Tones for the Martyrology on Friday

A commenter asked the other day about the chant for the solemn chanting of the Martyrology on the Vigil of the Nativity.

The chant is is given in the introductory pages of the Martyrologium:


The photograph above (click on it to expand) is from the 1914 editio typica. One can note (pun intended) the cadence as found in the old chant for the Evangelist of Passion. In later editions of the Martyrology this was simplified to match the revised tone in the Passion books.

Alternatively, that wonderful collection of chants by Dom Reiser, Laudes Festivae, gives the first part nicely printed out. The tone can be found on page 27 of the pdf file, page 1 of the actual publication. The Martyrology letter is 'p' so the moon to be announced Luna undevicesima.

Laudes Festivae also has some rather nice tones for the lessons of Christmass Mattins. They are given, not surprisingly, in the form found in the Monastic Breviary but a little cutting and pasting can bring them into a suitable format for the Roman rite (if one is going to do this better do the cutting and pasting now). There are also two very attractive settings of the Gospels for the first and third Masses!