{"id":49820,"date":"2019-11-08T15:04:15","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T21:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=49820"},"modified":"2019-11-14T12:05:30","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T18:05:30","slug":"office-hymns-will-the-u-s-bishops-advance-vatican-iis-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/08\/office-hymns-will-the-u-s-bishops-advance-vatican-iis-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Office Hymns: Will the U.S. Bishops Advance Vatican II’s Vision?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This piece first appeared as an AMEN CORNER in the May, 2015 issue of <\/em>Worship<\/a>. This issue is timely because the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is slated to approve the ICEL hymn translations discussed below<\/a> at their meeting next week. Since the publication of this piece, Pope Francis issued <\/em>motu proprio Magnum principium, which decentralizes some of <\/em>Liturgiam authenticum’s procedures and places greater emphasis on the character of the receptor vernacular language. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently a draft of some translations of Latin office hymns\nin English meter prepared by the International Commission on English in the\nLiturgy (ICEL) came to me by a circuitous route. Presumably these new hymn\ntexts, after going through the usual consultation process between ICEL, the\nHoly See, and bishops\u2019 conferences, will be considered by English-speaking\nbishops\u2019 conferences for possible approval and incorporation into a revised translation\nof the Liturgy of the Hours.<\/em> The\ncurrent English-language Liturgy of the\nHours<\/em> includes a wide variety of English hymns, most of which are not based\non a Latin original. This ongoing ICEL project, if completed, would provide\nEnglish translations of every Latin hymn text in the reformed office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most striking feature of the draft is the successful\nconveyance of most all the content of the Latin original in the English\nmetrical text. The language is contemporary and elevated but not antiquated or\nexotic. The English verse does not rhyme consistently, but the translators have\nnicely allowed rhymes to arise here and there. The meter of the English hymn is\nconsistently that of its Latin counterpart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My examination of these draft texts, along with my ongoing\nwork of editing a large new hymnal for daily use in my monastic community, has\ngiven me reason to think deeply about English office hymns. The issue is shot\nthrough with all sorts of challenges and necessarily involves considerations of\necclesiology, inculturation, liturgical aesthetics, ecumenism, hermeneutics (or\nis it just politics?) of liturgical reform, and the promotion of a true\nliturgical spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is well known that the 2001 Roman instruction Liturgiam authenticam<\/em> [LA] called for\nvernacular translations which hew more closely in content and form to the Latin\noriginal found in the editiones typicae<\/em>\n(\u201cofficial [typical] editions\u201d). In the English-speaking world, the directives\nof LA were first implemented in the new English missal that came into use on\nthe First Sunday of Advent 2011. LA also allows for the creation and use of\noriginal texts not based on Latin\u2014see nos. 106\u2013108\u2014but none was commissioned or\ncrafted for the new English missal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is one thing to translate missal texts, but it is quite\nanother to translate Latin office hymns. Unlike the texts of the missal (except\nthe very few metrical hymns in the missal, such as Pange Lingua),<\/em> office hymns are in meter\u2014that is, they employ a\nspecific and regularly recurring number of stress patterns, syllables per line,\nand lines per strophe. An example is \u201cPraise God from whom all blessings flow,\u201d\nwhich has eight syllables per line and four lines per strophe, with an iambic\nstress falling on every other syllable. This particular meter of 8888, called\nLong Meter in English, is by far the most common in Latin office hymns. It is\nworth noting that our English example rhymes (the pattern is aabb), which is\ntypical of English hymnody, but is surprisingly absent in the inherited corpus\nof Latin office hymns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a formidable challenge for the translator to make the\ncontent of the Latin original fit gracefully into the constraints of a given meter,\nespecially if the English is to rhyme. One can only admire the great\nnineteenth-century hymn translators such as John Mason Neale, Catherine\nWinkworth, Edward Caswall, and John Henry Newman. Check the index of any major\nhymnal of any denomination and you will readily find examples of their\naccomplishments. (You will also find that their archaic language has been\nrevised, and hymnals in the last half-century or so take differing approaches to\nthis.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For good reason Liturgiam\nauthenticam<\/em> provides for broad flexibility regarding metrical hymns. It\ndoes not assume that every Latin hymn text will be translated integrally into\nthe vernacular, nor is it assumed that vernacular hymn translations based on\nLatin will be the primary or exclusive metrical texts used in the vernacular liturgy.