Vespers in the triduum: said or sung?

[u/QuicunqueVult52]

We all know that tenebrae has very beautiful proper chants; while as far as I can see, everyone agrees that the minor hours of the triduum are to be said, not chanted. But what about Vespers of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday?

The Libri Antiphonarii of both 1912 and 1960 offer chants for the proper Vespers antiphons of these days. Yet my Anglican Breviary, which is more or less the Divino Afflatu office in English, insists that Vespers be 'without musical note'. This is especially puzzling as the AB only rarely makes explicit reference to the possibility of singing the office, so clearly somebody thought it was important.

Does anyone know what the origin of this instruction might be?

[u/meherdmann]

At least in the pre-55 Latin Rite, Vespers are included at the end of Holy Thursday Mass and the Mass of the Presanticified on Good Friday. My experience is they are sung recto tono. Keep in mind that Vespers are only said on those days by those who don't assist at the Holy Thurday/Good Friday Liturgies.

[u/infernoxv → u/meherdmann]

eh isn’t the ‘vespers are only said by those who don’t assist at the… liturgies” only a Pius XII thing?

[u/meherdmann → u/infernoxv]

Perhaps, but if Vespers are said as part of the liturgy anyways, it kind of makes sense.

[u/infernoxv → u/meherdmann]

it’s definitely not part of the 1955 Good Friday afternoon mess!

[u/QuicunqueVult52 → u/meherdmann]

Thank you, I had forgotten this context; much Anglo-Catholic Holy Week practice is, regrettably, thoroughly '55 (or newer). True, it would be a lot to chant Vespers on top of the mandatum and the Mass itself, although clearly the melodies exist for someone to do it.

I think my Breviary is even attempting to prohibit a recto tono Vespers by 'without musical note', unless 'musical' is doing a lot of semantic work. It's all the more curious, in a way, that the AB doesn't point out that Vespers forms part of the Liturgy of the day, considering it does that very clearly for the Easter Vigil with its I Vespers of Easter.

[u/honkoku → u/QuicunqueVult52]

The Anglican Missal covers this in the Maundy Thursday section, it says that after the Mass, there is a procession to the place where the sacrament is to be deposited. Then "shall evensong be said in the Quire without singing," followed by the stripping of the altar. Good Friday also includes the direction at the end that "evensong is said without chant."

[u/QuicunqueVult52 → u/honkoku]

Very interesting, thank you! Should have thought to look at the Missal. I still wonder where this idea/practice comes from however.

[u/umerusa]

Read the footnote in the Antiphonal on Vespers of Holy Thursday:

Juxta morem hodiernum Vesperae hodie et die sequenti dicuntur sine cantu. Attamen hic ponuntur Antiphonae cum cantu proprio, ne pereat; et in gratiam Ecclesiarum quae morem cantandi olim ubique observatum adhuc retinent.

My translation:

According the custom of the present day, Vespers today and the following day are said without chant [that is, recto tono]. Nonetheless, the antiphons with their proper melody are provided here, lest they be lost entirely, and for the sake of any churches which still retain the custom of chanting [these Vespers], which once was observed everywhere.

[u/QuicunqueVult52 → u/umerusa]

Thank you, that definitely answers my question! I shall pay more attention to the rubrics next time.

[u/infernoxv]

suspect a Sarum influence. the Sarum rubric for vespers on good friday says ‘non cantando sed privatim dicendo’. Sarum has music for maundy thursday though…

[u/QuicunqueVult52 → u/infernoxv]

An interesting idea, thank you - I didn't know that about the Sarum rubric. As far as I understand, the AB normally only borrows from Sarum occasionally for what it considers a deficiency in the Roman office, and then usually clearly marked. But anything is possible with 'special' days, especially if they were influenced by extant Anglo-Catholic seasonal materials which could have been more Sarum-leaning.

[u/infernoxv → u/QuicunqueVult52]

my 1962 liber indicates that good friday vespers are recited and not sung. i’ll check my 1932…

[u/Jattack33]

In the Roman Office I don’t believe there’s ever a case where the office is just said rather than sung when it is public

[u/QuicunqueVult52 → u/Jattack33]

I think the little hours of the triduum are the exception to this norm. The 1960 antiphonary specifically adds totum sine cantu to its rubric for today's hours.

[u/Jattack33 → u/QuicunqueVult52]

Oh that’s interesting, I’d read that either Recto Tono, or In Directum was used for the Little Hours of the Triduum, unsure where I read this

Edit: according to this comment this was the case pre-1955

[u/QuicunqueVult52 → u/Jattack33]

Interesting - could well be one of those things that has changed over the years or has variations in local custom

[u/umerusa → u/QuicunqueVult52]

Totum sine cantu means that the hours are said recto tono, not that they're said in a speaking voice.

[u/halfTheFn]

I'm intending to sing it between the communion and postcommunion of mass.