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Views from the Choir Loft

The “O Antiphons” Begin Tonight

Andrew Leung · December 17, 2015

CTL O Antiphons ODAY IS DECEMBER 17. It is seven days before Christmas Eve. Today is the day that Advent gets even more intense. The Church have chosen special Antiphons and Readings for the coming week to help us prepare the coming of Christ. The “O Antiphons“ are a set of antiphons for Vespers that is prayed during the coming seven days.

The reason why they are called the “O Antiphons“ is because each of them start with the letter “O”. In the Liber Usualis, they are called the “Great Antiphons”. They were mentioned in the 6th century and they were used in Rome by the 8th century. The texts of these antiphons are from the Old Testament Prophetic and Wisdom Books. These antiphons are recited or sung before and after the Magnificat, or the Canticle of Mary. Each of the antiphons begins by calling out a title of Christ:

O Sapientia………….O Wisdom

O Adonai……………..O Lord

O Radix Jesse………O Root of Jesse

O Clavis David……..O Key of David

O Oriens……………..O Dayspring/Dawn

O Rex Gentium…….O King of Nations

O Emmanuel………..O Emmanuel (God is with us)

There is a very cool fact about these titles. If you take the first letters of each titles and spell out from the last one, you will get: “EROCRAS”. And the Latin words “ero cras” means “I will be (there) tomorrow”. Here are the pages of the Great Antiphons from the Liber Usualis (Solesmes 1957) with English translations:

    * *  PDF • THE GREAT ANTIPHONS OF ADVENT

CTL James MacMillan OWADAYS, many of us still sing the “O Antiphons” in Advent, just in a different setting. The text of the famous Advent hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, is from the Great Antiphons. And actually, Jeff Ostrowski just wrote about the Original Setting of the Tune yesterday.

As I was searching through other pieces that are related to the Great Antiphons, I found this Percussion Concerto below. The concerto, “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel“, was composed by Sir James MacMillan, a leading composer who have just been named Catholic of the Year by the Catholic Herald magazine. He has written music for Pope Benedict’s visit to England in 2010 and he has been commissioned recently to write a work for Shrine of Fátima’s centenary which will be attended by Pope Francis. James MacMillan is also the founder of Musica Sacra Scotland, an organization that promotes Gregorian Chant in Scotland.

The Scottish composer took the tune of the hymn as the theme of his work. It is a very interesting and intense piece! It is a non-liturgical piece. But one can listen to it and meditate on Mary and Joseph’s intense and difficult trip right before the birth of our Lord.

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 Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

Like all other liturgical functions, like offices and ranks in the Church, indeed like everything else in the world, the religious service that we call the Mass existed long before it had a special technical name.

— Rev. Adrian Fortescue (1912)

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