobody took his place maintaining the sites, so I fail to see why these collections of antiphons, which include many useful things, should not be spread further.
  • veromaryveromary
    Posts: 160
    http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2010/03/work-of-peter-holger-sandhofe.html

    BY JEFFREY A. TUCKER
    Peter Holger Sandhofe was a master typesetter of chant and the producer of many editions once distributed on nocturnale.de. That site is now down. Before it fell, MusicaSacra.com co-hosted his Kyriale. But what has happened to the rest of his music? If you know the answer, please write me. MusicaSacra.com is happy to host what remains.

    Has this already happened?

    What I was looking for were his fonts - the beautiful initials. It would be a shame if they were lost. I remember he was selling them for about 40 euros I think.
  • veromaryveromary
    Posts: 160
    Sorry, I should have read down to the comments before posting :) Sounds like such work was in progress. But I don't see anything on the Chant Books page of Musica Sacra.com. Maybe I should start a New Discussion.

    Veronica
  • dvalerio
    Posts: 341
    I have all Holger Peter Sandhofe's free PDF files with chants online here, as I wrote in the comments of that NLM's post, but not his fonts, which, as you mentioned, were not free... But see this page (in Spanish) and check if it has something you want...
  • Mark P.
    Posts: 248
    Maybe this was already mentioned but the Antiphonale Romanum II would be an outstanding resource for Vespers according to the current rite. See http://www.paracletepress.com/antiphonale-romanum-ii.html.

    According to the website: With the Antiphonale Romanum II, it is possible to sing Vespers for Sunday and Feasts in Gregorian chant according to present day rubrics. This volume contains the necessary elements for Sunday Vespers and Vespers for Feasts:

    Hymns
    Antiphons
    Psalms
    Canticles
    Readings
    Brief Responses
    Intercessory prayers
    Concluding prayers

    The end of the book contains rules/guides chanting according to various musical genres
    The book follows the typical layout form of the Liturgy of the Hours.
    The melodies are in conformance with current musicological standards