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Views from the Choir Loft

How Does One Use The Ordo Cantus Missæ?

Jeff Ostrowski · July 29, 2013

597 Gregorian Missal Gregorian Missal by Solesmes INALLY, HOW DOES ONE USE the pages of the Ordo Cantus Missæ? To repeat what has been said in the documents, the Ordo Cantus Missæ normally simply points to the official 1908 Graduale and says “take the chants from this Sunday.” For instance, in the sample page we’re about to examine, you can see that the “15th Sunday in Ordinary time” says, “Take the chants from the 10th Sunday after Pentecost”:

      * *  Example page from the Ordo Cantus Missae

But what about the “B” circled in pink and the “I” and “II” circled in green? What in the world do those mean? Steven Van Roode explains:

This is explained in the Praenotanda, n. 20 (p. 11) of the Ordo Cantus Missae. In the section ‘Proprium tempore’ the chants for each week are listed. Your scan is from this section. These chants are to be sung on Sunday and all weekdays, except for the days indicted by the indented characters at the end of the week’s list: letters A, B and C indicate that there are other chants for the Sunday of Year A, B or C (which are specified on pp. 62-64), and roman numerals indicate that there are other chants for weekdays in Year I or II, with the Arabic numerals indicating the weekday (2 = feria secunda = Monday, etc.); these are specified on pp. 65-74.

So, for the fifteenth week in Ordinary Time (n. 112) we have the chants of the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost from the 1961 Graduale Romanum:
      IN Dum clamarem
      GR Custodi me
      OF Ad te levavi
      AL Te decet hymnus

. . . except for the Communion:
      CO Passer invenit

. . . and ad libitum options:
      IN Ego autem cum iustitia
      CO Qui mandicat

So far, so good. Now we come to the “B” circled in pink. Apparently, there are other chants for Sunday of Year B (specified on p. 63):
      GR Ostende nobis

And there are other chants for Year I (Monday and Thursday) and Year II (Thursday) (specified on p. 70; note the arrangement of the data: left for Year I, right for Year II and centre for Year I ánd II):
      Year I (Monday): GR Anima nostra
      Year I and II (Thursday): AL Venite ad me

All these different chants match the readings of the Sunday or weekday and are duly given in the 1974 Graduale Romanum. I hope this explanation made clear how the OCM indicates alternative chants for Sundays and weekdays.

OK . . . SO WHAT?  What’s the lesson here?  What is my point, precisely?

My point should be obvious. The Ordo Cantus Missæ is incredibly difficult to use. It almost couldn’t be more confusing than it is. It is totally unhelpful.

The good news is that the hard work has been done for us already with the Solesmes 1974 Graduale, the Solesmes Gregorian Missal (2012), the Lalemant Propers, the Simple English Propers (CMAA), and many other collections. Therefore, you don’t have to fool around with the Ordo Cantus Missæ . . . which is probably why very few people own this book!

This article is part of a series:

Part 1   •   Part 2

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski
Sound Familiar?

1 June 1579: “The chapter passes a rule that anyone ascending to the new organ without official permission shall be fined a month’s pay.”

26 October 1579: “The altar boys remain always separate and distinct from choirboys—the one group learning only plainchant and assisting at the altar, the other living with the chapel-master and studying counterpoint and polyphony as well. Father Francisco Guerrero postpones his departure for Rome and instead spends the entire year in Seville making ready for the trip. In the meantime he neglects his choirboys. On 16 November, after considerable complaint against their unruliness and ignorance, he engages an assistant, Bartolomé Farfán.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it.

— Pope Pius XI (6 January 1928)

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