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Ambrosian chant

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Ambrosian chant (also known as Milanese chant) is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Ambrosian rite of the Roman Catholic Church, distinct from the more widely known Gregorian chant. It is primarily associated with the Archdiocese of Milan, and named after St. Ambrose much as Gregorian chant is named after Gregory the Great. It is the only surviving plainchant tradition besides the Gregorian to maintain the official sanction of the Roman Catholic Church.

History

The history of Milan as a centre for religious music goes back to St. Ambrose, who is not known to have composed any of the Ambrosian chant repertory, much as Gregory the Great is not known to have composed any Gregorian chant. However, during his 4th-century tenure as bishop of Milan, he is credited with introducing hymnody from the Eastern Church to the West. Ambrose composed original hymns as well, four of which still survive, along with music that may not have changed too much from the original melodies.

Two methods of singing psalms or other chants are responsorial and antiphonal. In responsorial singing, the soloist (or choir) sings a series of verses, each one followed by a response from the choir (or congregation). In antiphonal singing, the verses are sung alternately by soloist and choir, or by choir and congregation.[1] In the Western Church, formerly the responsorial method seems to have first been used alone, the antiphonal method was introduced by St. Ambrose.[2]

Over time, the Milanese liturgy developed into the Ambrosian rite, which shares more in common with the Gallican and Mozarabic rites than with the Roman. Ambrosian chant developed to meet the particular needs of the Ambrosian liturgy. Although the Ambrosian rite is liturgically related to other rites and Ambrosian chant is musically related to other plainchant traditions, different categories of chant, different chant texts, and different musical styles make Ambrosian chant a distinct musical repertory. By the 8th century, this chant was attested to be normative across northern Italy, perhaps reaching into southern Italy as well.

Between the 8th and 13th centuries, however, the Carolingian chant commissioned by Charlemagne developed into what we now know as Gregorian chant, which began to influence and eventually replace most of the other Western plainchant traditions. By the 12th century, the Mozarabic, Gallican, Celtic, Old Roman, and Beneventan chant traditions had all been effectively superseded by Gregorian chant. Ambrosian chant alone survived, despite the efforts of several Popes over a period of several centuries to establish Gregorian hegemony. A chronicle by the Milanese historian Landolphus from around the year 1000 recounts a legend that two Sacramentaries, one Gregorian and one Ambrosian, were placed on an altar to see which chant had divine acceptance; miraculously, both books opened simultaneously, showing both were equally acceptable.

Ambrosian chant did not wholly escape Gregorian influence. The earliest 8th-century fragments, and the more complete chantbooks from the 11th and 12th centuries that preserve the first recorded musical notation, show marked differences between the Gregorian and Ambrosian repertories. Later additions to the Ambrosian repertory, whose style differs from the earlier chants, may reflect Gregorian influence. Although St. Charles Borromeo fought to keep the Ambrosian rite intact during Spanish occupation, a contemporary edition of Ambrosian chant, published by Perego in 1622, attempts to categorize the Ambrosian chants into the eight Gregorian modes, which is not generally accepted as an accurate reflection of the actual musical practice of the time.

Ambrosian chant has survived to the present day, although its use is now limited primarily to the greater part of the Archdiocese of Milan and environs, parts of Lombardy, and parts of the Swiss Diocese of Lugano. Most recently, it survived the changes to the liturgy established by Vatican II, in part due to the prior tenure of Pope Paul VI as Archbishop of Milan.

General characteristics

Ambrosian chant is largely defined by its role in the liturgy of the Ambrosian rite, which is more closely related to the northern "Gallic" liturgies such as the Gallican rite and the Mozarabic rite than the Roman rite. Musically, however, Ambrosian chant is closely related to the Gregorian and Old Roman chant traditions. Many chants are common to all three, with musical variation.

Like all plainchant, Ambrosian chant is monophonic and a cappella. In accordance with Roman Catholic tradition, it is primarily intended to be sung by males, and many Ambrosian chants specify who is to sing them, using phrases such as cum Pueris (by a boys' choir) and a Subdiaconis (by the subdeacons).

