I wouldn't Dare
Although I partake of reviews enthusiastically, some might even say religiously, this ancient holy book actually is a product outside of that mindset, and that is how I, a complete nobody, come to be the first to 'review' it on Amazon, even though there are thousands and thousands in use.<br /><br />Well, fools rush in. Most sensible people would as soon review the Almighty. What criteria might possibly apply? Did it 'last' long? Oh yes. Did it meet one's expectations? Is it complete? Most certainly! All of the sung parts of the year's grand rotation of the traditional Catholic liturgy is here, from Advent to the Passion, and with the apurtinent rubrics, when to bow, when to genuflect, when to offer incense. Everything, every dominus vobiscum and introit and prayer. And you will find the Liber Usualis, rarely new as offered here, but neatly stacked by the organ, or sometimes scattered in the pews, scuffed and worn by the sweaty, sooty, weary hands of men singing in scholas, raising their voices in choir lofts both humble and high, in the Congo, in Chicago, Guadalajara, Madrid, Manilla, and someday on the Moon and then even beyond, each worn copy with its asperges of the appropriate vernacular, otherwise in the solemn, dead language in which we reposit our Faith and put to haunting music rendered in those little square notes from the olden times. The Liber Usualis is a book of music for only one Listener. He must think it five star, the way it lasts, even through that disasterous conflagration called Vatican II.
Rating: 5 stars