Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

324 Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The first phrase of the verse has a range of a seventh. One rarely
sees a descent like that to b over Domine. The second phrase has the
wide range of a tenth, and is dominated by the word reges. The singer
wishes to say that not only all the nations will pay homage to the Lord,
but also the kings: all the kings of the earth will worship God. What is
their paltry glory, even if they be veritable sun gods, compared to that
which Christ will reveal at His final coming? Before Him all things will
crumble into dust. There will be no dallying about the ceremonial of
reception. Only one thing will remain to be done: to bend the knee and
adore, to tremble in reverence before Him who alone is the Lord, the
King of glory.
With a feeling of certainty that could scarce be greater, the melody
proclaims this truth: Timebunt, "they shall fear." This faith is most
deeply engraved in the consciousness of the Church. She looks forward
with confidence to the coming of her King: already today she greets
Him with the cry of Alleluia.
OFFERTORY (Ex. 24, 4-5)
1. Sanctificavit Moyses altare 1. Moses consecrated an altar to
Domino, 2. offer ens super Mud the Lord, 2. offering upon it holoholocausta,
3. et immolans victimas: causts, 3. and sacrificing victims:
4. fecit sacrificium vespertinum in A. he made an evening sacrifice to
odorem suavitatis Domino Deo, 5. the Lord God for a savor of sweetin
conspectu filiorum Israel. ness, 5. in the sight of the children
of Israel.
According to the context, the participles offerens and immolans are
closely akin. A great caesura, however, is introduced into the melody
by the cadence over (holo)-cdusta, and further on prominence is given
to et immolans which is hard for us to grasp. Similarly, in relation to
the other phrases, the third receives undue amplification. Here we cannot
apply as a measure of perfection the carefully planned and artistic
development which we so admire, for instance, in Graduals of the fifth
mode. In spite of this, however, the melody has beauties of its own.
The first word is simply narrative, confines itself to a tetrachord
(f-b). What we now feel to be a bright major chord, we hear over altare
and odorem and in a descending line over (con)-spe-(ctu). The soothing
close of (Dd)-mino echoes somewhat over (vi)-ctimas, (vesper)-tinum,
and Deo. To the descending fourths at the beginning and end of the
second phrase, the strongly accented ascending fourth over (ho)-lo-
(cdusta) comes as an answer. Over Mud two bistrophas are to be sung
after the clivis, followed by an accented torculus. The third phrase is in-