Stylistically, the Ambrosian chant repertoire is not generally as musically uniform as the Gregorian. Ambrosian chants are more varied in length, ambitus, and structure. Even within individual categories of chant, Ambrosian chants vary from short and formulaic to prolix and melismatic, and may be freely composed or show significant internal melodic structure. Its most distinctive feature compared with other plainchant repertories is a significantly higher amount of stepwise motion, which gives Ambrosian melodies a smoother, almost undulating feel. In manuscripts with musical notation, the neume called the climacus dominates, contributing to the stepwise motion. More ornamental neumes such as the quilisma are nearly absent from the notated scores, although it is unclear whether this reflects actual performance practice, or is simply a consequence of the relatively late musical transcription.

The Gregorian system of modes does not apply to Ambrosian chant. Although there are no B♭notes indicated in the musical notation, it seems likely that they were understood, based on Guido d'Arezzo's description of the "more perdulcis Ambrosii."

Nearly all of the texts used in Ambrosian chant are biblical prose, not metrical poetry, despite Ambrose having introduced Eastern hymnody to the West. Ambrosian chant serves two main functions in the Ambrosian liturgy: to provide music for the chanting of the Psalms in the monastic Offices, and to cover various actions in the celebration of the Mass.

Chants of the Office

The Office chants of the Ambrosian repertoire are still largely unresearched, so only preliminary evaluations have been made.

The minor hours have little of musical interest: some hymns, and the simplest of reciting tones only. The main chants of the Office are those of Matins, Vespers and the Vigils.

The Psalms are sung at Matins and Vespers in a rotating schedule so that all 150 Psalms are chanted every two weeks. The Psalms are each sung to a psalm tone, with a simple antiphon between each verse. The system of psalm tones in Ambrosian chant differs in several respects from the Gregorian system of psalm tones. In the Gregorian system, psalm tones are based on the mode of the antiphon. Ambrosian chants, including psalm antiphons, do not conform to the Gregorian system of modes. Each Ambrosian psalm antiphon belongs to one of four different series depending on its final pitch. Within each series, there are several possible psalm tones corresponding to the predominant pitch of the antiphon, which may or may not correspond to the "dominant" pitch of Gregorian modes. Finally, each psalm tone is given a cadential formula that lets the tone segue smoothly back into the antiphon. This system results in a much larger number of possible psalm tones in Ambrosian chant than exists in Gregorian chant. Structurally, psalm tones in Ambrosian chant consist of an incipit, a recitation formula, and a cadence, lacking the mediant flex found in Gregorian psalm tones.

Other Vespers chants include the Psallendae and the Antiphonae in choro. Psallendae comprise the largest category of Ambrosian Office chants. Two Psallendae, similar to the Marian antiphons of Gregorian chant, are performed on the more solemn Vespers, to cover processions. They conclude with one of several recitation tones that segue into the Gloria Patri. Antiphonae in choro are similar in style, but have no psalm or verse.

Responsoria occur in both Matins and Vespers. Their names often identify who is to sing them: the boys' choir, the deacon, the subdeacons, and so on. A Responsorium usually consists of a refrain called a respond, a verse, and a repetition of an expanded part of the respond. These expansions contain some of the longest melismas of the Ambrosian chant repertoire, which often contain complex repeat structures.

Vespers begin with a chant called the Lucernarium and end with the Completorium. The word Lucernarium hearkens back to the original function of Vespers as a time of lighting lamps, and the texts of Lucernaria usually contain some reference to light, such as Quoniam tu illuminas, Paravi lucernam, and Dominus illuminatio. Stylistically, Lucernaria and Completaria vary. Some are proper, specific to certain feasts, while others are ordinary and can be used throughout the year. They range from highly elaborate chants to simple reciting tones. There are relatively few Lucernaria and Completaria; four Completaria are used for all but three days of the year.

Chants of the Mass

The Mass is the Christian celebration of the Eucharist. Plainchant occurs prominently in the Mass for several reasons: to communally affirm the faith, to expand on the scriptural lessons, and to accompany certain actions. The chants of the Mass divide into the ordinary, whose texts are invariable, and the proper, whose texts change depending on the feast. There are several differences between the Ambrosian rite and the Roman rite, which are reflected in the Ambrosian and Gregorian chant traditions.

Ordinary chants of the Mass

The ordinary chants consist of the Laus Missa or Gloria, the Symbolum, and the Sanctus. The Symbolum corresponds to the Credo in the Roman rite. Unlike Gregorian chant, there is no Agnus Dei nor Ite missa est, and the Kyrie does not exist as a separate category of chant.

