Litany of the Holy Name from Cant. Romano-Seraphicum: Origin?
  • JonathanKKJonathanKK
    Posts: 542
    Question:

    The Litany of the Holy Name given in the Cantuale Romano-Seraphicum (1951) has the following annotation:

    Melodia partim ex libris Solesmensibus, partim nova.

    So, if the melody for part of it exists elsewhere in the books of Solesmes, can anyone track it down?

    I've had a fair go, and turned up nothing.

    Also, why does the text in Cant.RS have "Christe audi / exaudi nos." in the beginning, but "Jesu audi /exaudi nos." at the end, instead of the latter in both instances?

    The only other Solesmes edition of the Litaniae Sanctissimi Nominis Jesu that I have found is from a 1906 Cantuale (see attachment, or look it up on Google books for yourself). However, this merely uses the same melody as one of the alternate tones for the Litany of Loreto. Also, this version makes no distinction in tone when the responses change halfway through.

    Vale in Domino,

    Jonathan



  • JahazaJahaza
    Posts: 468
    Also, why does the text in Cant.RS have "Christe audi / exaudi nos." in the beginning, but "Jesu audi /exaudi nos." at the end, instead of the latter in both instances?

    I'm only guessing (and I don't have books around), but the beginning is a standard beginning for a Litany. It's not standard to repeat the "audi nos" at the end, IIRC, but is here an emphasis on the Holy Name, "Jesus".

    So, if the melody for part of it exists elsewhere in the books of Solesmes, can anyone track it down?

    I've had a fair go, and turned up nothing.

    Did you look just at Litanies of the Holy Name? It could be taken from anything, another litany, the Kyriale, etc.


  • JonathanKKJonathanKK
    Posts: 542
    Annotations like this usually say what the source material was, if it is some other chant's tune that has been stolen. Since this one doesn't, I suppose it is possible that it is put together out of such miniscule fragments (and I've looked for them in the obvious places, as you mention) that it wasn't worth noting where they came from. However, it also seems possible that this version of the litany is modified from an earlier version of the Litany of the Holy Name.

    "Ex libris Solesmensibus" seems usually to mean from Solesmes' own books, as opposed to chants that are Vatican Edition.

    The thing is, Solesmes put out a great deal of books, such that every time I think that have found my last one, another turns up that I haven't heard of, with a new chant or two that I've never seen before.

    Regarding "Christe audi nos", I was trying to ask: why does the Cant.RS deviate here from the usual text of the Litany of the Holy Name? If the idea is to provide a chant for one of the approved litanies, why does it modify the official / indulgenced text (as far as I can tell, this is what it does), albeit in a small way?
  • JonathanKKJonathanKK
    Posts: 542
    It being now three years later, I have just found the answer: the ex libris Solesmensibus original would appear to be a tone for the Litany of the Sacred Heart.

    To make it fit the text for the Litany of the Holy Name, the editor continued the pattern of "Pater de caelis, Deus" through the entirety of the first half of the litany, and then invented a new melody to use for the second half of the litany where the responses change. He then adapted the final Agnus Dei to accomodate the extra syllables, and invented a new melody for the final invocations "Christe audi nos. / Christe exaudi nos."

    I've uploaded a snapshot HERE from Manuel des Bénédictions et Processions du Très Saint Sacrament / René Paris des Augustins de L'Assomption (1921), published by Desclee. Thanks to @tomjaw for mentioning this book as a source for litanies.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen tomjaw
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