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The
compilers of the 1928 Revision set themselves to make a book where the 'plain
needs' of the modern man were 'plainly met', but recognising the mistrust of
change in so many churchpeople they printed the 1662 Book side by side with
their own.
It is not our business here to discuss how well modern needs were
plainly met by their book.
Despite its obvious good sense in most matters, a
few small but knotty points made the effect of its publication disastrous:
it
pleased neither high nor low churchmen and was not given parliamentary
sanction.
But no one could or would quarrel with nine tenths of the Book and it
has had a tremendous sale and has been drawn upon in all kinds of unofficial
ways:
in certain cases it has been permitted to be used.
It is a typically
English, one might almost say Gilbertian, state of affairs;
except by those
with a strong sense of their legal duty the book is used by everyone.
It is
thus possible that the book may help to crystallise public opinion and so one
day make an acceptable revision as possible as it is inevitable.
Meanwhile, if
we leave aside those controversial matters which prevented its legal
acceptance, the book is from every other point of view admirable.
The result of
liturgical research, it does an important work in clearing away many untidy ends
in our services and helping to give them a new reality.
With the object of
showing the psychological and artistic insight of the liturgical forms of our
services we may here fitly summarise its contents.
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In
the preliminaries the 'Alternative Order how the Psalter is ... to be read'
gives proper psalms for every Sunday in the year and for other important
occasions.
The reading through in course of the psalter each month is rightly
not interfered with, but the new Order avoids inappropriate psalms appearing on
Sunday, the only day on which most people go to church.
In the reprint of the
psalms at the end of the book, where, fortunately for church musicians, still
no change is made in the Coverdale translation, certain fiercer passages are
recommended for excision.
An 'Alternative Table of Lessons' is followed by an
'Alternative Calendar' which regularises many feasts customarily kept.
A note
gives the rules for referring feasts which fall at awkward times and many
alternatives to the old collects, epistles and gospels are given in their place
while the Appendix notes collects, epistles and gospels to be read on minor
festivals.
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The
results of recent liturgical work are to be found in the new versions of the
Occasional Services.
Here the printed page shows clearly by careful selection
of type-faces the structure of the service and the purpose of the ritual acts.
The baptismal and confirmation services, already widely used, are models of
good, clearly set out 'orders of the day', the headings showing to the
uninitiated exactly what is being done and where a new section begins.
The
Catechism remains unaltered.
In the Solemnisation of Matrimony the rather crude
diction of 1662 is replaced by more pleasing phrases and some small concessions
are made to the changed 'rights' of women.
Liturgically this service is a mere
prelude to the communion service and this is made clear by a new rubric noting
that the psalm is the introit and the Our Father starts the communion which is
provided with its proper collect, epistle and gospel.
The arrangement of
headings in the Visitation and Communion of the Sick is also excellently done.
In the Burial of the Dead a clear distinction is drawn between the service in
church and the committal at the graveside, the former alone being recommended
for use at memorial services.
The other occasional services, The Burial of a
Child, The Churching of Women and The Commination, do not as a rule affect the
church musician.
An Appendix, besides supplying references for the collects,
epistles and gospels of the lesser feasts, gives a translation of the medieval
offices of prime and compline which as yet have no musical settings other than
plainsong adaptations, it also contains An Exhortation which may take the place
of the Commination and A Devotion which is really the ancient priest's and
server's preparation for the communion service with the mutual confession
omitted:
it is directed to be said by priest and people in church and in an
audible voice, a direction which accords with the ideals of the reformers but
is not always followed.
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The
Alternative Orders for the Divine Offices and the Holy Communion are more
interesting.
Those of morning and evening prayer begin at the versicle 'O Lord,
open thou our lips', thus omitting the preparation and so making the first
versicle have some real point.
There is, indeed, little to be said in favour of
the practice of singing a hymn either during the entry of the choir or before
the preparation;
it spoils the penitential character of the opening and the
meaning of the first versicle, especially if the hymn is of the festal type.
