Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

58 St. Stephen, First Martyr
full due. The first note of each neum over (perse)-cuti can be sung almost
martellato.
If in the first phrase the saint looked about himself, he now in the
second, looks upward to God. Deus meus does not occur in the original
psalm-verse, but the composer so merged himself into the feelings of the
saint that these words rose spontaneously. The melody becomes urgently
pleading. It marks the summit of the entire piece and has the only
high pressus. Here again the first member lingers on the dominant. Most
truthfully can the saint pray: Thou art my God—Deus meus. . .. Thee
have I chosen, to Thee have I dedicated myself. In the second and third
members the influence of the word-accents in the formation of the melody
becomes apparent: servus tuus exercebdtur, tuis. Though practically the
same formula recurs three or four times, this may remind us of the constancy
with which the saint withstood all opposition and persevered in
the service of his Lord; it may remind us of the fiery zeal with which
he offered himself for the great cause. For no one could.resist the wisdom
and the spirit that spoke in him. With full determination he likewise
advances to his death. We have already met the closing formula in the
Introit Gaudete; we shall meet it again in the Introit for Epiphany.
The psalm-verse now sings its Bedti quietly, almost genially. The
purity of heart and fidelity to God here mentioned were the saint's
great consolations.
Revue, 4, 65 ff.
GRADUAL (Ps. 118: 23, 86)
1. Sederunt principes, et adversum 1. Princes sat and spoke against
me loquebantur: 2. et iniqui per- me: 2. and the wicked persecuted
secuti sunt me. f. 1. Adjuva me meif.l. Help me, O Lord my God:
Domine Deus meus: 2. salvum me 2. save me for thy mercy's sake,
fac propter misericordiam tuam.
The corpus of the Gradual has the same text as the first phrase of
the Introit, except that the word Etenim has been omitted. Similarly,
the verse bears some resemblance to the second phrase of the Introit.
In both pieces loquebantur carries a similar melody; iniqui is stressed
still more; in both instances Domine Deus meus marks the principal ascent.
But there are also specific differences besides those of mode and
range. In the Introit the accented syllables helped to form the melody;
not a single closing syllable had more than two notes. In the Gradual,
on the contrary, it is precisely the final syllables that receive special
prominence. Here we also find an interplay of florid melismatic passages
with some that are purely syllabic, whereas the entire Introit was de-