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

Third Sunday of Advent 29
sion of / over petitiones in the fourth phrase, according to some, portray
the immense multitude of men, or perhaps their petitions. Then, all
aglow with light, comes Dominus prope est. A hidden urge must characterize
the three porrectus; a note of joyful victory should resound in Nihil
solliciti sitis. Here we find practically the same cadence as over (ho)-
minibus.
Solemnity and impressiveness should mark the last phrase. Its low
pitch and its emphasis on the dominant / puts it in marked contrast to
the preceding. Oratione alone seems to indicate that prayer is a lifting
of the entire being to God. Sed in omni and innotescant are similar. The
pressus over omni effectively accents the thought that our prayer must
be fervent. In free translation one might expand this to: everything in
our lives should be transformed into prayer.
The psalm-verse stands out prominently, especially because several
times it extends to high c, while the antiphon never went above 6b.
Revue, 20, 12 ff., Analyses, 2, 22 ff., N. Sch. 211 f.
GRADUAL (Ps. 79: 2, 3, 2)
1. Qui sedes, Domine, super 1. Thou, O Lord, that sittest
Cherubim, 2. excita potentiam, tuam upon the Cherubim, 2. stir up thy
etveni. 111. l.Qui regis Israel, inten- might, and come. $. 1. Give ear, O
de: 2. qui deducts velut ovem Joseph. thou that rulest Israel: 2. thou that
leadest Joseph like a sheep.
Gradual-responsories in general present many difficulties, and this
is especially true of today's. It does not at all develop the way we should
expect. We should undoubtedly have stressed the second phrase in the
corpus, but we find it, in relation to the first, quite in the background.
It supports itself on the tonic, not at all in the manner of the authentic
mode, and even sinks below it four times. The descending fifth a-d over
tuam acts as an antithesis to the high fifth over super. The second half
of the second phrase is a more gratifying melody to sing than the first.
Does the low-pitched melodic line perhaps aim at portraying the mysterious
coming of God and His activity?
Perhaps the composer could not resist the temptation of showing,
in tone-painting with the high super, how far God surpasses the Cherubim.
Rightly does Wagner (III, 300) say: "Here the details are detrimental
to the harmonic coherence of the single parts, thereby detracting
from the artistic value of the whole. Such passagse, however, are exceptional."
Some other pieces also show a predilection for tone-painting,
much to the detriment of the leading thought; for example the Alleluia
for the feast of St. Agnes. Here the confusion of voices at the announce-