Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

18 First Sunday of Advent
ag ccbg ab\> a f gb\> a g
tu am
ca cbgacafbbag
tu um
The final member (da nobis) moves more quietly and prepares for
the close. Its melody never goes above c; several times it rests upon low
/. The resulting tritonic tone-sequences fab and b g f are somewhat
grating. But it is just this which makes them fit so well to the supplicating
spirit of the whole. In the second last group of neums, 6b is occasioned
by the following /, just as b in the last group by the following g.
The verses of Tracts in the eighth mode end on a. Compare:
Alleluia: cc a g a b\> g f c c a g a b a a g
Tract: cc a g a b}> g f a c a b g g a a g
The closing neum differs from that of the Alleluia jubilus; it has
the archaic form. We find the richest melismas over tuum and nobis, as
if the meldoy wished to say: Only Thy mercy, Thy salvation can help
and heal us.
In its adaptation to other texts, the melody occasionally receives
the character of a florid psalmody with intonation, dominant, and cadence.
Compare, for example, the second phrase of this Alleluia with
that of the feast of SS. Simon and Jude: et salutdre with nimis confotdtus
est.
Ostendel How often we pray to the Mother of God in the Salve
Regina that after this exile she may show us her Son Jesus! Today,
since at Rome the principal service (the statio) is being held in St. Mary
Major, we cry out to her also, imploring her to show us here in our exile
the incarnate Love which she once bore under her virgin heart.
OFFERTORY
This Offertory has the same text as the Introit. But it inserts "O
Lord" among the words: "To thee have I lifted up my soul."
We sing this song while the priest is offering the sacrificial gifts and
lifting his eyes heavenward. We also lift .up our souls to Him who is
fidelity unchanging. The heavenly bodies will one day be destroyed;
terrible will be the roar of the ocean; cries of horror will escape from the
terrified peoples; all worldly hopes will fail. One alone will remain ever
the same. Therefore, O Christian soul—thus the Church admonishes
again—let your confidence be unshakeable, even in the storms of the
present life, even when you must bring also other than symbolic gifts to