Neumz

20/09/2026

Today we celebrate the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. We have chosen the communion chant Tu mandasti to celebrate this Sunday. The text of this piece is taken from Psalm 118:4-5. This is the longest psalm in the Psalter. This psalm presents a profound meditation on the law of God and the good that we attain by guarding and observing it. The text sings, “Tu mandásti mandáta tua custodíri nimis: útinam dirigántur viæ meæ, ad custodiéndas justificatiónes tuas,” which means, “You have ordered your commandments to be kept most diligently. I wish that my ways may be directed so as to keep your justifications.” In this communion chant, the prayerful one at the moment of the mystical union with Christ expresses the joy that comes from the service to God. The essence of love is to obey that tender voice that resounds in our hearts, to follow the loving light that guides us on the way. We pray especially in this piece that our behavior may remain faithful to the will of the Eternal Father and that we join our voice to the psalmist: I pray that what you have commanded may be fulfilled in me! It is a longing that has been stripped of all pride, for if man desires to achieve what God commands him, then he must pray to God to grant him the means to do so. Only with the help of God can man straighten his path, the grace of the Creator guiding our steps firmly along the path of Truth and Justice.

As for the melody, it is composed in mode V. It is impregnated with a certain joy, simple but sincere, which turns into fervent ardor to finally sing a yearning for fidelity and absolute devotion. The piece begins with joy in the heights of the mode, around the dominant, the Do, singing with firm gentleness tu mandásti mandáta tua, you have ordered your commandments. Observe the beautiful accent on the high range of mandasti, Do-Re, underlined by a firm pes quadratus. The gaze of the prayerful is clearly set on the heights in this beginning, the pronoun tu which refers to God invites one to this. In mandáta sounds one of the motives that characterizes this piece: La-B-flat-La Sol. With delicate tenderness and great devotion, the prayerful one chants the word that evokes the divine law that he longs to cultivate, the touch of the semitonal interval, La-B-flat, further strengthens this feeling. The incise closes on the possessive tua with a magnificent tristropha in Do, full of contemplation that reminds us of the pronoun tu and the initial Do: your commandments, O Lord! In custodíri nimis, to be kept most diligently, a leap of a fifth from the dominant to the fundamental, the Fa, the melody starts from the depths of the soul of the prayerful one to progressively rise towards the dominant, even surpassing it by reaching the Re, creating an echo with the beginning of the piece. It is to be noted in the accent of custodíri the motive, La-B-flat-La Sol, which establishes a melodic-verbal nexus of this verb with mandata. The delicate tenderness and great devotion resounds here again, as in mandata. The majestic leap of a fourth in the final syllable reinforced by a bivirga, Sol Do-Do, returns the melodic movement to the high register where the prayerful one sings with great fervor the adverb, nimis, which confers even more semantic force to the infinitive custodíri. A masterful rhythmic amplification clothes the adverb nimis with great firmness, Re-Do Do-Re-Do-La. Text and melody unite, they combine converting the message: here is the essence of Gregorian chant!

In the second phrase, útinam dirigántur viæ meæ, I wish that my ways may be directed, the melody turns into a humble prayer, a longing recitative on which the will to express absolute fidelity is expressed. The presence of the B-flat confers a compositional touch of great mastery to highlight even more, if possible, the strength of the yearning in the prayerful one. It sings of that proximity, that loving closeness that the prayerful one seeks in the Lord, especially at the moment of communion. In fact, without him, we run the great risk of going astray on our way. In viæ meæ, note how the fervent ardor that sounded in nimis reappears, adding a delicate supplication conferred by the magnificent presence of the flat. In the last incise, ad custodiéndas justificatiónes tuas, so as to keep your justifications, we witness another compositional genius with the amplification of the motif of the word custodíri, Fa Sol-La La-B-flat-la Sol La-B-flat-La-Sol La-Sol. Another evidence of the connection, that is so well manifest, in the Gregorian repertoire between the Word and its musical dressing. Custodíri and custodiéndas are not only united by the lexical derivation, and same root but also by a similar musical turn, which resounds at the end of the piece with even greater force if this is possible. As we have already pointed out, we find ourselves with another beautiful piece, a magnificent meditation about the main importance of Christians in keeping the divine precepts. This inner reflection is gaining strength in the interior of the prayerful person who meditates on these verses and who, in the end, makes them spring forth from the exterior of his being in a sung oblation. This is the ultimate meaning of Gregorian chant. This communion chant concludes in justificatiónes tuas with a melodic movement that beautifully captures that insistent desire of the prayerful one, that longing of the soul that repeats itself over and over again to hold on to and to keep the precepts of the Lord so that the Lord will help it to do so. Note the double torculus, La-B-flat-La, which creates yet another melodic-verbal link in the piece between mandáta and justificatiónes. This communion chant is one more jewel of the Gregorian repertoire in which the soul of the prayerful one can express all the nuances of the meditation of the Word, and at the same time, he enlivens it with its chant, aided by the Breath of the Holy Spirit.

