Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

Palm Sunday 159
bunt caeli justitiam ejus. 14. Po- of Jacob (—) glorify him. 13. There
pulo qui nascetur quern fecit Do- shall be declared to the Lord a generaminus,
lion to come: | and the heavens shall
show forth his justice. 14. To a
people that shall be born, which the
Lord hath made.
For the Passion the choir sings a simple melody, with middle and
closing cadence. High / is the dominant, prepared for by the low d on
the first syllable of the phrase. The Chronicler closes his melody in every
instance with c g a f, so that almost regularly the choir begins with a
sixth (d).
OFFERTORY (Ps. 68: 21, 22)
A. 1. Improperium exspectavit cor A. 1. My heart hath expected remeum,
et miser iam\ B.I. etsustinui proach and misery: B. 2. and I
qui simul contristaretur, et non fuit: looked for one that would grieve to-
3. consolantem me quaesivi, et non gether with me, and there was none:
inveni: C. 4. et dederunt in escam 3. I sought for one to comfort me
meam fel, 5. et in siti mea potaver- and I found none: C. 4. And they
unt me aceto. gave me gall for my food, 5. and in
my thirst they gave me vinegar to
drink.
The whole is divided into three parts, each of which sets in with
low /. In part B the theme is announced. It speaks of profound reproach
—the melody here and here alone descending to low c—and of misery,
reaching its climax over miseriam. These are the two extremes of the
phrase. But He who complains thus is resigned to all things; this is evidenced
by the slow and measured ascending seconds, the subsequent
fourths, and the tarrying on high c.
Part B is concerned with the psychic sufferings of Jesus. His heart
beat only for others, consumed itself for others. If anyone, then surely
the suffering Saviour was justified in expecting that all those whom He
had healed, whom He had assisted, whom He had given true peace of
heart would accompany Him on His way of sorrows. He looks about
Him. Where are they? Non fuit. Not one is at hand. Four times the
tenderly complaining motive b d c ee b b pleads for sympathy. But in
vain. Over contristaretur the annotated manuscripts have practically
only simple neums, which demand a fluent rendition. There is here no
question of labored expressions of misery, but rather of subdued, tearful
reproaches. This brings non fuit with all its broad neums into sharper