Only a small number of each of these ordinary chants exist: four Gloria melodies, four Sanctus melodies, and just one melody for the Symbolum. The Symbolum melody is quite simple, just a slightly ornamented reciting tone. Of the four Gloria melodies, one is simple like the Symbolum melody, one is an expanded version of the simple melody, and one is a freely composed syllabic and neumatic melody consisting of only one or just a few pitches per syllable. The fourth melody is elaborately melismatic. All four melodies segue into a very simple threefold Kyrie chant.

Only two of the few Sanctus melodies are regularly used, both fairly simple.

Proper chants of the Mass

The Ingressa corresponds to the Introit in the Roman rite. Unlike the Introit, the Ingressa has no psalm verse or doxology. While the Introit fills in the time that the celebrant processes to the altar, the Ingressa is sung during the censing of the altar.

The next three proper chants follow and amplify three readings from Scripture. The Psalmellus follows the Prophecy, the Old Testament reading, and corresponds to the Gregorian Gradual. The Post Epistolam or Alleluia follows the reading of the Epistle, and corresponds to the Gregorian Alleluia. Ambrosian Alleluias show an even higher degree of adaptation, reusing melodies for the texts of different feasts, than do the Gregorian Alleluias. Unlike the Gregorian Alleluia, the Ambrosian Alleluia kept an extended repeat called the jubilus. During penitential periods, the Post Epistolam is replaced by the Cantus, which corresponds to the Gregorian Tract. The Cantus melodies belong to a common type, related to the Old Roman and Beneventan chant traditions. The chant following the final lesson, from the Gospel, is the Post Evangelium, which has no counterpart in the Roman Rite.

The Offertorium is sung during the bringing of gifts to the altar, corresponding to the Gregorian Offertory. While the Gregorian Offertories had lost their verses by the 12th century, some Ambrosian Offertoria retained their verses, every bit as complex as their defunct Gregorian counterparts.

The Confractorium is sung during the breaking of the bread, which has no counterpart in Gregorian chant. Finally, the Transitorium, so called because it originally involved the transfer of a book to the opposite side of the altar, corresponds to the Gregorian Communion. Many Transitorium texts are direct translations of Greek originals, although the melodies are not demonstrably Byzantine.

The Ingressa, Post Evangelium, Confractorium, and Transitorium never have verses, while the other chants may have responds and verses, up to three verses for some Cantus melodies. The Psalmellus, Post Evangelium, Offertoria, and Transitoria sometimes show complex repeat structures.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Ambrosian Chant.—The question as to what constitutes Ambrosian chant in the sense of chant composed by St. Ambrose has been for a long time, and still is, a subject for research and discussion among historians and archæologists. When the saint became Bishop of Milan, in 374, he found a liturgy in use which tradition associates with St. Barnabas. It is presumed that this liturgy, which was brought from Greece and Syria, included singing by the celebrant as well as the spoken word and liturgical action. On the other hand, it is certain that the greater part of the chants now used in connection with the Ambrosian, or Milanese, rite, which are frequently designated in the wider sense as Ambrosian chant, originated in subsequent centuries as the liturgy was developed and completed. So far no documents have been brought to light which would prove that the saint composed anything except the melodies to most of his hymns. Of a large number of hymns attributed to him, only fourteen are pronounced with certainty to be his, while four more may be assigned to him with more or less probability. Like any other great man who dominates his time, St. Ambrose had many imitators, and it so happened that hymns written by his contemporaries or those who came after him, in the form which he used, that is, the Iambic dimeter, were called "Hymni Ambrosiani". The confusion brought about in the course of time by the indiscriminate use of this designation has necessitated endless study and research before it was decided with any degree of certainty which hymns were by St. Ambrose and which by his imitators. As regards the melodies, it has been equally difficult for archæologists to distinguish them and restore them to what was probably their original form.

