PBC question
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    OK, I'm revealing my ignorance on a basic topic here. In the Parish Book of Chant, several hymns (Oremus pro Pontifice, Te Deum, etc.) are followed by a Versicle and Reponse, printed, with no music attached.

    Can someone fill me in on what these are? And if, for example, we are singing these at an EF Mass as motets, should we use them? And how?
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    would like to know too
  • Chrism
    Posts: 872
    The V. is proper to the priest, or in his absence or disinterest a layman, while the R. is for choir or congregation. Typically the V. is sung recto tono, dropping a third at the end of the line, and the tone mimicked in the R.

    Generally these "hymns" are intended in the first place to be used as integral stand-alone prayer services outside of Mass, for example immediately after Mass. Sometimes the prayers are also prescribed or optional during the Office or Benediction.

    When using this music as accompaniment music during Mass, it is really best to eliminate the plainchant V. and R.
  • Chrism
    Posts: 872
    Here's an example of the Oremus pro Pontifice with verse and response at the end, as sung during Benediction.
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    Wonderful! We sing the one at the end of the Asperges, so I thought it might be something like that, but thanks for the information.
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