Notas mihi fecísti vias vitae: adimplébis me lætítia cum vultu tuo, Dómine.
You will show me the paths of life: fullness of joy in Your presence, O Lord.
Psalm 16:11
GT: 260
GN: 223
Beginning this project, I could have never anticipated how these seemingly straightforward chants could provide such a musicological challenge! Notas mihi fecísti is no exception. To be perfectly honest, I still don’t quite understand elements of the reconstruction provided by Göschl et al in BzG. Although the Vatican edition classifies this chant as mode VII, the editors of BzG classify it as mode I, based on the psalm tone found in St. Gall 376, which is clearly mode I. (G 376, 158: 4-6). Other manuscripts corroborate this as well, including Alba 776 (A 776: 45v, 3-4) and Yrieix (Y 903: f. 97, 2-2.5).1 Moreover, transposing the Vatican edition down a fifth and replacing the DO clef with a FA clef creates an ambitus appropriate for protus. (Throughout the rest of my reflection, I will be using pitches based on the transposed melody). This overwhelming evidence points to a mode I classification. But this still leaves us in a conundrum, since melodic fragments and cadences evade typical protus characteristics. For example, both structurally-important cadences on vitæ and Dómine end on DO, not RE. It is little comfort that even the editors of BzG acknowledge the various classifications given in the manuscripts: some as mode V, some as mode I, transposed or otherwise.2 Notas, as noted in these early manuscripts, defies categorization within the ochtoechos! Perhaps later medievals, in their obsession with classification and order, transposed the entire chant up a fifth to give a final on SOL, mode VII. It is possible the chant derives from the archaic mode DO, since the gamut of the entire chant is within the natural hexachord…
Because I only received the article from BzG later in the week, I based my rendition on the Vatican edition. If I had earlier access, I would’ve adopted their recommendation to fill in the minor third between vultu and tuo with MI, creating stepwise motion3, and intensifying the half-step relationship (perhaps a small nod to plagal protus?). Although BzG relies on other manuscripts to justify moving the first note of the porrectus of vitæ from SOL to FA and moving the first four notes within the neumatic group on vitæ down a step4, because the L 239 and E 121 are ambiguous, I probably would’ve omitted those recommendations anyway.
Whenever I read aspects of psalm 16, Paul Inwood’s Center of My Life instantly comes to mind. I vividly remember singing this as a de tempore psalm in my parish as a young girl. But visually seeing the written Latin words notas and adimplébis provided a different meditation for me this week. The Lord is the Author of our story, knowing the ending, even though He gives us free will. Perhaps our names are written in the book of life. We recall all of those who have passed before us in the month of November, physically writing down their names in books of remembrance. How quickly I skim over words indicating “fullness”. Adimplébis far exceeds satiation; rather, it suggests a deep, abiding fullness beyond our expectations. How often do I doubt that the Lord will fulfill my deepest desires…
I apologize in advance for the dry acoustic – I was in a different space this week with my son, who can be heard cooing in the background.
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