Origins and transmission

Although the opinion that the early Western Church received into her liturgy, together with the psalms of the Old Testament, the melodies to which they had been sung in the Temple and the synagogues, and that melismatic chants (those in which many notes may be sung to one syllable of the text, in contradistinction to syllabic chants, in which there is only one note for each syllable) were in use from the beginning, has been defended with plausibility by men like Hermesdorf, Delitzsch, and, lately, by Houdard (Cantilène Romaine, 1905), no direct contemporary testimony that such was the case has yet been discovered. It is likely that the florid, or melismatic, style in which most of our Gregorian propria are written, and which many authorities hold to be of Hebrew origin, found its way into the Church at a much later period. The literature at the time of St. Ambrose shows that the Greek music was the only kind known to the saint and his contemporaries. St. Augustine, who wrote his unfinished work "De Musicâ" at about the time that St. Ambrose wrote his hymns, gives us an idea as to the form which the melodies must have had originally. He defines music as "the science of moving well" (scientia bene movendi) and the Iambic foot as consisting "of a short and a long, of three beats". As in the case of St. Ambrose we have poet and composer in one person, it is but natural to suppose that his melodies took the form and rhythm of his verses. The fact that these hymns were intended to be sung by the whole congregation, over which, according to the Arians, the saint cast a magic spell by means of his music, also speaks in favour of their having been syllabic in character and simple in rhythm. For several centuries it has been held that St. Ambrose composed what are now termed antiphons and responsories. There is no satisfactory proof that such is the case. The fact that he introduced the antiphonal (alternate) mode of singing the psalms and his own hymns (each of the latter had eight stanzas), by dividing the congregation into two choirs, probably gave rise to this opinion. The responsory as practised by direction of St. Ambrose consisted in intoning the verse of a psalm by one or more chanters and the repetition of the same by the congregation.

Guido Maria Dreves, S.J., F. A. Gevaert, Hugo Riemann, and others have endeavoured to show how the melodies belonging to the authentic Ambrosian texts have been transmitted to posterity and what rhythmical and melodic changes they have suffered in the course of time in different countries. Dreves first consulted the "Psalterium, cantica et hymni aliaque divinis officiis ritu Ambrosiano psallendis communia modulationibus opportunis notata Frederici (Borromeo) Cardinalis Archiepiscopi jussu edita. Mediolani apud hæredes Pacifici Pontii et Joannem Baptistam Piccaleum impressorem archiepiscopalem, MDCXIX" and the complete Ambrosian manuscript Hymnary in the Bibliotheca Trivulziana in Milan, which two works are most likely to contain the best traditions. The melodies as they appeared in these works were then compared with manuscripts of the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries at Naples, Monza, Prague, Heiligen Kreuz, St. Florian (Austria), Nevers (France), and Coldingham (Scotland), preserved by the Cistercian monks, who from the foundation of that order had used the Ambrosian hymnary and not the Roman. This comparison made it possible to eliminate the many melismatic accretions and modifications received, evidently, at the hands of singers who were influenced by the taste of their times and found the original melodic simplicity unsatisfactory. As to the rhythm, it must be remembered that the Ambrosian, like all plain-chant melodies, lost their rhythm in the course of the Middle Ages. They were transcribed from the ancient neumatic notation into square notes of equal length, the time given to them being determined by the text syllables to which they were sung. Bearing in mind St. Augustine's definition, and the fact that in St. Ambrose's time accent had not overshadowed quantity in poetry, we see that Dreves is justified in his mode of restoring the melodies, at least as far as their rhythm is concerned. Inasmuch as all the hymns are written in the same metre, the melodies may be, and undoubtedly have been, used interchangeably. The following illustrations will give us an idea of the different forms of the same melody in the various codices. The melody to the hymn "Æterne rerum Conditor", according to the above-mentioned Psalterium and the hymnary of the Bibliotheca Trivulziana, we reproduce under (a). Under (b) we will give the same tune as it is contained in a codex of St. Florian dating from the fourteenth century. Under (c) is the same melody as restored by Dreves, stripped of its added notes, and in the rhythmical form which it probably had originally. 

