The Sarum Office Hymns "From the Octave of Corpus Christi until Advent"

I have never posted the Sarum hymns for this long period in Ordinary Time!

So I'll do it now; again the listing is from Hymn Melodies for the Whole Year from the Sarum Service Books.

From the Octave of Corpus Christi until Advent :

Mattins:   Nocte surgentes    (Sundays ... ... ... 16;  Ferias ... ... ... 18)
Lauds:  Ecce iam noctis  (Sundays ... ... ... 16;  Ferias ... ... ... 18)
Evensong:  Daily except Sats. - Lucis Creator optime ... 19
                 On Saturdays - O Lux beata, Trinitas ... 22

Tunes 16, 18, and 22 are not used, according to Hymn Melodies, at any other time during the year - but  Lucis Creator optime, sung to tune 19, is also the Sunday Evensong hymn  "From the Оctave of the Epiphany until the 1st Sunday in Lent," the other part of "Ordinary Time" during the year.

As you can see, the formula is to sing two different hymns to the same hymn tunes at Lauds and Mattins depending on whether it's a Sunday or a Feria; here are chant scores 16 and 18:

The LLPB offers this mp3 file as an example of melody #16 above; it's listed on their "Weekday Propers Sung" page as the hymn for Sunday Morning Prayer, and is called "Father We Praise Thee."  The hymns Ecce iam noctis (for Lauds) and Nocte surgentes (for Mattins) seem to be closely related thematically, and the LLPB English version could possibly, I'd say, stand in for either one!  But melody #16 is used at Sundays Lauds during this period, so I'd suggest singing it as Ecce iam noctis.  Or, you could use the English words from TPL below, if you'd prefer.

Here are the English words on the mp3, from Oremus; to reinforce my point above, they write that it's "(Noc­te sur­gen­es vi­gil­e­mus om­nes); trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by in The Eng­lish Hymn­al (Lon­don: Ox­ford Un­i­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 165."

Father, we praise Thee, now the night is over;
Active and watchful, stand we all before Thee;
Singing, we offer, prayer and meditation;
Thus we adore Thee.

Monarch of all things, fit us for Thy mansions;
Banish our weakness, health and wholeness sending;
Bring us to Heaven, where Thy saints united
Joy without ending.

All holy Father, Son and equal Spirit,
Trinity blessèd, send us Thy salvation;
Thine is the glory, gleaming and resounding
Through all creation.

Here are the words to Ecce iam noctis in Latin and one English translation (not the same as the words on the recording); as you can see, it's the 11-11-11-5 meter, the Sapphic and Adonic one.

ECCE iam noctis tenuatur umbra lucis aurora rutilans coruscat; nisibus totis rogitemus omnes cunctipotentem,1	LO! the dim shadows of the night are waning; radiantly glowing, dawn of day returneth; fervent in spirit, to the mighty Father pray we devoutly.
Ut Deus, nostri miseratus, omnem pellat angorem, tribuat salutem, donet et nobis pietate patris regna polorum.2	So shall our Maker, of His great compassion, banish all sickness, kindly health bestowing; and may He grant us, of a Father's goodness, mansions in heaven.
Praestet hoc nobis Deitas beata Patris ac Nati, pariterque Sancti Spiritus, cuius resonat per omnem gloria mundum. Amen.	This He vouchsafe us, God for ever blessed, Father eternal, Son, and Holy Spirit, Whose is the glory which through all creation ever resoundeth. Amen.

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Latin from the Liturgia Horarum. Tr. by Rev. Maxwell Julius Blacker (1822-1888). Changes made by Pope Urban VIII in 1632 to the Roman Breviary: 1 ... / lux et aurorae rutilans coruscat:/ supplices rerum Dominum canora voce precemur. 2 Ut reos culpae miseratus omnem/ pellat angorem, tribuat salutem,/ donet et nobis sempiternae munera pacis.

Here's an mp3 of Ecce iam noctis from Liber Hymnarius; the tune used is just about the same as the Sarum chant tune #18 above, except for a few notes in the 3rd and 4th stanzas - so, you can sing this melody, using the English words for Father, We Praise Thee above, at Lauds on feria days other than Sunday.

TPL has this, about Ecce iam noctis:

Attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604), but some think it may be a later composition by Alcuin (732-804). In the current Liturgia Horarum it is used for Laudes for the Sundays of the second and fourth weeks of the Psalter during Ordinary Time. In the Roman Breviary it is used for Lauds on the fourth and subsequent Sundays after Pentecost until September 27 inclusive.

Here's something from TPL about Nocte Surgentes, the Mattins hymn, including the words in Latin and English; again, you can see that it's in the Sapphic and Adonic, 11-11-11-5, meter.  Sing it to tune #16 as above on Sundays, or to tune #18 on ferias other than Sunday.  The English words below are metrical, and do fit the melody.

This hymn is usually attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604), though some ascribe the hymn to Alcuin. In the Roman Breviary this hymn is used at Sunday Matins on the fourth and subsequent Sundays after Pentecost through September 27. In the Liturgia Horarum it is used for the Office of the Readings on Tuesdays during the second and fourth weeks of the Psalter during Ordinary Time.