Listen to the communion chant •Tu mandasti• here: https://app.neumz.com/listen/missa-tu-mandasti-5/20-09-2026

Image: ©Einsiedeln, Stiftbibliothek 121, f. 142

30/08/2026

We celebrate today the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. To celebrate this Sunday, we in Neumz have chosen the offertory chant Domine in auxilium. The text is taken from Psalm 39:14-15. It is a plea that is always on the lips of the Church, which is always facing persecution here and there... "Come quickly to help me, LORD!" It is also in our mouths, for the visible and invisible enemies of our souls constantly threaten us too. The text of our offertory contains a curse: "May those who seek to destroy my life be shamed and confounded” (Psalm 39:15). The enemies of the psalmist are mentioned. This often occurs in the Psalms, and the chastisement of the Lord is invoked upon them. In the light that we have received the message of Christ and his infinite demands for forgiveness, the enemies are no longer the people of God. They are no longer those of this or that individual because the new law asks us to love them. They are no longer brothers in humanity, but spiritual realities: they are our sins, our evil deeds, and also the instigators of these deeds, that is, the devil and his hosts of unholy spirits, who belong irrevocably to the world of darkness, hatred, and pride. We men, inferior creatures but graced with the love of God who became incarnate for us, have become the objects of incurable hatred on the part of these invisible beings. The spiritual warfare between light and darkness is a reality that we must not ignore or be indifferent to.

As for the melody, this offertory presents the melodic peculiarity of having a sort of refrain. In fact, most of the ancient offertories were responsorial, that is to say, they consisted of various ornamented verses that were sung by a soloist or a schola, separated by a refrain interpreted by the choir. Our offertory is a vestige of this ancient form of singing during the long offertory procession. The first phrase, which very briefly serves as a refrain (Domine in auxilium meum respice), is followed by a longer and more developed verse, which is then followed by the third phrase, a repetition of the same refrain, with a melody that is perfectly identical to the first phrase.

This melody is composed in mode VI. It is modest, it does not move beyond the La, and generally remains within the interval of a third, Fa-La, with some descents to the lower fourth (Fa-Mi-RE-Do) of mode VI. It is a melody imbued with great peace. It is the prayer of a soul that is completely abandoned, that rests in the arms of God, with tranquillity and joy, so profound that nothing can move it.

Since the beginning of the piece, the soul sings full of confidence on the fundamental, the Fa, amplified by the tristropha, before the descent of a fourth on the final syllable, where it bows with total reverence on the pes quadratus, Do-Re. From there, it returns with a beautiful impulse back to the Fa in the accent of the word auxilium, underlined by a bivirga. It is truly the peaceful triumph of trust that is expressed here from the beginning, and this nuances the text, which in itself recalls a cry for help. The word auxilium also concludes with a pes quadratus, Fa-Sol, which invites the melodic movement to continue its crescendo to the possessive adjective, meum, to the climax of this phrase, where that confident tenderness in the Lord fully blossoms. The melody reaches for the first time the dominant, the La, with a beautiful and solemn movement of elongated scandicus, that receives the intensity of the complete confidence of the prayerful one, and of the help that he receives from the Lord. The La is duplicated by a clivis with episema in the Einsiedeln manuscript. It will continue to sound in the final syllable of the word but with a lighter and more flowing movement before this melodic movement returns definitively to the Fa to underline with an elegant cadential torculus the imperative, which concludes this first phrase, respice, look, set your gaze: in the cadence, the degrees of Fa and Sol, on which this first phrase is almost exclusively based, are the ones that draw the word respice, this call or look back, of the prayerful soul for the Lord to turn his eyes towards him and help him. Everything is intimacy and confident hope.