{ \clef bass \tempo "(a)" \relative d { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \cadenzaOn d2 d a8[ b] c2 c8[ b] e[ d] c2 d1 \bar "|" g2 g e f d e8[ d] c2 d1 \bar "|" g2 f e g a g e d1 \bar "|" c2 e f e d e8[ d] c2 d1 \bar "||" }
\addlyrics { Ae -- ter -- ne _ re -- rum _ con _ -- di -- tor, Noc -- tem di -- em -- que qui _ re -- gis Et tem -- po -- rum das tem -- po -- ra, Ut al -- le -- ves fa -- sti _ -- di -- um. } }
{ \tempo "(b)" \relative g' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \set suggestAccidentals = ##t \cadenzaOn g2 g d f f a f g1 \bar "|" c2 c a bes g a f g1 \bar "|" c2 c a c d c a g1 \bar "|" g2 a c a g a f g1 \bar "||" }
\addlyrics { Ae -- ter -- ne re -- rum con -- di -- tor, Noc -- tem di -- em -- que qui re -- gis Et tem -- po -- rum das tem -- po -- ra, Ut al -- le -- ves fa -- sti -- di -- um. } }
{ \clef bass \tempo "(c)"  \time 3/2 \partial 2 \override Score.BarNumber #'break-visibility = #'#(#f #f #f)

\relative d { d2 | d1 a2 | c1 c2 | \partial 2. e8 d c2 |
 d1 g2 | g1 e2 | f1 d2 \partial 2. e8 d c2 | \break
 d1 g2 | f1 e2 | g1 a2 | g1 e2 |
 d1 c2 | e1 f2 | e1 d2 | \partial 2. e8 d c2 | d1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Ae -- ter -- ne re -- rum con _ -- di -- tor, Noc -- tem di -- em -- que qui _ re -- gis Et tem -- po -- rum das tem -- po -- ra, Ut al -- le -- ves fa -- sti _ -- di -- um. } }

Melodic variants in Ambrosian hymns

The hymn "Splendor paternæ gloriæ" exists in more different forms than the one which we have considered above. Version (a) gives the form of the melody as it reads in the Psalterium; (b), as it is in the antiphonary of Nevers of the twelfth century; (c), the version contained in a codex of the thirteenth century in the National Library at Naples; under (d), as it is found in an antiphonary of the fourteenth century in St. Florian, Austria, and, finally, (e) gives us the restored and, probably, the original form. 

{ \tempo "(a)" \relative e' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \set suggestAccidentals = ##t \cadenzaOn
  e8[ d] c2 d e e8[ f] g[ f] e2 e1 \bar "|"
  f2 c d8[ e] e2 f8[ e f] d[ c] f2 g8[ e] %end previous page
  a8[ g a] bes[ a g a] \bar "|"
  a2 a a g f g8[ f] e2 d1 \bar "|"
  f2 c d8[ e] e2 f g8[ f] e2 e1 \bar "||" }
\addlyrics { Splen _ -- dor pa -- ter -- næ _ glo -- _ ri -- æ, De lu -- ce _ lu -- cem _ _ _ _ pro -- fe -- _ rens, _ _ _ _ _ _ Lux lu -- cis et fons lu _ -- mi -- nis, Di -- em di -- _ es il -- lu -- _ mi -- nans. } }
{ \tempo "(b)" \relative f' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \set suggestAccidentals = ##t \cadenzaOn

 f8[ e] c2 d f e8[ f] g2 f e1 \bar "|"
 e2 c d f e8[ f] g2 g g1 \bar "|"
 g2 g bes a g g f e1 \bar "|"
 e2 c d f e8[ f] g2 f e1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Splen _ -- dor pa -- ter -- næ _ glo -- ri -- æ, De lu -- ce lu -- cem _ pro -- fe -- rens, Lux lu -- cis et fons lu -- mi -- nis, Di -- em di -- es il -- _ lu -- mi -- nans. } }
{ \tempo "(c)" \relative e' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \cadenzaOn

 e2 c d e e8[ f g] g2 f e1 \bar "|"
 e2 c d e e f g a8[ g] \bar "|"
 e2 e e a8[ g a] f2 g f e1 \bar "|"
 e2 c d e d8[ f g] g2 f e1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Splen -- dor pa -- ter -- næ _ _ glo -- ri -- æ, De lu -- ce lu -- cem pro -- fe -- rens, _ Lux lu -- cis et _ _ fons lu -- mi -- nis, Di -- em di -- es il -- _ _ lu -- mi -- nans. } }
{ \tempo "(d)" \relative f' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \cadenzaOn

