Preface. THE following pages contain the Order of Daily Service, with the intonations, and the harmonies of the responses, as used in the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster. The plain-chant (or priest's part) is, with some slight deviations, as old as the Reformation; and the harmonies themselves bear evidence of considerable antiquity, although the exact period of their introduction into the Church is not known. They are here noted down from the traditional practice of the choir, and now for the first time printed. The earlier part of the Service, viz. the Sentences, the Exhortation, Confession, and Absolution, were not contained in the first Prayer-book ;* but that these portions were chanted from their first introduction into the Church may be gathered from the traditional practice of our cathedral choirs. The musical portion of the Service may be properly said to commence with the versicle, "O Lord, open Thou our * The first English Prayer-book was published by Whitchurch in 1549. The Sentences, Exhortation, &c. were added in 1552. |