The second phrase starts swiftly, the prayerful one raises his voice, confundantur, be confused, the movement towards the La is decisive, especially in the accent of the word. The epiphonus invites us to savor this supplication, with all its letters, before the melody reverently returns to the Fa: the prayerful singer has complete certainty that he will be heard. In revereantur, be ashamed, after a brief recitative on the Fa, which enhances this assurance that the supplication will be heard, the melody descends to the Re. In the accent of the word, from the articulation of the initial Re emanates a prostration of the melody that ends up "nailing" or settling itself on the Do, for those who will be confused and will have to kneel before the Almighty. The whole melodic movement flows, is quick, and is of great reverence in the low register.

The ascent of qui quaerunt, with its very firm and somewhat emphatic accent, brings us back to the Fa. Again with a leap of fourth, but this time ascending, with the initial articulation in the accent of quaerunt, giving a lot of force to this verb, but this impulse is contained, calm, and becomes interior and contemplative in animam meam. Those who seek my soul, all that separates us from God, that incites us to fall on our path of elevation. The prayerful singer never loses his serenity and he does not feel disturbed in this chant: especially in the possessive adjective meam, he sings with reverent devotion in the depths of his being. Note the use of the quilisma for the first and only time in this offertory widening that contemplation, as well as the oscillation of the melodic movement around the Re in the low register of the piece, even coming to touch the Do.

In the last incise, ut auferant eam, to take it away, the same motif is repeated as in qui quaerunt, an ascending leap of a fourth that gives a vigorous impulse to the melody and removes it from its contemplation. The accent of auferant is also emphasized, but the melody on this occasion goes beyond the Sol and rises to the La at the end of the verb, echoing the auxilium meum (Fa-Sol-La-Sol). This devout and confident offertory concludes with an admirable cadence, and synthesis of the piece, in eam, she (my soul): a masterful descent of thirds, La-Fa-Re, full of reverence and devotion, united to each unisonic development around the Fa, with two leaps of ascending and descending fourths, Do-Fa, Fa-Do, is simply the last compositional genius of this chant and the finishing touch to a confident, serene, peaceful supplication, in which the prayerful one looks at the Lord, seeking his help and knowing for certain that his Creator will give it in return.

Image: Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek lit. 6 f. 25v

Listen to the whole chant at: https://app.neumz.com/listen/missa-domine-in-auxilium-6/30-08-2026

23/08/2026

Today we celebrate the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. We have chosen in Neumz the communion chant Qui manducat to celebrate this Sunday. The text is taken from the Gospel of St. John 6:57, it formulates the mystery of the divine union realized in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The text in Latin sings, “Qui manducat carnem meam, et bibit sánguinem meum, in me manet, et ego in eo, dicit Dóminus,” which means, “‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.’ Says the Lord” (John 6:57). These words of our Lord are fulfilled during communion. It is, then, the mystery of love that He willed, which Christ sings here through the voice of the Church, at the very moment when it is realized. What men seek in food and drink is to quench their hunger and thirst; but this is not fully achieved by anything else than by means of this food, which makes those who take it immortal and incorruptible, the bread of Eternal Life, came down from heaven for us, in communion with the saints, in the Kingdom of Heaven where there is full and perfect peace and unity. Meanwhile, mystical union with Christ at the moment of the Eucharist gives us peace and hope in what is promised. And Christ distributes grace in equal measure to the small and the great and nourishes all equally for Eternal Life. He wants the weakest to gather together with others and that the strong may sacrifice themselves for their brothers to the point of taking upon themselves their labors, and to make them sharers in heavenly grace.

On the other hand, this text, in which the mystical union of the soul with Jesus at the moment of communion is made explicit, connects with other “sister” evangelical communions that are manifested as a maximum of Jesus himself and make clear a cause-effect relationship: Qui biberit aquam, qui vult ve**re, qui mihi ministrat.

