Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

360 The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and correspondingly abbreviated at the beginning of the fourth member.
The pressus serve to enliven the melody. A comparison might be drawn
between the ascending melody previous to the refrain and the last
Kyrie of Masses 9 and 10.
The first phrase of the verse is beautifully rounded off. Tola prepares
for the spiritual warmth given pulchra, while Maria ends the
phrase like to the glow of a mild sunset. How beautiful is Mary, immaculately
conceived! Indeed, she has been the inspiration of a Murillo
and numberless others, and yet the essence of her beauty defies the skill
of every artist.
The first and only express mention of original sin in today's feast is
made in the second phrase. The groups ag acb g over ori- correspond to
gcb cde a over macula. Most singers will be obliged to breathe at this
place. What follows presents some further difficulties as to comprehension
and rendition. The torculus and climacus must be considered as
organic, linking elements. The sentence is to be taken as a whole. The
emphasis on macula must not be wrongly interpreted, for we might emphatically
exclaim: Original sin—is not in thee!
Revue, 6, 160; 26, 277 ff.; Analyses, 8, 25 ff.
OFFERTORY (Luke 1: 28)
1. Ave Maria, gratia plena: 2. 1. Hail Mary, full of grace: 2.
Dominus tecum: 3. benedicta tu in the Lord is with thee: 3. blessed art
mulieribus. Alleluia. thou among women. Alleluia.
We have here the rare instance where a new melody has been composed
for the Mass text of a later feast. The melody was written by the
Benedictine Dom Fonteinne and adapted by his confrere Dom Pothier.
Fervor, delicacy, and sublimity combine to effect an harmonious whole.
Ave begins soft and tender, reverently continuing the salutation of
the Angel which concludes the Gospel of today's feast. With what joy
might God Himself today have saluted Mary who, like an early morning
dawn, shedding light in the wake of a receding darkness, prefigures
the dissolution of the dark night of sin at the approach of the Sun of
salvation. We, too, greet thee, mild and gracious Lady, in thy immaculate
conception and in thy life of motherly solicitude to become an
eternal dispenser of grace and mercy. As in the Gradual, Alleluia, and
Communion, the word Maria is here treated with evident love.
Gratia begins in a somewhat dreamy mood, but waxes increasingly
powerful, as though the singer had joyfully glimpsed in Mary's soul the
broad, shoreless expanse of her many graces. Part of the melody is