Such a hymn might with some justification be sung if the preparation is omitted
as in the Alternative Order, though even this makes the first versicle
redundant.
[Unless, of course, the
psalmist's phrase 'open our lips' is meant to be taken not only not literally
but in a doubly Pickwickian sense, as it were.]
Processional and recessional hymns sung at the start and finish of a service
mar the ends of the service, the former ruining the penitential opening and the
latter forming an unnecessary ante-climax after the ending provided— the
psychologically just and artistically perfect act of the blessing.
The
psychological and liturgical point of a procession is that, as in the secular
world, it is an act of praise, witness or penitence in its own right.
The
liturgical Procession, like a workers' May Day procession or the procession to
the Whitehall Cenotaph on November llth, sets out to express something like
witness, prayer or praise:
it starts from the chancel, may or may not make a
'station' (e.g. at the Cenotaph to lay wreaths, or in church at a new window
which is to be dedicated) and then returns to the chancel for the next bit of
liturgical business.
In such a Procession the music is part of the processional
act, though not indispensable.
The 'processions' at both ends of morning and
evening prayer are not liturgical 'Processions' at all: they are merely the
orderly entry and exit of the minister and clerks before the service begins and
after it has ended.
After the Creed, the point as to who should sing which
response is still left a little vague, but the printing of Christ, have
mercy upon us in italics seems to indicate, as at the beginning of the
communion, that the priest sings the first and last Lord, have mercy upon
us, the method followed in the reprint of the responses issued by the
School of English Church Music.
It is made quite clear that matins and evensong
end at the third collect;
anything done after that, except apparently the
singing of the anthem, is at the discretion of the minister.
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The
structure of the Litany is made more clear. Ending essentially at the Our
Father, the Litany proper is followed by a section headed 'A Supplication'
consisting of a versicle and collect preceding an antiphon, here restored to
its correct form, with further versicles and responses leading to the two
ending prayers.
In the performance of the Litany the use of the procession on
special occasions adds much to the psychological effect.
Cantors may be used
instead of the minister for the first part before Our Father, the procession
beginning to move at the words: 'Remember not, Lord, our offences.'
A station
or halt is best made at the Our Father, by which time the choir should have
returned to the chancel steps.
The collect at this point had no Amen in
Cranmer; the Amen is better inserted here, as in the 1928 Book, so that the
following antiphon and psalm-verse retains its true antiphon structure.
According to tradition the cantors alone would intone 0 Lord, arise, the cantors and people continuing with help us, and deliver us, etc. Gloria
Patri might also be sung the first part by the cantors alone, the cantors
and people joining in at As it was.
The last 0 Lord, arise would
be sung like the first, or the whole might be sung by all as suggested by the
printing in the 1928 Book.
During the singing of the antiphon the clergy and
choir return to their stalls so that the remaining responses and collect are
sung in the chancel.
The 1928 Book makes it clear that when the Litany is used,
as it effectively can be, as the introduction to the communion, it ends before
Our Father.
Our Father is then said by the priest alone as usual and the
communion has begun.
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Much
is to be praised also in the printing of the canticles. Venite, which,
it is suggested, should end at verse 7, the rest being deemed irrelevant when
this psalm is used as an introduction to the psalms of the day, is provided
with a set of seasonal invitatories to be sung as antiphons before and after.
Their musical setting presents a small problem;
they might be pointed and sung
to the chant used for the psalm, or sung always to one special chant transposed
to fit as in the adaptation issued by the Church Music Society to the music of
Gibbons.
[A setting of the
Invitatories adapted from Orlando Gibbons, S.P.C.K., for the Church Music
Society.]
