Panem de caelo dedisti nobis, Domine, habentem omne delectamentum, et omnem saporem suavitatis.
You have given us, O Lord, bread of Heaven, having within it all delights and sweetness in every taste.
Panem de caelo demonstrates the limitations of the octoechos classification system and points to a compositional period before the normative eight church modes. The cadential points outside of the final cadence, Domine, delectamentum, and saporem, end on LA, the dominant for mode VI. To heighten the half-step tension at these pauses, I’ve added cursory flats on delectamentum, and saporem. The flat through the scandicus on delectamentum prepares the singer and listener to the modal shift. This is purely my taste; others may disagree and find the half step pull to DO, the dominant of mode V, to be more important. The text can be divided into two large ideas: God’s act in giving the heavenly bread and the qualities of this bread (delight and sweetness). The melodic ambitus reaches its apex on Domine, perhaps aurally reminding us that the Lord rains down this bread from Heaven. The cadences on delectamentum and saporem reinforce the ambiguous modal flavor and recall the Lord’s particular provision. Although a foretaste is granted to us in delectamentum, or delight, we are left to wonder how else this bread tastes until the final word, suavitatis, or sweetness, is proclaimed.
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