\nLA no. 61 suggests (it is \u201cadvantageous\u201d) that Latin hymn texts be printed in\nvernacular editions in Latin as an addition<\/em>\nto texts composed originally in vernacular. It advises (\u201cit would be best\u201d)\nthat original vernacular hymn texts draw upon Scripture and the liturgical\npatrimony. In this LA follows the liturgy constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium,<\/em> which says at no. 121 that composers should\nuse texts \u201cdrawn chiefly from holy scripture and from liturgical sources.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stanislaus Campbell\u2019s masterful account of the reform of the\noffice, From Breviary to Liturgy of the\nHours: The Structural Reform of the Roman Office, 1964\u20131971 <\/em>(Michael\nGlazier Books, 1995), shows that the Consilium<\/em>\nwhich carried out the liturgical reform had in mind a similarly flexible\napproach to hymns. Early in the process, Group 7 (the group working on office\nhymns) compiled a collection of 108 Latin office hymns for use in liturgical\nseasons. By 1966, Group 9 (the group working on the office as a whole) already \u201cquestioned\nthe appropriateness of many of these hymns in vernacular translation,\u201d while\nadmitting that some \u201ccould also be pleasing in vernacular translation.\u201d Group 9\nagreed that \u201cfor the Office in the vernacular languages SC 38 should prevail\nand episcopal conferences should allow both the adaptation of the Latin hymns\nand the creation of new hymns\u201d (Campbell, 178). Note that no. 38 belongs to\nparagraphs 37\u201340 of SC which treat adaptation of the liturgy to local cultures\nand traditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Group 9\u2019s position was integrated into the 1971 General Instruction of the Liturgy of the\nHours<\/em> [GILOH], which says at no. 178 that bishops\u2019 conferences \u201cmay adapt\nthe Latin hymns to suit the character of their own language and introduce fresh\ncompositions, provided these are in complete harmony with the spirit of the hour,\nseason, or feast.\u201d The GILOH foresees that bishops both adapt Latin sources and\napprove original vernacular texts of office hymns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am of two minds about all this. By monastic formation and spiritual\ntemperament I am drawn to liturgical stability and order. When I see the nearly\n300 Latin office hymns in the post-conciliar Liber Hymnarius,<\/em> all carefully assigned to their seasons and days and\nfeasts, with their texts restored (\u201cressourcement\u201d)<\/em>\nand revised (\u201caggiornamento\u201d)<\/em> as\ncalled for in SC 93, I am drawn to this magnificent corpus. When I am away from\nthe monastery and praying the office alone, I appreciate praying and singing\nthese Latin hymns. I see the value of having these texts translated in toto<\/em> so that our English-language\noffice reflect the content and structure of the reformed Latin Roman office. I\nreadily see the value of ICEL\u2019s work in translating anew every Latin office\nhymn into English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I also see why both GILOH and LA allow for, and even\nseem to assume, that bishops\u2019 conferences will approve other vernacular hymn\ntexts from a variety of sources. This issue looms especially large for the\nEnglish-speaking churches, where we have available to us a particularly\nimpressive body of historic hymn texts both original and based on Latin (or\nGerman or other vernaculars). ICEL\u2019s limited task is to provide translations\nfrom Latin, but the task of bishops\u2019 conferences, in deciding which texts\u2014from\nICEL or elsewhere\u2014to accept and approve for use in the liturgy, is by nature\nbroader. To explore the several issues bishops\u2019 conferences will have to\nexamine is no criticism of ICEL\u2019s impressive work-in-progress on office\nhymns\u2014ICEL is doing what it was asked to do by the bishops\u2019 conferences.\nPrincipal among these issues is the overriding concern of the Second Vatican\nCouncil that the liturgy be a living and dynamic source of Christian piety for\nthe peoples of various regions and cultures. It is highly interesting to put\nICEL\u2019s recent work alongside other translations from our treasury of\nEnglish-language hymnody\u2014and in fairness, we should remember that the texts\nfrom ICEL are drafts that might undergo further refinement. Consider the first strophe\nof the hymn Veni, redemptor gentium,<\/em>\nnow assigned to the Office of Readings in late Advent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veni, redemptor gentium,<\/em>
ostende partum Virginis;<\/em>
miretur omne s\u00e6culum:<\/em>
talis decet partus Deum.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The versification of William Reynolds (1812\u20131876) is\nwell-known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Savior of the nations, come!
Virgin\u2019s Son, make here your home.
Marvel now, both heaven and earth,
that the Lord chose such a birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The meter of the text is 7777. Customarily it is paired with\nthe tune NUN KOMM, DER HEIDEN HEILAND, a tune first found in a Lutheran hymnal\nin 1524 and sung by Catholics and Protestants alike ever since the sixteenth\ncentury. Like its Latin original, ICEL\u2019s translation of this same strophe is in\n8888 meter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redeemer of the nations, come;
reveal yourself by Virgin birth.
