PREFACE.

xi

But Cathedrals have this requirement beyond most Parochial Churches, that the exigencies of daily worship have to be provided for. Accordingly the Psalter is now furnished with a greater variety of Chants. Not the least incon­venience, however, will arise to the holders of existing Editions, as the additional music is invariably distinguished by an asterisk. It will be seen that options, both of double and single chants, are given in each Morning and Evening. As a general rule, the double chant should be associated with the double chant, and the single with the single: yet, with few exceptional cases, both forms are so distributed that the one leads to the other, the double chant to the single, or conversely, the single to the double, without any improper sequence of keys.

Still further to promote the convenience of Cathedral and other Churches, all the musical forms may be had with, as well as without, the Plain Chant of the Daily Service. The Plain Chant, Song, or Tune adopted at the Reformation was not a new composition, but the Canto Fermo of earlier days, stripped of the florid phrases which had supervened in the lapse of ages, and properly adjusted to the Vernacular and Reformed Service. It was set in 1544 by Archbishop Cranmer himself to the Litany, the first part of the Prayer Book used in the vulgar tongue; and afterwards in 1550 to the Daily Prayer and the Office of the Holy Communion, by John Marbeck, organist of Windsor, most probably under the superintendence of the Archbishop. In the form in which it came out of their hands, it has, with some slight variations, and with such modifications as the subsequent revisions of the Liturgy rendered necessary, been retained in our Cathedral, Collegiate, and some other Churches to the present day; two periods alone excepted.

What is popularly known as Tallis's Service, is, strictly speaking, not a new use composed by Tallis; but the Archbishop's adaptation of the old one, with the harmonies of that great Cathedralist. adopted, for,( 1) contrary to modern usage, it exhibits the principal melody, or This arrangement I have not the Plain Song itself, in the Tenor:( 2) its harmonies are much too intricate for the great bulk of Cathedral worshippers: and( 3) it was never designed for daily and ordinary use. Even in Cathedrals which possess their full complement of choral resources, it is reserved for particular occasions only.

In the present work the Plain Song has been adopted in all its original purity, and, whenever practicable, thrown into the Chant form. Such a form will, it is hoped, greatly simplify its use, and help to correct an erroneous impression too often induced by the customary notation, that each note is to have its strict musical length assigned to it. An unnatural and unrhythmical utterance of it, which grates upon the ear, and serves rather to extinguish than foster devotional feeling, is the necessary result.

The harmonies allocated to the Plain Song are not, except in some rare in­stances, from Tallis: here abridgement would be mutilation: but chiefly from Byrde, and those traditionally used in St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey. They are presented in their uncorrupted form, and will recommend themselves no less by their beauty and simplicity, than by their antiquity. In preparing this portion of the work, I cheerfully acknowledge the valuable assistance which I have received from Mr. Goss. In availing myself of his judgment and expe­rience, I imposed one condition only, that the Plain Song should be scrupulously adhered to, even if it involved an occasional deviation from the modern uses of our Metropolitan Cathedrals.

Having now done my best to meet all the congregational requirements both