View source for Liber Usualis

{{Short description|Book of commonly used Gregorian chants}}
{{Italic title}}
{{more footnotes|date=April 2024}}
[[File:A copy of the Liber Usualis.jpg|thumb|A copy of the ''Liber Usualis'']]

The '''''Liber Usualis''''' (''Liber Usualis missæ et officii pro Dominicis et festis cum cantu Gregoriano'' or "Book for Use at Masses and Offices of Sundays and Feasts with their Gregorian Chants") is a [[Liturgical books of the Roman Rite|liturgical book]] of commonly used [[Gregorian chant]]s in the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] tradition, compiled by the monks of the [[St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes|Abbey of Solesmes]] in France and first published in 1898. It gathered between two covers the [[Ordinary of the Mass|ordinary]] and [[Proper of the Mass|proper]] chants from the ''[[Kyriale]]'' and [[Roman Gradual|''Graduale'']] needed for [[Mass (liturgy)|Masses]] of Sunday and important [[General Roman Calendar|Holy Day]]s; those for [[Vespers]] from the [[Antiphoner|''Antiphonale'']]; and [[Matins]] of Christmas, [[Tenebrae|Holy Week]] and the [[Office of the Dead]] from the ''[[Nocturnale|Nocturnale]]''. Its most important omissions are the chants for the weekdays of [[Lent]] and the [[Ember Days]].<ref>{{
Cite book
| author-link=Willi Apel
| first=Willi
| isbn=9780253326508
| last=Apel
| oclc=608792
| page=15
| publication-place=Bloomington
| publisher=Indiana University Press
| title=Gregorian chant
| year=1958
}}</ref>

The ''Liber'' was first edited in 1896 by Solesmes Abbot Dom [[André Mocquereau]] (1849–1930). Its use has decreased since the liturgical reform that took place in 1970, that replaced the [[Tridentine Mass]] with the [[Mass of Paul VI]], and the [[Divine Office]] with the [[Liturgy of the Hours]]. In 1974 a new [[Graduale Romanum]] (and in 1990 a [[Gregorian Missal]]) appeared in response to the same council's mandate that Gregorian chant should retain "pride of place" in the liturgy (''[[Sacrosanctum Concilium]]'', 116). It resigned the traditional chants according to the [[General Roman Calendar|new calendar]], but introduction of the vernacular has hindered widespread use of Latin chant. The 1964 ''Liber usualis'' continues to be used locally where permission exists for celebrations according to the [[Extraordinary form|''vetus ordo'']].

==History==
The 1904 edition or {{ill|Vatican Edition|fr|Édition Vaticane (chant grégorien)}} was adopted as the official replacement for the [[Medici Edition]] that was promulgated following the [[Council of Trent]], beating the rival Ratisbon Edition prepared by [[Friedrich Pustet]]..