As for the melody, it is composed in mode VI, it is full of fervor, of devotion characteristic of this mode, of pious simplicity. The piece springs from the depths of the soul of the prayerful one, Do-Re-Fa, like an inner meditation that blossoms in the exterior of the being. The first assertion, qui mandúcat carnem meam, whoever eats my flesh, is expressed in the firmness of the fundamental, the Fa. A special brightness is given to the accent of manducat with the bivirga that underlines the word in this kind of initial recitative. The possessive meam that accompanies carnem receives a special melodic covering, Sol-Fa La-Sol-Fa: a brief but beautiful melodic turn of great reverence that first resonates with the dominant, the La. In et bibit sánguinem meum, and drinks my blood, a manifested joy bursts forth, the melodic movement ascends with joyful determination to the dominant, the La, on the accent of bibit, with a masterful salicus, Fa-Sol-La. The prayerful cantor sings with great enthusiasm and jubilant in sanguinem meum, the melody surpasses the dominant reaching the Do. The joy of mode V sounds. In fact, this second assertion, so strongly linked in its text and melody to the previous one. Observe the magnificent pes quadratus of the accent of sanguinem and the parallelism established in meum with the turn of meam, although on two different sonorous planes. It is not just any flesh, it is not just any blood, but that of mine, that of our Lord Jesus Christ, he speaks to us directly, in the first person, in the very special moment of communion.

In the following incise, in me manet, in me manet, abides in me, the melody is clothed with unction and tenderness. The pronoun me is underlined by a beautiful quilismatic movement, La-Si-Do, the only one in the piece. The communion with Christ elevates us, makes us overcome our flesh, and transcends the earthly. The semitonal interval, Si-Do, also confers that closeness with the Lord, that loving tenderness in knowing we are united to Him. A magnificent melodic descent full of fervent reverence, from Do to Fa, closes this incise. On the other hand, the descending leap of a fourth between me and manet, Do Sol, symbolically unites the celestial with the earthly, the eloquent melodic turn of manet is limited to singing between the La and the Fa, and we remain in Him within the limits of the earthly. But that does not prevent us from feeling our Lord in the depths of our being. In fact, in et ego in eo, and I in him, the melodic movement clearly ends its descent in the Re, low range of the mode, even the Do in ego resounds again, our Lord penetrates the most intimate part of us, reaches the depths of the soul, from where it was born, in fact, this chant of communion, qui manducat, Do Re Fa.

Note the compositional genius in ego, with the use of the tristropha (unique in the piece), of strong contemplative character, over the fundamental. And suddenly, a leap of a fourth, Do Fa, takes the prayerful one out of the self-absorption, it is like a breath of ardent love that touches the depths of our soul and lifts us up, that overflowing joy of knowing that Christ-Jesus mixes his life with ours is manifested. Observe the masterful series of two porrectus in in eo, aF-Re-Fa Sol-Fa-Sol, which agilely leads the melody back to the fundamental: enthusiasm takes hold of the soul. The last incise is an outburst of jubilation, the prayerful one is carried away in dicit Dóminus, Says the Lord, by the way, text added to the Johannine passage by the composer to explicitly certify the affirmation: it is the Lord who says it. The melodic movement reverently descends to the Fa, makes the loving tenderness of the B-flat resound, the prayerful one feels the proximity to his Lord and sings with devout reverence and gratitude that divine gift that makes us sharers of Christ, unites us to Him in the Eucharist. The composer has chosen to conclude this magnificent chant with the word Dominus, the textual referent of all the possessive adjectives, of all the personal pronouns. Finally, it is revealed to whom these words refer, as if it were necessary for the faithful who certainly know how to recognize the Lord in the Sacrament. All in Christ, nothing outside of him.

Listen to the Communion chant - Qui manducat at: https://app.neumz.com/listen/missa-qui-manducat-6-70680/23-08-2026

Image: ©Einsiedeln, Stiftbibliothek 121 f. 127

17/07/2026

A very international course in Solesmes this year !

https://www.druzina.si/clanek/cudovita-izkusnja-univerzalnosti-cerkvena-seminarju-v-samostanu-solesmes

Pred kratkim sem se vrnila z izjemnega seminarja gregorijanskega petja v sloviti opatiji Solesmes v Franciji (Session Grégorienne de Solesmes 2026). Za vsakega ljubitelja koralne glasbe ta kraj predstavlja pravo obljubljeno deželo. Kot asistentka na Teološki fakulteti, strokovna vodja Zavoda za c...

