Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

354 St. Andrew, Apostle
terval of a fourth, which recurs again at the words (tu)-i, De-(us), and
introduces the modulation to c.
The second phrase is characterized by a strong accentuation of the
tenor /, which is here the true dominant. The power which God has given
his Apostles and through them to the Church will endure to the end of
days, and no other power either on earth or in hell will prevail against
it. With an interval of a fourth the second nimis begins immediately on
the dominant, while confortdtus repeats the motive of hono-(rdti). Twice
the melody ascends to a, where it is particularly effective over ebrum.
The triple repetition of c d f g over the words Mihi autem ni-(mis),
(a)-mici tui, and (prin)-cipdtus is so skillfully interwoven with the whole
that it is scarcely noticeable.
In the psalm-verse the Apostle himself prays to the Lord. It was a
source of wonderful consolation to him to know that amid all his toils
and labors the eye of his beloved Master followed him and saw all that
he had done and suffered for Him. In a martyr's death the Apostle has
stood the test (probdsti me) victoriously.
This Introit is sung also on the feasts of the Apostles SS. Thomas,
Matthias, Barnabas, within the Octave of SS. Peter and Paul, James
the Elder, Bartholomew, Luke, Simon, and Jude.
The melody was made use of extensively in the Introits for the feasts
of St. Ignatius the Martyr, of the Stigmata of St. Francis of Assisi, and
of the Holy Innocents. Compare also the Gradual for the feast of St.
Matthias.
For an explanation of the Gradual Constitues see the feast of SS.
Peter and Paul.
ALLELUIA VERSE
1. Dilexit Andream Dominus 1. The Lord loved Andrew 2. in
2. in odorem suavitatis. the odor of sweetness.
In the oldest manuscripts we find this melody given for the presentday
Alleluia Justus ut palma in the Common of Abbots. It is difficult to
determine which of the texts inspired the melody. We might conceive the
florid melisma over the word odorem as tone-painting of the word cedrus
in the Alleluia Justus ut palma, imitative of the giant growth and the
wide spread of the branches of this tree. The melody for today's Gradual
is the same as that on the feast of the Purification and on the Friday
and Saturday of the Pentecostal Ember Days.
The melody of Alleluia tends to reach a climax. This climax, which
is repeated by the melody, is indicated by the climacus at the beginning