In a Few Words

In adiutorium - Liturgy of the Hours Music in Czech Language

In adiutorium project attempts to provide musical settings necessary for fully chanted Liturgy of the Hours in the official Czech translation. Currently all antiphons and short responsories are set to music and revisions are in process. The ultimate goal is publishing a complete Czech antiphonal.

Contents of the Website

  • Noty ke stažení (Sheet music)
  • Blog - blog with articles concerning the work on the project as well as Divine Office in general
  • Knihy (Books) - list of all books containing any piece of Divine Office chant in Czech language published since the liturgical reform.
  • Odkazy (Links) - links to websites containing some Divine Office chants, not only Czech, but also Latin, German, English, ...
  • Místa (Places) - places in the Czech Republic, where chanted Liturgy of the Hours may be experienced

This website is only available in Czech language, as its content is mostly language-specific and of little value for readers of other nationalities. In case of interest simply contact me and I will be happy to provide you any information you may need.

English Content

Despite of what has been said above, there are a few tiny bits of content in English:

You may also enjoy some of the author's other projects:

Motivation

Chant is an integral part of the Roman Divine Office. Purpose and meaning of many of its elements is not really obvious, unless chanted. Ideal form of the Divine Office is in Latin and with the traditional tunes of the Gregorian chant. Simple chants of recitative nature (first of all psalms) alternate with more ornate ones (hymns, antiphons, responsories), building together a beautiful harmonic whole.

Current liturgical law also takes Liturgy of the Hours chanted in the vernacular in account (cf. IGLH 275). In present day praying the Liturgy of the Hours is not only widespread among laymen, but also most of the clergy and religious, who are obliged to persolve it, make use of the concession to pray it in the vernacular. It is thus most desirable to be able to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours in its full form - with chant - also in the vernacular. Until recently, resources for chanted Liturgy of the Hours in Czech have been limited mostly to second Vespers of Sundays, solemnities and important feasts. Since 2010, In adiutorium project has been striving to create a complete Czech antiphonal, making a fully chanted Liturgy of the Hours possible, from Office of Readings to Compline, 365 days a year.

Project Status

In adiutorium is a non-official, personal project. It doesn't have any approval of the ecclesiastical authorities and it is questionable if it ever will, because of the obvious lack of artistic qualities.

Licenses and Sources

The scores provided here are licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) license. (See the bottom of the last page of each sheet / booklet: there are a few pieces with a different license - mostly because I'm not their author.)

Complete source codes of the music are at github. Sources of the website are available at bitbucket.

Author

Jakub Pavlík

Jakub Pavlík. 1987 born in Kladno, Czech Republic.

2007-2014 studied Catholic theology at Charles University, Prague;
2009/10 attempted to enter the Nový Dvůr Trappist monastery (since 2011 abbey).
Since 2013 works as software developer. The In adiutorium project may be regarded as a sort of synthesis of this all.

Contact

e-mail: jkb.pavlik@gmail.com (English, German or Latin can safely be used for communication)