NOCTE surgentes vigilemus omnes, semper in psalmis meditemur atque viribus totis Domino canamus dulciter hymnos,	NOW from the slumbers of the night arising, chant we the holy psalmody of David, hymns to our Master, with a voice concordant, sweetly intoning.
Ut, pio regi pariter canentes, cum suis sanctis mereamur aulam ingredi caeli, simul et beatam ducere vitam.	So may out Monarch pitifully hear us, that we may merit with His Saints to enter mansions eternal, there withal possessing joy beatific.
Praestet hoc nobis Deitas beata Patris ac Nati, pariterque Sancti Spiritus, cuius resonat per omnem gloria mundum. Amen.	This be our portion, God forever blessed, Father eternal, Son, and Holy Spirit, Whose i s the glory, which through all creation ever resoundeth. Amen.

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Here's an mp3 of Nocte Surgentes, from Liber Hymnarius (see my post here about this new site); and here's their page about the hymn.  This is not the same tune as either #16 or #18 above, though.


And here are the two different Vespers melodies, #19 and 22:

Here again is the mp3 from the LLPB of Lucis Creator optime, sung to tune #19;  it's listed on the LLPB "Weekday Propers Sung" page as the hymn for Sunday Vespers (listed above as "daily except Saturday").  The cantor is using the English translation by J. M. Neale (below). 

TPL says this about the hymn, and includes the words below in Latin and English:

Attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604), this hymn is used in the Roman Breviary at Vespers for Sundays after Epiphany and Sundays after Pentecost. In the Liturgia Horarum it is used for Sunday evening Vespers for Ordinary time for the first and third weeks of the Psalter.

LUCIS Creator optime lucem dierum proferens, primordiis lucis novae, mundi parans originem:	O BLEST Creator of the light, Who mak'st the day with radiance bright, and o'er the forming world didst call the light from chaos first of all;
Qui mane iunctum vesperi diem vocari praecipis: tetrum chaos illabitur,1 audi preces cum fletibus.	Whose wisdom joined in meet array the morn and eve, and named them Day: night comes with all its darkling fears; regard Thy people's prayers and tears.
Ne mens gravata crimine, vitae sit exsul munere, dum nil perenne cogitat, seseque culpis illigat.	Lest, sunk in sin, and whelmed with strife, they lose the gift of endless life; while thinking but the thoughts of time, they weave new chains of woe and crime.
Caeleste pulset ostium:2 vitale tollat praemium: vitemus omne noxium: purgemus omne pessimum.	But grant them grace that they may strain the heavenly gate and prize to gain: each harmful lure aside to cast, and purge away each error past.
Praesta, Pater piissime, Patrique compar Unice, cum Spiritu Paraclito regnans per omne saeculum. Amen.	O Father, that we ask be done, through Jesus Christ, Thine only Son; Who, with the Holy Ghost and Thee, doth live and reign eternally. Amen.

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From the Roman Breviary, translation by J. M. Neale (1818-1866). Changes made by Pope Urban VIII in 1632 to the Roman Breviary: 1 illabitur tetrum chaos, 2 The Liturgia Horarum has: Caelorum pulset intimum.

Here is LLPB 's  mp3 (in English) of O Lux Beata Trinitas ("O Trinity of Blessed Light") sung to melody #22; it's quite beautiful, and uses the J.M. Neale translation below (with a different doxology).

This is a well-known tune any case, for a well-known hym.  TPL offers this about it:

This hymn is ascribed to St. Ambrose (340-397) and is used for Sunday Vespers for the second and fourth weeks of the Psalter in the Liturgy of the Hours. The hymn appears in the Roman Breviary under the title of Iam sol recedit igneus, where it is the Vespers hymn for the ferial office on Saturdays and Trinity Sunday.

O LUX beata Trinitas, et principalis Unitas, iam sol recedit igneus, infunde lumen cordibus.	O TRINITY of blessed Light, O Unity of sovereign might, as now the fiery sun departs, shed Thou Thy beams within our hearts.
Te mane laudum carmine, te deprecemur vespere: te nostra supplex gloria per cuncta laudet saecula.	To Thee our morning song of praise, to Thee our evening prayer we raise; Thee may our glory evermore in lowly reverence adore.
Deo Patri sit gloria, eiusque soli Filio, cum Spiritu Paraclito, et nunc, et in perpetuum.	All laud to God the Father be; all praise, Eternal Son, to Thee; all glory, as is ever meet, to God the Holy Paraclete.

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From the Liturgia Horarum. Translation by J. M. Neale (1818-1866).

This is an mp3 of O Lux beata, Trinitas from Liber Hymnarius; again, the tune used is very similar to the Sarum chant tune, #22, above, with some differences in various flourishes. 

Interesting to me that this hymn is sung on Saturdays at Vespers!  Of course, Saturday Vespers is First Vespers of Sunday, so it does make sense.

So, there you have the hymnody for the Hours in the Sarum Use,  for this long stretch between June and November!   I didn't realize I hadn't posted this before - and there are still some missing items in my references.  I'm missing the hymnody for the Little Hours, for instance - and never did get back to that massive 21-count section of hymns for the period between Epiphany and Lent. I'll get there, eventually, though.

I'm excited about the Liber Hymnarius website!   It looks like it aims to be a complete hymn-tune reference for the Hours, which would be fantastic to have at one site.