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A. OVERVIEW
IV. Repertories of Antiphons, Tropes, Prosulas, and Prosas
This study of Pa903 began with a brief review of the manuscript, its historical
context, and a survey of its liturgical calendar to describe the usage of St. Yrieix. This
Chapter addresses the repertories of antiphons, tropes, prosulas, and prosas in Pa903,
which participate in the trend begun in the tenth century to embellish and expand the
Mass with new genres of chant. 40 These embellishing chants were not only copied in the
Masses of the gradual, but also collected in sections that follow the gradual. They
comprise repertories of internationally disseminated chants as well as chants belonging to
geographically localized repertories associated with Aquitaine and St. Yrieix.
These repertories of regional and local chants have historical interest in
themselves. Beyond their musical import, however, these repertories also project the
values and stance of St. Yrieix to the people and to the lay and ecclesiastic hierarchy of
the regional community. The chants of the gradual, most importantly, supported the
authorized tradition of the Romano-Frankish rite that was embraced by European society
after the eighth and ninth centuries. The embellishing chants, especially through the local
and regional repertories, reinforced the liturgy with a voice attuned to the specific local
needs and concerns of the community at the time. For the people of the congregation,
these repertories helped to bring the protection and mercy of God to the community
40 Alejandro Planchart, ed., “Introduction,” Embellishing the Liturgy Tropes and Polyphony
(Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2009):.xii.
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