Propers for St. Nicholas?
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    Radulphus of Rivo, in his De Canonum Observantia, Proposition XXII, 3, a, mentions “the ancient Roman antiphonaries contain [proper] chants for Saints Nicholas, Sebastian, and Maurice; and long responsories for Terce, Sext, and None in Lent; the Sunday Psalms divided for the Vigil [i.e Matins] in Easter Week, Easter Vespers ordered by Kyrie eleison [6], and several antiphons for the Sunday Benedicite, [7] and in several places variant antiphons and responsories.”

    Does anyone know what these proper St. Nicholas chants are? Where could I find these, and are they notated in 4-line notation? I know of the Dominican Office, but I don’t think he’s referring to that. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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  • igneusigneus
    Posts: 390
    https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Arch.Cap.S.Pietro.B.79 is, according to the description, a 12th c. antiphonary from St. Peter's. The office of St. Nicholas starts f. 185r. Elaborate Easter Vespers start at f. 104r.
  • lautzef
    Posts: 69
    You can find propers for an enormous number of saints' days in the various volumes of Paleographie Musicale, which is in every music library worth its salt (but of course the number of music libraries is limited unless you are in a more or less cultural center). Anyway, I have used these volumes many times to find chant that is impossible to find in a modern edition. The trick is transcribing it - these are facsimiles of manuscripts, so you need to get it a copy to work on far enough in advance so that you can get it done in time for the choir to practice. Notation in some of the earlier manuscripts is beyond my abilities or is in ligatures that only show relative pitch, but in general you can find one in a notation you can read. It's definitely the first place I go for unusual chants, either Mass or Office.