In salutári tuo ánima mea, et in verbum tuum speravi. Quando facíes de persequéntibus me, judícium? Iníqui persecúti sunt me, ádjuva me, Dómine Deus meus.
My soul abides in Your salvation and I have hoped in Your word. When will You render justice to those who persecute me? The wicked persecute me. Help me, O Lord, my God!
Psalm 119: 81, 84, 86
GT: 350
GN:358
I initially dismissed this chant as rather unoriginal, for the second half of the piece is almost a verbatim mode I solemn psalm tone setting. However, after more study, it has piqued my curiosity and, once again, left me with more questions than answers. The first phrase, comprised of two subphrases, in salutári tuo ánima mea and et in verbum tuum speravi, is ingeniously related to the last two phrases by the cadential formulas on mea and sperávi. An emphatic torculus reinforces the final, RE, on mea while the standard cadential formula on sperávi is transposed to its major twin, ending on FA. This cadential formula appears later, in minor, on judícium and meus. The nearly-identical phrases quando facíes de persequéntibus me, judícium? and iníqui persecúti sunt me, ádjuva me, Dómine are elaborations on the mode I solemn psalm tone. Both phrases feature textual declamation on the dominant, LA, followed by the same, standard cadential formula, RE-MI-FA-MI-RE-MI-MI-RE. The solemn psalm tones are usually reserved for the verses of introit and communion chants and contain extra filigree around the incipit and mediant and final cadences of the tone. This is unlike plainer office tones to facilitate a quicker declamation of text. Were these two phrases originally verses to the antiphon – which may or may not have been in salutári? If so, how did they become integral to the antiphon itself? Or does it represent an earlier form of cantillation, a type of bridge between psalms sung recto tono and melismatic, highly ornamented melodic lines? If so, why were these chosen?
My version diverges from the Vatican edition in order to better represent the St. Gall neumes; thus, it becomes the reconstruction from the Graduale Novum. The punctum on salutári becomes a pes (FA-SOL) and the torculus on tuum becomes a torculus resupinus (SOL-LA-SOL-LA), as seen in the St. Gall neumes. The bottom note of the pes is FA, not SOL, as proved by the significant letter L on the following syllable, tuo. The L, indicating a melodic elevation, would be illogical if the previous note was higher than it. By staying below the dominant throughout the first subphrase, its introduction on tuum sperávi provides greater intensity. Although the punctum here could be argued because Laon only gives an uncinus, I haven’t completed an in-depth manuscript comparative analysis to fully back up either claim. The torculus resupinus on tuum would indicate that all four notes of this word, SOL-LA-SOL-LA, should be on a single syllable. Thus, the “u” of tuum becomes elided Since St. Gall only notates one neume; no diphthong was sung. Laon, interestingly, shows a torculus resupinus on tuum and an uncinus on tuum, five notes in total! Perhaps the “u” vowel was repercussed here in the Laon tradition.
Leave a Reply