Chants of the Vatican Gradual, by Dom Johner - Church Music ...

First Sunday of Advent 17
effective word: "Thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace." Lord, come
Thou again into our hearts, into the hearts of all men, work the marvels
of Thy forgiving love, and grant us Thy salvation! Such is the heartfelt
supplication of this Advent song.
This melody with its archaic form has been thoroughly discussed
by Dom Mocquereau in the second number of his Monographies gregoriennes
(Tournai, Desclee). For much of what follows we are indebted
to that excellent work; we are also allowing ourselves some additional
observations. In the most ancient manuscripts this melody is found accommodated
to various texts. In the present instance, however, text
and melody fit so perfectly that one may without hesitation say that
the verse Ostende is the original. Besides, in no manuscript has it a different
melody than that assigned to it here, a fact which likewise testifies
to its great age. Alleluia and jubilus are clearly joined by the final
pressus on a. But they also show inner relationship. Compare, for instance:
a g a b c b a c
Alle- lu- ia and
Alleluia. g f ab cc b g c
The verse has two parts with two large subdivisions. Ostende sets in
lively and fervently with an interval of a fourth on the dominant of the
eighth mode, as if to recall the words of St. James: "But let him ask in
faith, nothing wavering" (1:6). However energetic this introduction
should be, allowance must be made for a corresponding increase with
Domine and above all with (miseri)-cordiam. The cadence of (Domi)-ne
keeps the melody suspended; then before the next word-accent it sinks
to b a. Now the word misericordiam can shine forth in all its splendor.
Upon this upward flight follows relaxation from tuam on, until the melody
finally rests upon the tonic.
At its beginning the second phrase recites on the tonic, reminding
us, with its porrectus on the word-accent, of the solemn psalm-intonation
of the eighth mode. Corresponding to c e d over (miseri)-cordiam in
the first phrase, everything here must be fitted to the principal accent
of tu-(um), which we should, like to place on d e c a following the tristropha.
According to the annotated manuscripts, however, only c a of
this pes subbipunctus and the subsequent torculus b d b are to be sung
with added emphasis and expression. Thus we have d c b c g and b\> a
g a f corresponding to one another. No one will experience much difficulty
in discovering the similarity of tuam in the first phrase and tuum
in the second: