The
Liber Usualis is more than a
service book. The
Liber is the
synthesis of the
plainsong heritage of the
Roman Catholic Church. It is through the Liber that the
Roman Church preserves the musical settings for the
propers of the
Mass that is necessary for understanding the Mass while not overpowering the
liturgy which is the core of
worship.
The modern
Liber Usualis is a reconstruction of chants that have been used since the "
Dark Age" of
European culture. Previous to the mid 19th century chants were contained in
monastic graduals and scattered volumes. the
Solemses community decided that in order to preserve the canon of important liturgical works a comprehensive volume was needed.
Note also that the
musical notation within the Liber is not an exact replica of
medieval notation. The Solemses alongside contemporaries created an
academic reconstruction of medieval notation, differentiating chant from the notation of polyphony and modern works. Liber notation is an exhaustive topic within itself.
Chant differs from
sacred polyphony in the structure of the
choir, or
schola. Men and women are
segregated, and do not chant within the same composition. While female religious (
nuns) frequently chanted behind
cloister grilles, only men have been traditionally encouraged to chant at public liturgies. There are no
soloists in chant. All participants must weld their voices together as if one emphatic voice were continuously chanting. It looks easy on
TV, but my schola is nowhere near the perfection of the men with that
Chant CD record deal.
While all western
Christian plainsongs are commercially lumped under the
category "
Gregorian Chant", understand that the Liber contains chants from other liturgies. The chants of the
city of
Rome can be characterized as "Gregorian" from the early sponsor of liturgical plainsong, Pope
St. Gregory I. Most notable among the alternate chants are the
Ambrosian chants of
Milanese churches. With the advent of the
Tridentine era in
Catholicism most chants not of the Roman city liturgy were considered not as important. Recent attention has been paid to these alternate forms of plainsong.
All chants of the
Roman Church are in
Latin, the (still) official language of
Catholic liturgy. Attempts have been made recently to
translate the most common chants into
vernacular languages, but these attempts are few and feeble, unable to capture the
meter of compositions and frequently resorting to choral works. Chants are organized in
chronological order according to their position in the
church year. To aid the chanter,
glosses in the beginning and end of the book explain the use of
modes and abbreviations used for the most common prayers (the
Gloria Patri, for example.) It is important to note that
modes,
analagous to
major and
minor scales in modern musical notation, are
thematic and influence the outcome of various compositions. For example, a mode III
introit will share modal components with a
credo mode III. Modal similarities help with familiarization and give a sense of coherence throughout the work.
With the completion of the liturgical reforms of the
Second Vatican Council, the
Liber Usualis has been sidelined in favor of
congregational hymns that are of a simple
melody for ease of participation. Most frequently these works are renditions of popular melodies or are simplistic
transcriptions of choral works established in the
Protestant traditions. Chants are considered unsuitable because they cannot be translated to the vernacular. The resurgence of
Tridentine liturgy (the
Latin Mass) and interest in liturgical plainsong have brought the Liber back in the
spotlight. Positive developments would include a new edition of the Liber, an update from the last typical edition of
1962. Until then, it is important to note the significance chant has in Catholic liturgy, with the hope that the Liber will again merge into mainstream Catholic consciousness.