12/07/2026

Today we celebrate the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The chant chosen by Neumz to celebrate this day is the entrance chant planned for this year, Ego autem cm justitia. The text from Psalm 16:15 is a fervent prayer in which the prayerful person projects himself in a triumphant future. The biblical text of this chant sings, “Ego autem cm justitia apparébo in conspéctu tuo: satiábor, dum manifestábitur glória tua.” This means in English, “But as for me, I will appear before your sight in justice. I will be satisfied when your glory appears.” At Holy Mass, we contemplate the face of the Lord in the Canon and are filled with his glory during Communion. These words show the goal to be reached, the last verse of the psalm also describes the long road of trials and persecution suffered by the psalmist: Lord deliver me from those with dirty and dark hearts, who cannot and will not see the light of wisdom. Alone before your righteousness I will appear in your presence and be satisfied, while your glory is manifested in the pure in heart!
As for the melody, it is composed in the majesty of mode I, it is simple, humble, and also possesses triumphal touches in which the solemnity of the mode shines, especially when it sings in the heights. The piece begins with a beautiful and wide melodic arc. Ego autem cm justítia apparébo, but as for me, I will appear. After the initial intonation, the melodic movement settles on the dominant, the La, a simple recitative, similar to the psalmodic tone, which leads us to one of the most important passages of this prayer. The prayerful cantor raises his voice to the Do, for the first and only time, in the word justitia. The accent of the word shines with a magnificent contemplative tristropha, the gaze is set high, seeking the Lord. I will appear before the light of your justice, cries the prayerful one: apparebo, which closes this first incise, it is clothed in pious reverence and loving tenderness with the B-flat in the porrectus flexus, B-flat-La-B-flat-Sol and fervent adoration, in the firm and decisive salicus, Fa-Sol-La, of the accent that sets the melody solidly on the La.
In the following incise, in conspéctu tuo, before your sight, the melodic movement after a beautiful turn of La-Fa-La-B-flat-Sol, with colors similar to apparebo in the accent of conspectu, settles for the first time in the low register of the mode, enveloping the melody in an atmosphere of profound respect and veneration, everything is amplified by the contemplative tristropha on the Fa, YOUR presence: Fa-Mi Fa-Fa-Fa Re-Mi-Re. Note the double semitonal interval in the high range and low range, La-B-flat and Fa-Mi, which give this passage that touch of closeness to the Lord.
In the second phrase, satiábor, I will be satisfied, the prayerful one is delighted, musically satiated, in the high and low range, the rhythm is widened, there is a will to savor the moment, the sounds are lengthened, as indicated by the neumatic notation. Almost the entire range of the mode is covered, from the Mi to the B-flat: melodic ascent, seeking to sing that closeness in the La B-flat and a melodic descent to the Mi in a devout reverence to the Mi. Finally, the majestic quilismatic movement, unique to the piece, around the solidity of the Fa that confers even more solemnity to this passage. The last incise, dum manifestábitur glória tua, when your glory appears, starts like the beginning of the piece, as a psalmodic recitative in Fa, the prayerful one contemplates the manifestation of the power of God, the splendor of his glory, YOUR glory Lord. Note that the word gloria receives a somewhat different musical treatment, the La in the accent of the word and then a slight bow in the form of a clivis, Sol-Fa. Aside from this similarity to the first phrase in the recitative, the final cadence in tua is identical to the cadence of tuo, the reverence and adoration of the first phrase are clearly manifested in this second as well, the glorious presence of God is thus evident throughout the piece. Another little gem in the repertoire!

Image: ©Einsiedeln, Stiftbibliothek 121 f. 127

Listen to the Introit at: https://app.neumz.com/listen/missa-ego-autem-cum-justitia-1-132559/12-07-2026

29/06/2026

Every June 29th, during the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, apostles, we remember these great witnesses of Jesus Christ. According to the Chronograph of 354, this solemnity was attested in the fourth century. Peter, the fragile and passionate friend of Jesus, is the man chosen by Christ to be the rock of the Church: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:16). He humbly accepted his mission to the end, until he died as a martyr. His tomb is in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. It is a place of pilgrimage for millions of people from all over the world. Also, Paul of Tarsus, the persecutor of Christians who became the Apostle of the Gentiles, is a model as an ardent evangelist. After encountering Jesus on his journey, he gave himself without reservation to the cause of the Gospel. These great apostles always held a special place among the Benedictines, who chose them as patron saints for many of their abbeys.

We have chosen at Neumz the gradual responsory Constitues eos to celebrate this solemnity, from the Common of the Apostles. The text is taken from Psalm 44:17-18. It celebrates the union of Christ and the Church, it refers particularly to the new generation, the priestly and royal race of Christ, which will gradually cover the earth and establish the kingdom over the world of God. The order in which the composer has arranged the text is curious: the second hemistich of verse 17, followed by the first hemistich of verse 18. And for the responsory verse, the first hemistich of verse 17 and the second hemistich of verse 18. This redistribution of the verses has a purpose, without a doubt, since nothing in the Gregorian repertoire is by chance or simply by personal taste. The text of our piece changes its meaning regarding the psalm of origin, in addition to the fact that a new cause-effect relationship is clearly established, and a certain hierarchy or priority in the facts:

Constítues eos príncipes super omnem terram: mémores erunt nóminis tui, Dómine.
You shall make them Princes through all the land; they shall remember Your name, O Lord.

