Understanding Latin Text
The cantor is a vessel of textual declamation, whose responsibility is to know the meaning of each word & their relationship to each other. This gives Sacred Scripture an objective & subjective interpretation, for St. Paul proclaims that “faith comes through hearing.” Romans 10:17
Textual Accent is Primary Concern
The proper pronunciation of Latin text renders chant intelligible. The adiastemetic neumes were originally diacritical signs, or symbols used in the art of oration to show the apex or valley of vocal speech.
| Types of Syllables | ||
| Name | Placement | Function |
| Tonic Accent | Stressed syllable | Inherent rhythmic fulcrum of text |
| Pre-tonic Syllable(s) | Pull towards tonic accent | Intensify |
| Post-tonic Syllable(s) | Release away from tonic accent | Soften |
| Final syllable | Last syllable of word | Relaxation; usually indicates note of modal importance |
| Types of Words | ||
| Name | Placement of Tonic Accent | Examples |
| Oxytone | Final syllable Usually single-syllable words that have their own independence (Hebrew words are exceptions) | Rex; vox; lux; te; Jerusalem |
| ad; in; sed; non; et Prepositions & conjugations are not! | ||
| Paroxytone | Penultimate syllable | magni; Deus; aeternum |
| Proparoxytone | Third syllable from end | imperium; vocabitur; misericordiam |
E 121, Graduale, Puer natus est, f. 30
There is a kind of indissoluble marriage between the sacred text and the neumes.
Graduale Simplex, Lux aeterna, Vatican, 1975, pg. 415.
May perpetual light shine upon them O Lord, with Your holy ones in Heaven, may they have eternal life.
- Mode VIII Structurally Important Notes
- Final: SOL
- Tenor: DO
There is a symbiotic relationship between the sacred text and the musical-modal structure. Structurally-important notes for a given mode often highlight tonic syllables. Unstable notes pull music and syllables towards tonic syllables. Thus, poles of animation and relaxation, like waves, characterize Gregorian chant.
