Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

114 Ash Wednesday
miserere mei: * quoniam in te con- Have mercy on me, 0 God, have
fidit anima mea. mercy on me: * for my soul trusteth
in thee.
After the Church has earnestly prayed, both at the blessing of the
ashes and in her chants during their distribution, that God show His
mercy to her children, she here voices the conviction that her prayers
have been heard: "Thou hast mercy upon all, O Lord." His divine heart
is full of pity for the poor, even for the most forsaken. His love for His
creature is lasting, even when this creature turns its back upon its
Creator. Progressing in full-step intervals, the melody has the ring of
conviction, of confident hope. The opening motive is heard again in
omnium Domine and nihil. The note a predominates in the first half of
the phrase, the note / in the second.
In the second phrase, propter paenitentiam emerges rough and
rugged, like a mountain ridge which must first be scaled and crossed
before one can reach the beautiful valley of peace which lies beyond.
God "overlooks" our sins that we may do penance, that we may have
time for introspection, for sorrow and atonement. The Responsory
Emendemus has already told us that God's patience in this matter is not
a license to sin. But if we turn to Him with true contrition He will also
turn to us, will become Deus noster, "our God." The more sincere our
penance and our conversion, the closer will He be to us. The composer
cleverly gives the words Deus noster, at the end of the Introit, the same
melody that paenitentiam has, except that it is a fifth lower. The logical
connection is, therefore, indicated by the melodic correspondence. In
its deeper setting the melody has, moreover, none of that ruggedness or
severity which we noted before. Our God is the God of peace. Contrariwise,
the effect of paenitentiam is all the more severe because of the
appealing melody over hominum which precedes it. We have already met
this formula in the Introit GaudUe and elsewhere.
The third phrase, despite its brevity, is treated as an independent
sentence. It follows the closing cadence over paenitentiam and precedes
the new sentence opening over quia; the annotated manuscripts, therefore,
call for a broad rendition of the climacus over parcens. Consolation
and repose pervade this short phrase, but the rising third at its end prepares
us for more vigorous lines, and thus serves as a solemn introduction
to the fourth phrase. Here the melody becomes rich in neums; it
breathes a prayer of thanks for the good fortune of those who have been
raised from the slough of sin to the fatherly heart of God. The proportions
are worthy of notiee. Tu is divided by the mora vocis, eight notes to
the first part and eight to the second. Dominus and De-(us) likewise