Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

160 Palm Sunday-
relief. No doubt the parallelism of the text necessitated similar introductions
for et sustinui and consoldntem. The second et non sets in a note
lower and then ascends to a bewildering high e. The strikingly swift
descent with invent only heightens the artistic effect of this passage.
That which is not denied the poorest wretch, that bit of heartfelt sympathy
which accompanies even the most hardened criminal to his death
—this was denied to the Saviour; not a single, mild, loving word, not a
glance of pity alleviated His sufferings. And then as if the tortured breast
could no longer contain all this woe, there escapes from His lips the cry
of this harsh, painful et non invent. Perhaps such combinations of notes
made a different impression upon the ancients than they do upon us.
Part C gives us an inkling of the tortures which the Saviour, who
was harassed by fever, expressed in His cry: "I thirst." All ages, however,
have seen a deeper import in this cry than the mere expression of
bodily pain. He received vinegar and gall, His tormentors made sport
of His sufferings, they ridiculed Him and laughed at Him, and thus elevated
His sufferings to the plane of the infinite. Expressive of these sentiments,
the melody once more rises to high e and then, as if burdened
with sorrow, descends with harsh tritones.
The quiet phrase et dederunt . .. fel interposed between these two
high points shows artistic finesse. It has the smallest range of any of the
phrases (only a fifth). We find no protractions or accents with a pressus,
no fourths, but predominantly seconds and the simple repetition of the
formula which had already been employed over miseriam. The relaxation
here from the high tension of the preceding part affords the singer
an opportunity to gather new strength for that which is to follow. Codex
339 of St. Gall's gives the first seven notes over the word fel a broad form,
thus in a way indicating to us the amount of bitterness latent in this
word. The annotated manuscripts give prominence to the fact that the
thrice-prolonged and accented c over the doleful, subsiding aceto should
not work to the detriment of the lower a; and thus in spite of the stirring,
even violent feelings, the beauty of the melodic line is preserved intact. 1
In the most ancient manuscript the Saviour voices His reproaches
in three other verses of Psalm 68, but He also knows that the time of
grace and the fullness of God's bounty has now come.
In the holy sacrifice of the Mass the Saviour appears, as it were,
suffering and dying among us. But He ought no longer look in vain for
consolation and sympathy. Let us present ourselves to Him under the
symbols of bread and wine, which the priest now lifts up to God.
i N. Sch., 270 ff.