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MUSICAL FORMS 127
(c) Kyrie ABA, Christe CDC, Kyrie E F E' (Graduale Vaticanum, III,
Many of those in group (b) amplify the ninth Kyrie in the same fashion
as group (c). There are thirty-one settings in the Graduale, and this
number could be increased considerably. Group (c) is the latest of the
three, but even so its oldest specimens date back to the tenth century.
The earliest version of the Gloria in excelsis in Greek dates from the
Antiphonary
of Bangor' in the seventh century. It was always sung in Latin from
fifth century : in Latin the oldest is that of the so-called '
the ninth century onwards, and has been part of the Roman rite from
the sixth century. The music is mostly syllabic and is not so melismatic
as the Kyrie. The oldest melody is that in Mass XV, which has
a psalmodic recitation like that of the Te Deum. It may be worth
notice that thirteen of the melodies given in the Graduale are in the
plagal modes and only five in the authentic. The Credo was introduced
into the Roman liturgy by Benedict VIII (d. 1024). The Gregorian
music never dramatizes it, and displays a psalmodic form with incipit,
reciting note, and cadence. Tropes were not used for the Credo: two
examples 2
do, in fact, exist, but they were not sung liturgically.
The Sanctus (which is followed by the Benedictus) is of apostolic
The character of its music lies
origin and comes from the Synagogue.
between that of the Kyrie and the Gloria. The oldest melody, that
given in Mass XVIII, 3 is a continuation of the chant of the Preface.
Most of the melodies are in the plagal modes. Agnus Dei was intro
duced into the liturgy by Pope Sergius I (d. 701): the triple form has
been in use from the eleventh century. There are four forms of the
music A A A (the oldest type: in Masses I, V, VI, XVEH); A B A (in
Masses II, IV, Vffl, X, XH, XVI); A A B (Mass VH); and A B c (in
Mass XI). The compositions used for many melodies of the Ordinary
carry us, of course, far beyond the Golden Age of Gregorian music
into what has been called its Silver Age (c. 1000-1325). They intro
duce us to the subject of the following chapter, where we shall see the
results of the spread of tropes, more especially in relation to the most
illustrious member of that family, the sequence.
1
Kyrie IV ad lib, is recorded in The History of Music in Sound, side 7.
ii,
a H. ViUetard, Office de Pierre de Corbeil (1907), pp. 140, 172.
3 Recorded in The History of Music in Sound, ii, side 4.