 f2 c d e f g f e1 \bar "|"
 f2 c d e f g g g1 \bar "|"
 g2 g g a g g f e1 \bar "|"
 f2 c d f f g f e1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Splen -- dor pa -- ter -- næ glo -- ri -- æ, De lu -- ce lu -- cem pro -- fe -- rens, Lux lu -- cis et fons lu -- mi -- nis, Di -- em di -- es il -- lu -- mi -- nans. } }
{ \tempo "(e)" \relative e' { \time 3/2 \partial 2 \override Score.BarNumber #'break-visibility = #'#(#f #f #f)

 e2 | c1 d2 | e1 f2 | g1 f2 | e1
 e2 | c1 d2 | e1 f2 | g1 g2 | g1
 g2 | a1 a2 | g1 f2 | g1 f2 | e1
 e2 | c1 d2 | e1 f2 | g1 f2 | e1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Splen -- dor pa -- ter -- næ glo -- ri -- æ, De lu -- ce lu -- cem pro -- fe -- rens, Lux lu -- cis et fons lu -- mi -- nis, Di -- em di -- es il -- lu -- mi -- nans. } }

We next give the five variants of the hymn "Nunc Sancte nobum Spiritus", of which (a) reproduces the melody as it is in the Bibliotheca Trivulziana; (b), from the codex of Nevers; (c), the Coldingham (thirteenth century) version; (d), that of the Cistercian manuscript of Prague (thirteenth century); and (e), is the Dreves restoration. 

{ \tempo "(a)" \relative d' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \cadenzaOn
  d2 c d f f d d c1 \bar "|"
  d2 c d f f d e f1 \bar "|"
  f8[ g] a2 g a f g f d1 \bar "|"
  f2 e f g f d c d1 \bar "||" }
\addlyrics { Nunc Sanc -- te no -- bis Spi -- ri -- tus, U -- num Pa -- tri cum Fi -- li -- o, Dig -- _ na -- re promp -- tus in -- ge -- ri No -- stro re -- fu -- sus pec -- to -- ri. } }
{ \tempo "(b)" \relative d' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \cadenzaOn

 d2 c d f f8[ e] d2 d c1 \bar "|"
 d2 c d f f8[ e] d2 d c8[ f] \bar "|"
 f g8[ a] g a f g f8[ e] d8[ c] \bar "|"
 c2 d f8[ e] f[ g] f[ e] d2 c d1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Nunc Sanc -- te no -- bis _ Spi -- ri -- tus, U -- num Pa -- tri cum _ Fi -- li -- o, _ Dig -- na -- _ re promp -- tus in -- ge -- _ ri _ No -- stro re -- _ fu -- _ sus _ pec -- to -- ri. } }
{ \tempo "(c)" \relative d' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \cadenzaOn

 d2 c d8[ f] f2 f8[ e] d[ e] d2 c1 \bar "|"
 d2 c d8[ f] f2 f8[ e] d2 c c8[ f] \bar "|"
 f2 g8[ a] a8[ g] a2 g8[ f] g2 f8[ e] d1 \bar "|"
 c2 d f8[ e] f[ g] f[ e] d2 c8[ d] d1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Nunc Sanc -- te _ no -- bis _ Spi -- _ ri -- tus, U -- num Pa -- _ tri cum _ Fi -- li -- o, _ Dig -- na -- _ re _ promp -- tus _ in -- ge -- _ ri No -- stro re -- _ fu -- _ sus _ pec -- to -- _ ri. } }
{ \tempo "(d)" \relative d' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \cadenzaOn

 d2 c d f f8[ e] d[ e] d2 c1 \bar "|"
 d2 c d f f8[ e] d[ e] d2 c8[ f] \bar "|"
 f2 g8[ a] g2 a f g f8[ e] d[ c] \bar "|"
 c2 d e f8[ g] f[ e] d2 c d1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Nunc Sanc -- te no -- bis _ Spi -- _ ri -- tus, U -- num Pa -- tri cum _ Fi -- _ li -- o, _ Dig -- na -- _ re promp -- tus in -- ge -- _ ri _ No -- stro re -- fu -- _ sus _ pec -- to -- ri. } }
{ \tempo "(e)" \relative d' { \time 3/2 \partial 2 \override Score.BarNumber #'break-visibility = #'#(#f #f #f)

 d2 | c1 d2 | f1 f2 | d1 d2 | c1
 d2 | c1 d2 | f1 f2 | d1 e2 | f1
 f2 | a1 g2 | a1 f2 | g8*4[ f] d2 | c1
 f2 | e1 f2 | g1 f2 | d1 c2 | d1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Nunc Sanc -- te no -- bis Spi -- ri -- tus, U -- num Pa -- tri cum Fi -- li -- o, Dig -- na -- re promp -- tus in -- _ ge -- ri No -- stro re -- fu -- sus pec -- to -- ri. } }

