The Forms and Orders of Western Liturgy from the Tenth to the Eighteenth Century: A Historical Introduction and Guide for Students and Musicians (Clarendon Paperbacks) [Paperback]

John Harper (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198162790 | ISBN-13: 978-0198162797 | Publication Date: October 31, 1991

An introduction to the principal forms and orders of Western liturgy between about 900 and 1700, this book explains their nature and basic historical origin, and presents in detail the contents and orders of principal services as well as additional and special forms of worship. This book emphasizes the mainstream of Western liturgy derived from the medieval Roman Rite as found in secular and monastic churches. After the Reformation it concentrates on the rites of the Roman Catholic church and the Church of England. Harper discusses the nature of liturgy and provides an historical summary and individual chapters on medieval churches and their communities, the Christian calendar, medieval liturgical books, the Psalms, the Office, the Mass, Processions and Additional Observances, Holy Week and Easter, the Tridentine Rite, and the English Book of Common Prayer. Harper concludes with two chapters which raise the problems of establishing the order of a liturgical service, and introduces selected medieval sources accessible in facsimile or edition. A select, annotated bibliography and a glossary of ecclesiastical and liturgical terms are included.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Should be in all music and liturgy libraries. It is a good reference work for music history students. Choirmasters who want to learn about the various forms and liturgists who are interested in knowing the derivation of present rites need this book....It is a mine of information, well organized and clearly presented."--Sacred Music

"The best study and guide on Medieval liturgy that I have found."--Carol C. Vaughn, Houston Graduate School of Theology

"Superb. Brings together perspective on materials about medieval liturgy that are not accessible in any other single volume."--Paul Westermeyer, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary

"An excellent introduction to a vast and complex subject! The appendices and glossary alone are worth the price of the book--but the rest is just as good."--David W. Music, Southwestern Baptist Seminary

"An excellent, well-written book appropriate for reference and as a text in theological seminaries."--W.L. Hooper, Southwest Baptist University

About the Author

John Harper is at University College of North Wales, Bangor.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 31, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198162790
• ISBN-13: 978-0198162797
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #790,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Useful Book on the Shelf..., June 27, 2008

By 

Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Forms and Orders of Western Liturgy from the Tenth to the Eighteenth Century: A Historical Introduction and Guide for Students and Musicians (Clarendon Paperbacks) (Paperback)

...for three classes of human beings: 1) musicians, including those who perform and those who listen knowingly, 2) historians of the Middle Ages and Early Modern, 3) Catholics interested in restoring the orders of worship and liturgy in Latin prior to the reforms of the 1960s. I cast my lot with classes 1&2, and I'm broadly sympathetic with those in class 3.

The volume contains a historical overview of the formation and evolution of liturgy in the Roman Catholic Church, concerning both parish and monastic practices. It also describes the liturgical calendar in careful detail, with the goal of re-attaching music and liturgy to their appropriate sacral contexts. Regional and national variations are examined, as are the most important manuscript sources for early liturgical material. The changes that followed the Tridentine Reforms are analyzed, as are the insular liturgical practices of the Church of England. Part IV focuses on the practical uses of published liturgical books for conducting liturgical events, with or without music; this is such a convenience for both liturgists and musicians that I consider it indispensible.

The volume also includes nearly 100 pages of appendices, addressing details of the liturgical calendar, the psalter and its incipits, the most common antiphonal texts with translations, and a various compendious glossary of words and phrases of importance to historians as well as musicians of the whole 2nd Millenium.

The author, John Harper, was a professor of music at the University of Wales, director of music at the Birmingham Metropolitan Cathedral, and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction, April 17, 2004

By 

Benjamin Andersen (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forms and Orders of Western Liturgy from the Tenth to the Eighteenth Century: A Historical Introduction and Guide for Students and Musicians (Clarendon Paperbacks) (Paperback)

Harper's book is the best in-print general introduction to medieval Western Liturgy. Harper does an excellent job of explaining complex liturgical matters in the simplest way possible, but quite accurately. The tables showing the contents of the rites are particularly useful, as are the bibliographies and the glossary. The book is of special interest to those who generally like to ignore what happened to the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960's and 1970's. And for Anglo-philes quite a bit of information is given about medieval English liturgy as well as the reformed English liturgies from 1549 to 1662. Overall, a fantastic introduction and an indispensable resource for those interested in traditional Western liturgies.