Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

206 Fifth Sunday after Easter
Dominus, qui non amovit depreca- the Lord, who hath not turned away
tionem meam, et misericordiam my prayer, and his mercy from me
suam a me, 4. alleluia. 4. alleluia.
The present Sunday is the last before the feast of the Ascension.
Christ looks back upon His earthly life and His passion. How often His
enemies sought His life! Day and night, as He Himself says. On the
Mount of Olives His soul was sorrowful nigh unto death. Burdened with
the cross, He totters toward Calvary. With a mighty cry He calls to His
Father. But His appeal seems to fall on deaf ears; there is no pity for
His distress. Now, however, He has been heard; He lives again, and it
is a life of glory immeasurable. The Father's grace is poured over His
most sacred humanity as a stream of the "oil of gladness." Now He can
waver no more. No matter how His enemies rage, He will ever remain
the central figure of all history.
We shall, therefore, sing this song in the spirit of Christ, as a continuation
of that canticle which He intoned in the Introit for Easter
Sunday. The two songs are closely related; both express a joy which,
though outwardly subdued, fills the soul to its very depths. Considering
the melody in this light, we can better understand the absence of melodic
development, the modest range (only a sixth, if we abstract from the
descent to the lower third at the beginning over amovit) despite the length
of the piece, and the repetition of large melodic groups: (no)-strum et
obaudite vo-(cem)— (a)-movit deprecationem me-(am), laudis ejus=pedes
meos, et non dedit=commoveri, benedictus=qui non a-(movit).
The first phrase, with its almost depressing beginning, is a far cry
from the joyous exultation of the Introit; and yet the two basically express
the same thought. In the second phrase, however, we have a fresh
and animated motive, which may be considered an amplification of
Dominum in the first. There it runs c e gff; here, especially in the more
simple form over dnimam, d f a g f. In a slightly varied form it appearsover
suam in the third phase.
The chief repercussion of the second mode (d-f) is employed frequently,
almost too frequently, / generally appearing as a bistropha or
a tristropha. Special care must be given these notes, lest they sound
clumsy; the whole selection, in fact, should be sung fluently. We may
also make the song our very own, thanking God for the new life which
Easter has brought to us, for the new life of grace which in His mercy
He has perhaps repeatedly conferred upon us when we strayed from the
right path. He has graciously heard our prayer for mercy and made our
joy complete. Now we are about to offer the holy Sacrifice, the noblest
and most efficacious prayer, in the name of Jesus. That is what promotes