Hic est dies and Veni Creator

The melody to the Ambrosian hymn "Hie est dies verus Dei" is of added interest because it is the one to which the Pentecostal hymn "Veni Creator Spiritus" has always been sung. As the Easter hymn is older by several centuries than the "Veni Creator Spiritus", the melody was adapted to the latter; (a) is the form it has in the Psalterium and the hymnary of the Bibliotheca Trivulziana; (b) gives us the Nevers adaptation of the melody to the "Veni Creator Spiritus"; (c) is Dreves's restoration of the original form. 

{ \tempo "(b)" \relative g' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \cadenzaOn
  g2 a g8[ f] g2 a8[ g] c2 d8[ c] c1 \bar "|"
  c8[ b] g2 a c d8[ c] d2 e2 d1 \bar "|"
  c2 d8[ e] c[ b] a[ g] c[ d] g,2 a c1 \bar "|"
  b8[ c] a[ g f] a2 a8[ b a] g2 f g g1 \bar "||" }
\addlyrics { Ve -- ni, Cre -- _ a -- tor _ Spi -- ri -- _ tus, Men -- _ tes tu -- o -- rum _ vi -- si -- ta, Im -- ple _ su -- _ per -- _ na _ gra -- ti -- a, Quæ _ tu _ _ cre -- a -- _ _ sti pec -- to -- ra. } }
{ \tempo "(c)" \relative g' { \time 3/2 \partial 2 \override Score.BarNumber #'break-visibility = #'#(#f #f #f)

 g2 | a8*4[ g] d2 | g1 a2 | c1 d2 | c1
 c2 | g1 a2 | c8*4[ d] c2 | d1 e2 | d1
 c2 | d8*4[ e] c2 | a1 d2 | a1 b2 | c1
 c2 | a8*4[ g] f2 | a1 c2 | g1 f2 | a1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Hic est _ di -- es ve -- rus Dei -- i, Sanc -- to se -- re -- _ mus lu -- mi -- ne, Quo di -- _ lu -- it san -- guis sa -- cer Pro -- bro -- _ sa mun -- di cri -- mi -- na. } }
{ \tempo "(a)" \relative g' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \cadenzaOn

 g2 a g8[ f] g2 a2 c2 d2 c1 \bar "|"
 c2 g2 a c d8[ c] d2 e2 d1 \bar "|"
 c2 d8[ e d] c[ b] a[ g] c[ d] a2 b c1 \bar "|"
 b8[ c] a2 g8[ f] a2 b g f g1 \bar "||" }


\addlyrics { Hic est di -- _ es ve -- rus Dei -- i, Sanc -- to se -- re -- mus _ lu -- mi -- ne, Quo di -- _ _ lu -- _ it _ san -- _ guis sa -- cer Pro -- _ bro -- sa _ mun -- di cri -- mi -- na. } }

Dreves, Aurelus Ambrosianus, Der Vater der Kirchengesanges; Gevaert, La mélopée antique dans le chant de l'église latine; Julian, Dict. of Hymnology; Riemann, Handbuch der Musikgeschichte; Houdard, La Cantilène Romaine. La Paleographie Musicale of the Benedictines of Solemes, V and VI also offers instructive material.

References

  1. Back to citation "Weber, Jerome F. "Early Western Chant", Western Catholic Liturgics". Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  2. Back to citation "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Plain Chant". newadvent.org.

Bibliography

  • Jesson, Roy (1990). Ambrosian Chant. In Willi Apel, Gregorian Chant, pp. 465–483. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-20601-4
  • Ricossa, Luca (2011–12), Luca Ricossa ([]), "Antiphonale Ambrosianum" (complete edition of the medieval ambrosian antiphoner, with original musical notation and complete liturgical context). Voll. I - II - III - IV - (V)
  • Hiley, David (1995). Western Plainchant: A Handbook. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-816572-9.
  • Hoppin, Richard (1978). Medieval Music. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-09090-1.
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