In Te Deum, always a problem when it
has to be chanted, four sections are clearly indicated, the last of which is
only a set of versicles and responses of a penitential type for the most part
and might reasonably be omitted on occasions of special thanksgiving. Verses 5
and 6, and 11, 12 and 15 at the ends of sections 1 and 2, being indented on the
printed page, need some special musical treatment like unisonal or
unaccompanied singing.
Four single chants would possibly bring out best this
structure.
Benedicite is similarly divided and should be treated
musically in accordance.
Psalm 51 is given as a further alternative to Te
Deum and the seasonal use of all three has much to be said for it.
In Benedictus a small refinement might be introduced, that of making verses 6 and 7 run thus,
as in the New Testament version:
The
small alteration makes the meaning clear.
In Quicunque vult, which is
seldom sung as directed in the 1662 Book on account of its supposedly
intransigent attitude,
[Perhaps we
are a little squeamish nowadays. Quicunque vult may be speaking sober
facts, and we are imparting the wrong meaning to the word saved which
occurs so frequently.
The laws of the universe operate whether we like them or
not.]
some improvement is effected by a revised
translation set out in four sections and the suggestion that the offending
verses may be omitted;
it may also be shortened by singing only two sections at
a time.
No musical setting, aside from a simple chant in the Cathedral
Prayer Book, has ever been forthcoming for this 'creed';
it is perhaps
unsuitable for singing, being rather a dissertation than a lyrical outpouring,
and would possibly gain by being read by the minister as the rubric suggests.
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Of
all the improvements made to the setting out of the services in the 1928
Revision, the Alternative Order for the Holy Communion is the most interesting.
The service is divided into sections as follows:
The Introduction |
Containing the matter as far as the collect for the day. |
The Ministry of the Word |
epistle, gospel and creed. |
The Offertory |
of alms and oblations. |
The Intercession |
Prayer for the Church. |
The Preparation |
confession, comfortable words and Prayer of Humble Access. |
The Consecration |
restored to its ancient length. |
The Communion |
as before. |
The Thanksgiving |
a thanksgiving prayer, Gloria in excelsis and blessing. |
This crystal clear arrangement is an
obvious improvement in clarity of intention, not congenial perhaps to the conservative
mind but actually a return to earlier use.
The Anaphora, which in the 1662 Book
is purposely split up, is tidied by placing the Prayer of Humble Access in
another place—where psychologically it clearly belongs— thus restoring the
great eucharistic Prayer of Consecration to its original imposing length and
following it immediately by a communal recitation of the Our Father.
If a
clear break is made before the canon as suggested, during which the celebrant
can arrange the Elements on the altar, the general tidying up process will be
made plain.
By splitting up the Anaphora as it did, the 1662 Book fused the two
ideas of consecration and communion, which in the present revision are
separated.
The actual Prayer of Consecration, by containing the invocation
clause to the Holy Spirit, ceases to identify the actual act of consecration
solely with the words of institution, the whole prayer becoming an act of
consecration, built up like a legal document according to the following
outline:
ALL GLORY BE TO THEE, Almighty God ...
for that thou didst give thine only Son ...
who ... took bread ...
WHEREFORE ... we ... do celebrate
...
HEAR US ... and . . . vouchsafe to bless ... us and these thy gifts ...
AND WE DESIRE thy ... goodness to
accept this ... sacrifice ...
and here we offer ... ourselves ...
and ... beseech thee to accept this our ... duty through Jesus Christ.
Amen
and Our Father are then said by all the people.
The canon is thus treated as
one continuous act starting with praise at Sursum corda, passing to the
actual consecration and ending with Our Father.'
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For
the kyries there are many alternatives;
a shortened version of the
Mosaic Decalogue with the customary responses, the New Testament summary of the
law with the response Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to
keep this law (for some reason one often hears this done with the wrong
response) and for weekdays the threefold kyrie in Greek or English,
which may also be said or sung on Sundays after the decalogue or summary.