Let every age with wonder know
that such a birth befits our God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second example is the morning hymn of Advent, Vox clara ecce intonat.<\/em> (Yes, the\npost-LA translation commission got its name from this Advent hymn.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vox clara ecce intonat,<\/em>
obscura qu\u00e6que increpat:<\/em>
procul fugentur somnia;<\/em>
ab \u00e6thre Christus promicat.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caswall\u2019s well-known version in 8787 meter runs like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding,
\u201cChrist is nigh,\u201d it seems to say;
\u201cCast away the works of darkness,
O ye children of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is most often paired with the tune MERTON. In more recent\ntimes, Anthony G. Petti has offered this recasting of Caswall, preserving his\n8787 meter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hear the herald voice resounding:
\u201cChrist is near,\u201d it seems to say,
\u201ccast away the dreams of darkness,
welcome Christ, the light of day!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is ICEL\u2019s draft, which again is in 8888 meter like the\nLatin original:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behold! a voice resounding, clear,
rebuking hidden deeds and fears:
\u201cThe dreams that linger, put to flight,
for Christ shines forth from heaven\u2019s height.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a third example of ICEL\u2019s work, a version of Corde natus ex Parentis:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corde natus ex Parentis<\/em>
ante mundi exordium,<\/em>
Alpha et Omega vocatus,<\/em>
ipse fons et clausula<\/em>
omnium qu\u00e6 sunt, fuerunt<\/em>
qu\u00e6que post futura sunt.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Note that there are elisions of vowels so that i-e is one\nsyllable in the second line and, similarly, with a-e in the third line.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the Father\u2019s heart begotten
ere the dawning of the world,
he is Alpha and Omega
ancient source and final end
of all things that are and have been,
and that future years shall see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reader probably knows this hymn in John Mason Neale\u2019s\nfine version:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the Father\u2019s love begotten
ere the world began to be,
he is Alpha and Omega,
he the source, the ending he,
of the things that are, that have been,
and that future years shall see,
evermore and evermore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The additional final line in Neale\u2019s version allows it to be\nsung to the well-known medieval tune DIVINUM MYSTERIUM. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope that readers can appreciate the fine quality of these\nICEL versifications, and those who compare them with the Latin original will be\nimpressed by their accuracy. Readers may also find the ICEL texts, although\npoetic in spirit, rather prosaic and uninspiring. One may wonder whether\nregular rhyming, though not very common in Latin hymnody, is not part of the\nculture of English-language hymnody. And I am probably not alone in being\ndisturbed at the prospect of bypassing the existing treasury of texts that have\nso long been an important part of English-speaking Christian culture,\necumenically conceived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue of meter is vexing. Putting all the Latin Long Meter hymns into English Long Meter allows the vernacular text to be sung to the original chant melody. But doing so with ferocious consistency has its price, for some Latin tunes work better in English than others. Latin more readily allows for note groups on weak syllables than does English, which is why the English chant in the new missal is adapted the way it is. (See the explanation of all this in Chants of the Roman Missal: Study Edition,<\/a><\/em> co-published by ICEL and Liturgical Press.) I would hesitate to shift note groups around too arbitrarily in historic chant melodies for the sake of English accents. But when I consider how much the Latin chant hymn melodies vary in the manuscript tradition, and what best allows for English texts to be sung, I am inclined to step back from the thoroughly modern musicological \u201coriginal is better\u201d mind-set and make judicious melodic adjustments. I grant that in the formulaic nature of metrical hymnody, text and tune do not necessarily match up equally well in every strophe of a given hymn, and that some people have been quite comfortable aesthetically with mismatch\u2014see hymn no. 19 in the venerable Hymnal 1982<\/em> for complete preservation of an original melody with no consultation of English accents. But all in all, I think some high-minded and careful compromise is called for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The larger problem with the meter of the new ICEL texts arises when they are sung to non-chant tunes, which in many communities would probably be most of the time. Long Meter predominates in the Latin corpus, but not in English-language hymnody. For English-speaking Christians, exclusive use of ICEL\u2019s office hymns would mean that one portion of our body of existing traditional hymn tunes would be over-used, but many of the other most important tunes would go unused. The 1986 edition of The New English Hymnal<\/em> from England, for example, has roughly the metrical distribution one would expect: <\/p>\n\n\n\n