The Propers Are Psalms.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    Posted at Catholic Sensibility:

    Missing in the many internet discussions on the propers is the chief reason why we should sing them. And no, that reason isn’t because Rome tells us or provides them for us, or that there is a ready-made choral heritage for them. It’s simply because they are psalms, the prayer of Christ while he was on earth:

    355. In praying the psalms of the office for the dead, the assembly offers God praise and intercedes for the deceased person and the mourners in the words of prayer that Jesus himself used during his life on earth. Through the psalms the assembly prays in the voice of Christ, who intercedes on its behalf before the Father. In the psalms of petition and lament it expresses its sorrow and its firm hope in the redemption won by Christ. In the psalms of praise the assembly has a foretaste of the destiny of its deceased member and its own destiny, participation in the liturgy of heaven, where every tear will be wiped away and the Lord’s victory over death will be complete.

    Important principles are given here that speak to the broader role of liturgy, and not just of funerals. Praise of God and intercession for those in need: this lies at the core of the funeral rites. Note also the very definition of liturgy: participation in the intercessory prayer of Christ to the Father. Attend to the need to balance psalmody when praying the office of the dead: there should be psalms of both lament and praise.

    [http://catholicsensibility.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/ocf-355-why-psalms/]
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    SOURCES FOR TEXTS OF MASS PROPER ANTIPHONS
    (From on-line Grove article “Plainchant”; based on the early repertoire)

    All Mass Propers: (631 total) Communions: (147 total)

    From Psalter: 439 = 69.5 % 64 = 43.5 %

    From elsewhere in Bible: 167 = 26.5 % 80 = 54.5 %

    Not from Bible: 25 = 4.0 % 3 = 2.0 %

    As an innovation in the 1975 Graduale Romanum (and thus also in the 1979 Graduale Triplex)
    the source of the text is given above each antiphon.
  • rob
    Posts: 148
    But, for at least 43.5% of the propers, then might our attention not be drawn profitably to Watts, Sternhold & Hopkins, certain compositions of the St. Louis Jesuits, Tietze, Bartlett, et al. as well as the Liber?

    It seems to support the argument that is no good reason not to sing at least some of the propers, even if in English and as hymns.

    And, I will say personally that the 54.5% of the text drawn from "elsewhere in the Bible" presents the greatest challenge in programming outside the Liber and classic polyphony. Perhaps this is an untapped potential which the commercial publishers and their artists would be in a position to tackle?

    Maybe, in the interests of appealing to the broadest market, they could start with the "ad libitum" communions? It's been a while since I've seen a good "Ego sum," Gustate", "Hoc corpus", etc. which might be easily sung by a congregation or choir without much practice.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    If we are really using the propers to fill the entire liturgical action, we are likely going to be singing Psalms as well as the Antiphon, so Todd's point is true even if only half the antiphons are Psalm texts.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    This is a major advantage that the SEP has over all the other English propers currently available: they include pointed Psalm verses.
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    So, I'm confused - we shouldn't do something because Rome tells us to, or provides it for us, or because there is a ready-made choral heritage for it?

    I guess that if someone prefaces what they have to say with that, I have a feeling that none of those reasons is good enough.
  • Maureen
    Posts: 674
    If psalms from other sources all had antiphons and music written to represent all the moods and occasions and theology that the propers are meant to be used for, they would be very nice alternate musical settings of the propers.

    But mostly they ain't. (Not Gather, that's for sure.)

    That said, there's nobody stopping anybody from doing a complete Psalter/Propers in alternate musical settings.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,157
    Maureen, maybe I need a clue, but I can't tell to which comment you're responding.

    [UPDATE: Ah! M. has responded below.]
  • G
    Posts: 1,397
    "Scripture... only exists because it's convenient to have Sacred Tradition in written form for liturgical use"

    A fascinating thought.

    (Save the Liturgy, Save the World)
  • Maureen
    Posts: 674
    I just disappeared and changed my comment, because I realized I'd misread some stuff rather seriously. But thanks for quoting one of the few things worth saving! I've been reading Hahn's Letter and Spirit, among other things, and that's one of the things that comes up.

    Bad mood, lack of caffeine.... Wish I could go back to sleep.
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