Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

162 Maundy Thursday
minet vultum suum super nos, et may he cause the light of his coun*
misereatur nostri. tenance to shine upon us, and may
he have mercy upon us.
The Introits of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of Holy Week
speak of the holy cross, but stress also the glorification of the Crucified.
Before the Saviour descends to the depths of His Passion and its affronts,
before the flood of sorrows bursts upon Him, He stands before us in all
His splendor.
The text of this Introit might well be an inspiration for a paean of
triumph and of victory, arousing enthusiasm and advancing in lively
rhythm. But such is not the case. It would seem as if the composer, before
he wrote his song, had meditated with tender sympathy on the
sacred Passion and had come to realize that for many all this would be
in vain. With tears of compassion in his eyes he began to sing with this
tender melody, made almost sorrowful through the thrice-repeated
half-time interval, the Nos autem.
A similar feeling is awakened if we answer the question: Who, then,
are the others? as implied in the opening words: "But it behooves us."
The Apostle has already said that the cross is foolishness to the heathen
and a scandal to the Jew, but how is it regarded at the present time?
The blasphemies of the moderns must fill us with indignation and sorrow
and with a deep sympathy for our wounded Love, we shall strive
to fathom the melody of Nos autem. If we then ask ourselves what our
relation to the Crucified is, how we regard in practice the cross God has
laid upon us, then we shall sing, not with arrogance, but humbly and
modestly: Nos autem.
The major third over oportet is not without purpose. Here it seems
as if the holy cross were being slowly elevated before us; with nostri it
stands before us in all its glory; the cross of our Lord. As the melody
gradually increases, so also must the crescendo grow, till it attains its
greatest ardor with nostri. Especial care must be taken that this high c
be not sung unprepared, not raw and cold and angular, as were the
timbers of the cross on Golgotha.
The second phrase develops and confirms the theme announced in
the first phrase. The human blood which reddens the trunk of the cross
has become for many the drink of "salvation," supplying new life and
courage and strength to overcome sorrow and woe and death. From it
emanates eternal, blessed, glorified life. In the melody the second half
of the first phrase is repeated.
Textually the closing phrase forms a parallel to the second phrase.
Here, as above over autem and often in plainsong, the tristropha serves