The
creed may be omitted on ferial weekdays, the exhortations following being now
placed at the end so that they do not interfere with the setting out of the
liturgy, while the next rubric announces that the offertory sentences may be
sung by the priest or clerks.
They are, of course, usually said followed by a
hymn, a necessity at this part of the service which in the Greek Orthodox
Liturgy is made much of but is very short in our own Use.
It might be a welcome
change for the choir to sing an offertory sentence in place of or as well as
the hymn, though none of the sentences has any well known setting as yet.
Improvement is effected in the Prayer for the Church:
the section dealing with
the king is preceded by a clause 'We beseech thee also to lead all nations in
the way of righteousness and peace,' and two later sections are inserted, one a
prayer for work in the mission field and the other a thanksgiving for the work
of the saints.
A shortened version of the confession for use on ferial weekdays
precedes the comfortable words which are aptly followed by the Prayer of Humble
Access.
After the communion of the priest and people the thanksgiving starts
with a short explanatory exhortation, much in the Lutheran manner, which makes
a suitable beginning to the end of the service.
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It is
thus made clear that the service ends on a note of gratitude and giving of
thanks which some churches spoil by chanting a sentimental Nunc dimittis as the choir file out—surely a liturgical faux-pas;
any hymn and any organ
voluntary at this point should stress the note of thanksgiving on which the
service ends.
At the end of the service the 1928 Revision prints Benedictus
qui venit as an 'Anthem' to be sung after Sanctus with its Amen;
its
musical sotting when used with this alternative order should not be less
subdued than that of the preceding setting of Sanctus, especially as it
is not followed by the Prayer of Humble Access.
Anyone who has assisted at a
good musical or said service on the lines here laid down will need no
convincing of its efficacy and psychological tidiness.
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It is
surprising that the bishops of the Church of England have presumably never once
thought it worth while to compile or order a musical counterpart to the Prayer
Book.
Two private ventures have been put forward in the three hundred years
since 1549:
Merbecke's book, which became unusable within two years, and
Stainer's well meaning Cathedral Prayer Book of 1891, with its barred,
four-part version of Merbecke's service, its harmonised Lord's Prayer and its
accompanied comfortable words.
What is badly needed is an authoritative book
which would give simply and clearly the following particulars for the use of
the clergy and choirs in village and town churches, with suggestions as to
alternatives which might be used in cathedrals and similar establishments:
Three
settings might be given, the Sarum with and without accompaniment, a simple
harmonised version and some slightly more ornate setting with directions as to
the procession and station.
[The
first, for example, in the Fellowes-Nicholson edition—Four Settings of the
Litany (S.P.C.K.) which is somewhat more interesting and beautiful than the
bald setting found in the Cathedral Prayer Book.]
It may be well to state here that Cranmer's adaptation was not
always sung in unison, even in the sixteenth century.
Many harmonised
versions were made, simple and more complex, like the magnificent five-part
setting by Byrd;
[Which loses much of
its majesty when sung in any four-part adaptation.
The same may be said of the
Tallis 'festal' responses.]
they are available in the
Fellowes-Nicholson edition.
In sheer beauty the Sarum Litany, now published in
English, perhaps out-tops them all.
Such
a modern 'Prayer Book Noted' might well include a set of authoritative
gramophone recordings.
The production of such a book would be hard only in one
or two controversial matters like the pointing of the psalms.
The rest of the
matter is already in print but is awkwardly dispersed among many different
books.
Unlike the Cathedral Prayer Book this modern 'Prayer Book Noted'
would not seek to suggest cathedral customs for village churches or parish
church idioms in cathedrals;
each type will obviously solve its own problems in
its own way.
But the 'Prayer Book Noted' would at least show the principles
underlying choice of intonations, responses, hymns and psalms, which musical
parts of the service can be tackled by the congregation, what are the functions
of the choir in a given church, or how and when to use the organ.
Then clergy,
organists, even church councils will at least have some helpful authority to
consult when problems and differences arise.
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