Liber Usualis
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    I've been looking through the Liber Usalis, trying to figure out how one would sing the Divine Office of the Extraordinary Form. The Liber Usualis only has instruction for the Office of Sunday, correct?
  • Isn't every day the same? You do have to figure out how to point the psalms for each tone, though. Had fun with that this past Friday.
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    Aren't there different Antiphons and Psalms and Responsories, and Prayers? It is a one week cycle, not a one day cycle, correct?
  • rrobbins
    Posts: 14
    .
  • Gilbert
    Posts: 106
    So is there any part of the Office that is not in the Liber Usualis?
  • Richard R.
    Posts: 774
    The Liber was designed primarily for Chapters that sang Vespers regularly, and other than Compline, there is not a lot of material for the other Hours, except on major feast days. The book also reflects secular usage, which differs from the monastic usage found in the Antiphonale monasticum (five psalms for Vespers rather than four, and the absence of Short Responsories).
  • Yes, I meant the form is the same every day. Each textual item changes except for the invitatory and canticle and closing items. Remember that the LU is a music source primarily. A breviary is indispensable for reciting the entire Office.