Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

60 St. Stephen, First Martyr
1. Video = 3. a dextris
1. apertos = S. virtutis
2. et Jesum stantem, (4) Dei.
OFFERTORY (Acts 6: 5; 7: 59)
1* Elegerunt Apostoli Stephanum 1. The Apostles chose Stephen, a
levitam, 2. plenum fide et Spiritu levite, 2. a man full of faith and of
Sancto: 3. quern lapidaverunt Ju- the Holy Ghost: 3. whom the Jews
daei orantem, et dicentem: 4. Do- stoned, praying and saying: 4.
mine Jesu, accipe spiritum meum, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, 5.
5. alleluia. alleluia.
Two scenes comprise the Offertory: the first two phrases portray
the election of St. Stephen as a deacon; the third and fourth phrases
give his prayer while he was being stoned. A solemn quiet hovers about
the opening melody. One must guard against singing it too fast, for it
should tell in a broad festal manner of the act by which the honor and
the order of the diaconate was bestowed upon the saint. He was truly
worthy of being chosen, 1 for he was "filled" with faith and with the Holy
Ghost. The setting in with the fifth is more than mere chance; so too the
further progress of the melody with the descending fourth and the
pressus. And how austere is then the close over Spiritu Sancto] The
spirit of the world would certainly be voiced differently.
In the second part one might consider lapidaverunt, whose first three
podatus in the annotated manuscripts are in the broad form, as tonepainting,
as depicting the downward flight of the stones. But immediately
afterwards we meet the same tone-sequences as we had over
plenum. To the descending fourth, and also later over (Domi)-ne, a third
is added, which makes the melody more virile. The frequent tritones,
though most of them are not obvious, contribute to this same end.
The second half of the phrase is a quiet preparation for what follows.
What fervor and confidence breathe forth from this prayer! It
should be sung with warmth, and above all not too rapidly. After Domine
it will be necessary to make a brief pause for breathing. Ac-(cipe)
and (al)-le-luia remind us of (Spiri)-tu Sancto in the second phrase; spiritum,
of lapidaverunt in the third phrase. All the notes after the last
minor pause are to be sung ritardando.
Dom Jeannin 2 would assign the entire piece to an Ut-mode with a
close on the fifth. However that may be, it is quite surprising to find'
over levitam, a cadence to c.
1 The word levitam is not found in the Acts, but is the free addition of the composer.
2 Melodies liturgiques syriennes et chaldeennes, p. 133.