==Organization==
The ''Liber'' has appeared in about 50 editions all with numerous appendixes according to local usages, resulting in some confusion and occasional duplication of page numbering.
The principal divisions are:
*[[Ordinary of the Mass]] (pp11-111)<ref>the following page numbers (apparently based on the 1962 ''LU'') are from Richard H. Hoppin: ''Medieval Music'' (Norton, 1978) Appendix A: A Guide to the ''Liber Usalis''</ref>
*Recitation formulas and Psalms & Canticles of the [[Canonical hours|Divine Office]] (pp.112-316)
*[[Liturgical year|Proper of Time]] (pp. 317-1110)
*[[Common of Saints]] (pp. 1112-1302)
*[[Proper of Saints]], running from St Andrew (30 November) to St Sylvester (28 November) (pp. 1303-1762)<ref>Richard Hoppin ''Medieval Music'' (Norton 1978), Appendix A: A Guide to the ''Liber Usualis''</ref>
*
<!-- WP:fr lists these editions:
*1896 : n° 1351 (latin, [[abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes|Solesmes]]), n° 1352 (français, Solesmes) 
*1903 : n° 566 (français, dorénavant chez [[Éditions Desclée de Brouwer|Désclée]])
*1904 : n° 567 (latin)
*1909 : n° ... (latin)
*1913 : n° ... (latin) {{lire en ligne|lien=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k209420s/f2.image}}
*1914 : n° 780 (latin, avec signes rythmiques), n° 781 (latin, sans signes), n° 800 (français, avec signes rythmiques), n° ''801'' (''français, sans signes'')
*1920 : n° 800 (français, désormais avec signes rythmiques)
*1921 : n° 780 (latin)
*1923 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800 (français)
*1924 : n° 780c (latin, notation moderne) 
*1925 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800 (français)
*1926 : n° 800 (français), n° 800c (français, notation moderne)
*1927 : n° 800 (français)
*1928 : n° 780 (latin)
*1929 : n° 780A (latin), n° 800 (français)
*1930 : n° 780A (latin)
*1931 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800 (français), n° 800c (français, notation moderne)
*1932 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800 (français)
*1933 : n° 780c (latin, notation moderne) {{lire en ligne|lien=http://www.lakewoodsound.com/quilisma/liber_usualis_full.html}}
*1934 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800 (français), n° 801 (anglais)
*1935 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800 (français), n° 800c (français, notation moderne)
*1936 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800 (français), n° 801 (anglais)
*1937 : n° 780 (latin)
*1938 : n° 800 (français), n° 800c (français, notation moderne), n° 801 (anglais)
*1939 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800 (français)
*1941 : n° 780 (latin)
*1942 : n° 800 (français)
*1946 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800 (français)
*1947 : n° 780 (latin), n° 780c (latin, notation moderne), n° 801 (anglais)
*1948 : n° 800 (français), n° 800c (français, notation moderne)
*1950 : n° 780 (latin), n° 801 (anglais)
*1951 : n° 800 (français)
*1952 : n° 800 (français), n° 801 (anglais)
*1953 : n° 780 (latin), n° 800c (français, notation moderne), n° 801 (anglais) [http://www.libers.com/liber.htm réimpression depuis 1997 par St. Bonaventure Publications]
[[file:Liber Usualis.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''Liber usualis missæ et officii pro Dominicis et festis cum cantu Gregoriano'' (1954). Les signes rythmiques s'y conservaient (''et rhythmicis signis in subsidium cantorum'').]]
*1954 : n° 780 (latin), n° 780c (latin, notation moderne) 
*1956 : n° 780 (latin), n° 780c (latin, notation moderne), n° 800 (français), n° 800c (français, notation moderne), n° 801 (anglais)
*1957 : n° 780 (latin), n° 801 (anglais) 
*1958 : n° 780 (latin)
*1959 : n° 800 (français), n° 801 (anglais)<ref>{{Ouvrage |langue=la |auteur1=Catholic Church |auteur2=Congrégation de France |auteur3=Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes |titre=The liber usualis |sous-titre=with introduction and rubrics in English |éditeur= |année=1959 |pages totales=2060 |lire en ligne=https://books.google.fr/books?id=tHAJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1}}.</ref>
*1960 : n° 780 (latin)
*1961 : n° 801 (anglais) {{lire en ligne|lien=https://archive.org/stream/TheLiberUsualis1961/liberusualis#page/n1/mode/2up}}
*1962 : n° 780 (latin) [https://books.google.fr/books?id=DQ4uY3zvpA0C&pg=PA599], n° 800 (français), n° 801 (anglais)
*1963 : n° 801 (anglais)
*1964 : n° 780 (latin) - dernière publication
 -->
This 1,900-page book contains most versions of the ordinary chants for the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] ([[Kyrie]], [[Gloria in Excelsis Deo|Gloria]], [[Credo]], [[Sanctus]], and [[Agnus Dei]]), as well as the common chants for the [[Liturgy of the Hours|Divine Office]] (daily prayers of the [[Catholic Church|Church]]) and for every commonly celebrated feast of the Church year—including more than two hundred pages for [[Holy Week]] alone—as practiced prior to the 1969 [[Mass of Paul VI|liturgical reforms of Pope Paul VI]]. The "usual book" or "common book" also contains chants for specific rituals, such as [[nuptial Mass]]es, [[Requiem|Requiem Masses]] and the [[Office of the Dead]], ordinations, and [[Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament|Benediction]]{{fact|date=February 2025}}<!-- can't find Benediction items in index -->. This modal, [[monophony|monophonic]] Latin music has been sung in the Catholic Church since at least the sixth century to the present day. An extensive introduction explains how to read and interpret the medieval musical notation (square notation of neums or [[neume]]s). There are separate indexes for Feasts and musical items, the later further subdivided by genre (Introits, Graduals, etc.).

==Bibliography and external links==
* [http://www.solesmes.com Solesmes Abbey]
* [https://www.ccwatershed.org/2013/03/19/1961-solesmes-liber-usualis-online-free-pdf/ Liber Usualis (1961, Solesmes notation with a four line staff) in PDF format] (121 MB)
*[http://www.libers.com/liber.htm St. Bonaventure Press reprint of 1953 ''Liber'']
* [https://www.ccwatershed.org/pdfs/5318-abbot-pothier-liber-usualis-1896-solesmes-pdf/download/ Liber Usualis (1896 ed.) in PDF format] (200 MB)
* Bergeron, Katherine. Decadent enchantments: the revival of Gregorian chant at Solesmes. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1998.  {{ISBN|0-520-21008-5}}.
* [http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/aug/17/nova-organi-harmonia Nova Organi Harmonia (a nearly complete organ accompaniment to the Liber Usualis)]

==References==
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{{Tridentine Latin Mass}}

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[[Category:Catholic liturgical music]]
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