First of all, the Lord (Domine has been added to the text to make the subject of the verb explicit in a clearer way) established princes, spiritual leaders over the whole earth, that is, the Apostles, to preserve and spread his message, to extend the Kingdom of Heaven in the world and to honor the memory of his Most Holy name. That was the priority.

Pro pátribus tuis nati sunt tibi fílii: proptérea pópuli confitebúntur tibi.
The place of your fathers your sons shall have; therefore shall nations save you.

The Apostles began the mission and after them, others continued: the children who were born to replace their fathers are the Apostles. The Apostles were sent as fathers, and in their place sons have been born, and they have been constituted bishops. In fact, the bishops of today, who are all over the world, the Church herself has begotten them, and she herself has established them in the chairs of the fathers. I no longer see Peter and Paul, but not for that reason did our Lord abandon his Church. To replace the founding fathers, children have been born who have strengthened and spread the message of Jesus Christ and his Apostles throughout the earth. Peter and Paul, all the Apostles, today, already from eternity, can see how the Kingdom is spreading throughout the world. There are still conquests to be made, but children continue to be born to continue the work, and the day will come when peoples and kings will be submitted to the unconditional Love of the Eternal Father.

As for the melody, it is composed in mode V, it is a praise deeply penetrated by the joy of homage to the Princes of Christ, the Apostles. In this gradual responsory, it is the Church that chants, and she sings with the immense joy of those who are her Princes: the first, Peter and Paul, and also the other apostles who, as sons who succeeded their fathers, ruled the world after them. Hence the greatness, full of immense joy, that pervades this chant. Before beginning with the musical analysis, it is worth remembering that like all gradual responsories, this piece includes centons, that is, melodic formulas proper to this or that mode, in our case mode V with its characteristic centons, which are reused from one piece to another. The gradual Constitues eos is a jewel in this mode V, we find it in other pieces, sometimes utilized again identically, like in the Gradual of the Mass of the Holy Trinity, Benedictus es Domine qui intueris.

The grandeur of which we spoke above is found from the incipit, Constítues eos, you shall make them, in the firm bivirga on the fundamental, Fa-Fa, of the accent of Constitues and even more in the cadenza of eos, with another bivirga, Sol-Sol, and a clivis with episema. The melody firmly, solidly establishes this designation, this most sublime distinction. In principes, princes, all is reverence, the melody progressively bows before the dignity it sings: such high distinction conferred by Christ deserves nothing less. The melodic movement begins by capturing that loving tenderness towards our Apostles, visible heads of the Church, the use of the B-flat is masterful. After that, a series of reverences happen, the melody progressively bows, note the two reverent pes subbipuncti with the last two elongated notes, which rest on the virga with episema, on the Mi, and end in a genuflection in the form of a torculus, Re-Mi-Do, in the lowest range of the body of the responsory. This incise closes with a cadential formula full of fervent adoration, with the melody resting peacefully on the Fa.

In super omnem terram, through all the land, the melody finally comes into full bloom and shines in all its splendor. The enthusiasm, which we feel latent from the beginning, suddenly bursts forth in the attack on the Do, dominant of mode V, the melodic movement develops in the heights of the mode, a praise that moves over the whole earth, it ranges from the high Re to the low Fa, almost the entire modal range. An enthusiasm that progressively increases until it reaches the last syllable of terram where it flourishes in the beautiful intervals of fifths that rise and fall majestically. The melodic-rhythmic articulation of the virga with episema in Re, right in the center of the melisma is like the axis that receives and transmits the strength of all that enthusiasm: the influence of these princes, the Apostles, the apostolic authority is imposed on the whole earth. The B-flat resounds again in this passage, conferring to this overflowing enthusiasm, a touch of tenderness, of closeness. In any case, it should be noted that the use of the B-flat marks this piece in a significant way.

