Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

84 The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
come not to show their power, not to conquer countries and to subject
peoples, but to submit to the yoke of Christ, to adore Him, and to serve
Him. The piece opens with a fanfare; the two tristrophas connected by
a virga were already met with (cf. the Offertory for the feast of the Holy
Innocents); then astonishment seizes the singer. In the second phrase
the swelling of the melody is to be noted: gab, g a c, f g a c d, a c d e,
and then the expanding cadence with its solemn seconds. The second
group over Saba is an extension of the first.
The first part demands a lively tempo; the second will be considerably
subdued. The singer is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of reverence
and adoration. Into this spirit the three descending fourths (only
occurring here) fit admirably. In the fourth phrase, over omnes and
gentes respectively, a torculus and a light bistropha are to be sung, yet
so that an onward urge runs through the piece to 6b, where a relaxation
of the tension sets in.
It is striking that this Offertory, as do most of those in the fifth
mode, with the exception of that of the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost,
does not extend to high /.
The melody is very suitably employed in the votive Mass for the
Propagation of the Faith. In the second part of this extended Offertory
occur motives from the Offertory of the Sunday within the octave of
Epiphany.
COMMUNION (Matt. 2: 2)
1. Vidimus stellam ejus in On- 1. We have seen his star in the
ente, 2. et venimus cum muneribus East, 2. and are come with gifts to
adorare Dominum. adore the Lord.
The first phrase moves joyously. The second breathes the spirit of
adoration. Only with venimus do we perceive an echo of the joy of the
first phrase. For the closing formula of the first phrase the cadence of
the psalm tone of the fourth mode, b g e, served as a model. The tritone
over Oriente-not so "very disturbing since a twofold b has preceded itheightens
the peculiar, one might almost say the Oriental, effect of this
passage. In three words the unaccented "i" of the second last syllable
regularly receives melodic prominence. The fact that the common people
accented the Latin language differently from the learned class may be
the cause of this; without a doubt plain song was influenced considerably
by this so-called "vulgar" Latin. 1
1 Caecilienvereinsorgan, 49, 124 ff.; N. Sch. 237.