Vespers Booklet (PDF), questions for those familiar with EF Vespers
  • Dixit_Dominus_44
    Posts: 195
    I am part of a team working to create Vespers booklets for a sacred music conference in California. We have put together the booklet that needs to be for Monday, June 26th:

    PDF Booklet, EF Vespers for Monday evening (26 June 2017)

    Would those of you who are skilled at Divine Office in the Extraordinary Form be willing to peruse this document and offer corrections?

    The people singing from these books are music directors and singers.
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,933
    Jonathan KK is your man.
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    Dixit_Dominus_44,

    [My authority to speak on these matter is this: my parish has been singing EF Vespers once a month for most of the last 4 years (if I count correctly). My parish is an Institute of Christ the King apostolate.]

    The first verse of each psalm is intoned using the incipit, but subsequent verses begin on the reciting tone.

    It is customary to have a single person (in my parish, that's me, but if clerics are present in sufficient number and are willing, they should) intone the first verse of each psalm. Similarly, a single person intones (to the *) each antiphon.

    Knowing that you mean well, I would still have the "start on ....(pitch)" in a precentor's edition only, and not in anyone else's).

    The Magnificat begins each verse with the incipit.

    I didn't see (but I might be blind) that the Gloria Patri of the Magnificat
    sometimes needs to wait, if there is incensing to be done.

    I'll look again when the weekend is behind us, but that's for starters.


  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,799
    You've given us a little context, but it makes a difference what common experience these singers bring. If they are going to rehearse once it's probably sufficient to explain joining the intonation at the asterisk (spell check insists I must mean Asterix!) one time only. If they're going to be going in cold, I'd recommend adding (trebles/changed voices only) to each verse: is your plan going to be reinforced by different intoners depending on the alternatim scheme?

    Fwiw I think it's just as well you aren't consistent in applying the vertical translation of the first antiphon.

    Where in California?
  • JonathanKKJonathanKK
    Posts: 542
    A couple of things I noticed:

    The tone for the V. Benedicamus Domino which you have at present is from the Antiphonale Monasticum, which is odd, as you are doing secular, not monastic vespers.

    You ought rather to use the tone which the Antiphonale Romanum (1949) calls "In Festis Semiduplicibus - In utrisque Vesperis", since the Liber Usualis maps this to feasts III class, and that is what kind of day you are dealing with.

    For the V. Exsultabunt sancti in gloria, you should use one of the tones with a neume at the end, not the simple tone for versicles which drops a minor third. You would use the latter, say, for a commemoration; but the tone with a neume is always used at this place in vespers (or any of the the other hours) in the secular office. This is more clear in AR than in LU.

    By the way, the full distinction between the V. Dominus vobiscum as opposed to the V. Domine exaudi is that the former is used when the office is said in choir or in common, whereas the latter is used in recitation by oneself, and also by anyone who has not been ordained a Deacon.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,315
    To clarify what CGZ says, havig sung Vespers in community (ICRSS).

    •Only two candles are lit if the Office is sung but not solemn.
    •The celebrant (C) always intones Deus in adjutorium. This may be pre–intoned.
    •Customarily, the head bows while standing are made to the altar cross.
    •The cantor pre–intones the first antiphon up to the asterisk. The organist usually gives it to the cantor. C then intones it. All join after the asterisk.
    •The cantor bows slightly (gives a nod) to C or to the cleric.
    •The cantor, who is in the middle of the choir, intones the psalm, and he bows to C. He genuflects and goes to his place. (I assume you only have one. It’s more complicated with two, and I never did it with two, unfortunately.)
    •The cantor repeats this for each antiphon. Ideally, the antiphons are intoned by four clerics in order of seniority, by ordination date and then rank, returning to C if there are five or fewer.
    •There’s no bow in the final verse of the hymn, because the Urban reform tended to muck up doxologies; not even the word “Trinitas” appears here…
    •The cantor sings the versicle. He then genuflects and goes to C to pre–intone the antiphon on the Magnificat. It is customary for all to sit during the sung Office at this time (at Lauds, Vespers, and Compline–the FSSP Compline book mentions this), and the cantor returns to the middle for the canticle.
    •The cross is oddly placed at the Magnificat.
    •The cantor also sings Benedicamus Domino from the middle of the choir.
    •Ordinarily, Vespers is followed by the Angelus, which is sung kneeling on weekdays.
    •The collects are in the solemn tone, and thus the dialogues are solemn. They’ve even provided this for anyone not a deacon on p. 101 of the Liber Usualis; it is in the section entitled “Common Tones of the Mass.”
  • Dixit_Dominus_44
    Posts: 195
    these are all wonderful suggestions, please keep them coming!
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,315
    Well, I was confused by the hymn being in there twice, or sort of in there twice... amd since you are changing the versicle anyways, you might as well use neumes instead of modern notation.

    The details are really now down to the celebrant. Will it be solemn Vespers? Will there be three copes or just two, or just one but with two cantors regardless? That means that you need servers. Otherwise, everyone sits in choir, and the cantor sits on a stool (ideally) in front of the first place on his side, the Gospel side if you have only one.

    This is such an easy office, with two modes for the psalmody and Magnificat (which should be simple), which doesn’t mean much, granted, but it’s hard to switch modes. Oh, this is important. You need the organist to give the incipit of the psalms to the cantors following the antiphon. This helps them get on the right pitch, and it can be difficult to switch; the La–Do change of the tenor (or Do–Re change between another mode and mode 7) between 1 & 8 was hard, especially because these psalms are sung so often to one psalm tone in the assigned mode for Sunday Vespers. Lacking this, a pitch pipe and then someone who can hum works.

    Have you considered conducting the people?

    It’s proper and Roman to boot. I hope it goes well.
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