In the second phrase, this melodic strength is resumed with the same extremely bright ardor in memores erunt, they shall remember, the high range is not abandoned, the melody moves around the dominant, and it invites us to raise our voice to honor that memory: magnificent is the quilismatic movement toward the Re, full of adoration in the accent of the word memores, as is the reverent melodic descent on the posttonic syllable and, to conclude the incise the four-note salicus in the accent of erunt that stands strong and firm toward the dominant, Sol-La-B-flat-Do. The melody appeases momentarily at the cadence of the La, like in the previous one.

The end of the second phrase, nóminis tui, Dómine, Your name, O Lord, presents one of the compositional geniuses of this piece: the melodic-verbal parallelism that unites the vocative Lord, which was added to the original text, and the word name. The melodic design is practically the same, a very reverent melodic descent from the dominant to the fundamental, to ascend again with firmness and immense joy to the dominant, from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven: Do-La-B-flat Sol-Fa Fa La-Sol Do-Do, Domine, appears with a sort of coda in which the melody reaches the Re, in a contemplative movement in which the gaze is set on the heights and then descends with great devotion by thirds, Do-La-Fa, to become ardent in the admirable cadential formula that concludes the body of the responsory.

In Pro pátribus tuis, the place of your fathers, the agile ascent to the dominant from the fundamental and the marked patribus attack in the bivirga marks the melody, from the beginning, with the same enthusiastic ardor. This perfectly adapts to these words that exalt the race of Christ and, first and foremost, those who were his first messengers. Everything is full of reverence with pronounced descending movements like the series of two climacus, Do-Si-La Do-Si-Sol, reverence that combines with fervent exaltation, like the joyous melodic ascent of the scandicus subbipunctis followed by the climacus resupinus, Fa-Sol-La-Do-Si-La La-Sol-Fa-Sol. Little by little, the melodic movement gives the word great brilliance: in crescendo, it ends up being sung in the high range with immense adoration, the dominant is surpassed and even the high Mi resounds for the first time. In tuis ends up becoming a brilliant exaltation, overwhelmingly splendid: rhythmically everything is fluid, immense devotion, leaps of jubilation over and over again, the high Fa is reached, from Do to Fa and from Fa to Do.

In the following incise, nati sunt tibi fílii: your sons shall have, this exaltation again rises in the accent of nati, solemn, majestic with the quilismatic movement, from the dominant to the high Fa, the fundamental to the octave: like a cry in which the prayerful one expresses admiration, joy, and pride for these children, heirs of the Apostles. After a beautiful reverence in tibi, La-Do-Do-Sol, a pronoun referring to our Lord, in filii, the melodic movement becomes extremely reverent. Note, for example, the elongated double pes subbipunctis, La-B-flat-La-Sol La-B-flat-La-Fa, in that melodic descent to the fundamental enveloped in deep veneration. In a way, there is a marked echo of the reverence with which patribus is sung.

In proptérea pópuli, therefore shall nations, the melody is still wrapped in that joy, in that veneration that characterizes this gradual responsory. Note in proptérea the firm melodic ascent from the fundamental with two pes quadratus, Fa-Sol Sol-La, and the reverent descent from the dominant with two clivis, Do-La Do-Sol, before closing the word with a magnificent ascent that sets the melody on the Do. The enthusiasm and the joy that is barely contained continues in populi around the dominant with some reverent punctuation toward the low range. The people raise their eyes to heaven and contemplate with joy the heights from where Christ and his apostles watch his work spread everywhere.

In the final incise, confitebúntur tibi, praise you, that universal veneration, full of loving gratitude continues to spread. Now from the fundamental, it rises gradually, first to the La and then to the Do, in a gesture of adoration and admiration. Note in tibi, the magnificent quilismatic movement reminds us of the accent of nati and the reverent leap of a fourth, Do-Sol, which is used again from the previous tibi. The piece concludes with a sort of double melodic arc, Do-Fa-Do, where the turn of nóminis and Domine, Do-La-B-flat Sol-Fa, resounds. How not to end this piece singing with immense joy in our hearts, meditating, contemplating in the depths of our being that we owe everything to you Christ, our Lord? And for this, we venerate you, we adore you, we thank you. In your Holy Name, your Apostles and their heirs perpetuate your legacy: the Good News will reach all nations!

Listen to the Graduale - Constitues eos at: https://app.neumz.com/listen/missa-constitues-eos-principes-5-49020eab-944e-4735-9cdc-9dbf910d7817/29-06-2026

Image: ©Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek lit. 6 f. 54v