"From the Оctave of the Epiphany until the 1st Sunday in Lent"

Wow! I was just looking in Hymn melodies for the whole year from the Sarum Service books, to see if I could find anything about the Feast of the Presentation (Candlemas); that's today. (There are dedicated Office Hymns for this Feast day in Hymn melodies, listed under "Proper of Saints" as "The Feast of the Purification of the B. V. Mary (Feb. 2)"; see this post for those. Last year I posted the mass chant propers for the day.)

And I did post the Office hymns for Epiphany and its Octave - but imagine my surprise at finding, just below that, something I'd never noticed at all: a long section titled, "From the Оctave of the Epiphany until the 1st Sunday in Lent." There are 3 different hymns listed for every day of the week here - 21 different hymns all together! I've been completely oblivious to this. And it's going to take me quite a while to post these, too - but no time like the present, I guess.

From the Оctave of the Epiphany until the 1st Sunday in Lent:

On Sundays:

Mattins: Primo dierum omnium ... ... ... 15
Lauds: Eterne rerum Conditor ... ... ... 17
Evensong: Lucis Creator optime ... ... ... 19

On Mondays:

Mattins: Somno refeftis artubus... ... ... 15
Lauds: Splendor Paterne glorie... ... ... 17
Evensong: Immense celi Conditor... ... ... 20

On Tuesdays:

Mattins: Consors Paterni luminis... ... ... 15
Lauds: Ales diei nuncius ... ... ... 17
Evensong: Telluris ingens Conditor... ... ... 20

On Wednesdays:

Mattins: Rerum Creator optime... ... ... 15
Lauds: Nox et tenebre et nubila... ... ... 17
Evensong: Celi Deus sanctissime ... ... ... 20

On Thursdays:

Mattins: Nox atra rerum contegit... ... ... 15
Lauds: Lux ecce surgit áurea... ... ... 17
Evensong: Magne Deus potencie... ... ... 20

On Fridays:

Mattins: Tu Trinitatis Unitas... ... ... 15
Lauds: Eterna celi Gloria... ... ... 17
Evensong: Plasmator hominis, Deus... ... ... 20

On Saturdays

Mattins: Summe Deus clemencie ... ... ... 15
Lauds: Aurora iam spargit polum ... ... ... 17
Evensong: Deus, Creator omnium ... ... ... 21

Well, this certainly gives me something to do with these long winter nights.

Here are the five chant scores used during this period; it is only tunes 15, 17, 19, 20 and 21. I will, slowly, gather some information about these hymns and post what I find; it will be very interesting to see what patterns are involved, and where these hymns came from and why they were chosen. See you around Ash Wednesday....