Neumz, Amsterdam Centrum (2026)

Neumz is the largest recording project ever undertaken: the complete Gregorian Chant, in a long term collaboration with the community of Benedictine nuns of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Fidélité of Jouques, in French Provence.

14/06/2026

Today we continue our journey through Ordinary Time and celebrate the 11th Sunday. We have chosen at Neumz the entrance chant Exaudi Domine vocem meam... Adjutor meus for this celebration. The text is taken from Psalm 26, from the first hemistich of verse 7 and the second hemistich of verse 9. It is the prayer of a soul that asks God to listen to it, a soul that feels the need of its Creator by saying: Exáudi Dómine vocem meam, qua clamávi ad te: adjútor meus esto, ne derelínquas me neque despícias me, Deus salutáris meus, which means, “Hear my voice, O Lord with which I have cried out to you. Be my helper. Do not abandon me, and do not despise me, O God, my Savior.” We can establish with clarity two differentiated parts: the first would correspond to a confident supplication that rises to God amid difficulties and doubts; the second would be the request for divine help, the soul implores God's protection.
On the other hand, in this passage, we find a soul that does not feel sufficiently the loving presence of the Eternal Father and fears being abandoned. It is not that it lacks confidence, for it raises its prayer in faith, but it needs to experience the Love of God for its elevation, that God allows it to intimately feel his love. In short, it is a soul that worries when it is in the presence of God because it knows that it is fragile and incapable, without the grace to cling to its Creator. We have all experienced in our spiritual journey ups and downs, fervor and discouragement, consolations and desolations. We know well those moments of uneasiness in which we have approached the Lord with a humble prayer of supplication imploring His Love, for He is the Light that guides our steps, the One who saves us and lifts us to fullness. Let us sing thus with the legitimacy and experience given to us from our walk in this world while being wrapped by his Grace: Exaudi Domine vocem meam...
As for the melody, it is composed in mode IV, it is intimate, within, quite meditative, moving in a rather reduced range. The first phrase is presented with great simplicity and humility. Exaudi Domine vocem meam, Hear my voice, O Lord, like a whisper that escapes from the soul, the prayerful one asks to be heard by the Lord. In the low range of the mode, as if from the depths of the being, the melody moves around the Mi and Fa (The Graduale Novum restores a Re at the beginning of the piece and a Mi, the fundamental in the posttonic syllable of the word Exaudi). In Domine, the melodic movement descends peacefully to the Do: the prayerful person invokes the Lord with devout reverence, and the accent of the vocative is especially highlighted by a fervent clivis with episema, Fa-Mi, which materializes that closeness to the Lord with the semitonal interval in the low range. After this first melodic arc that settles on the low Do, the melody traces a second, agile, and firm arc that rises toward the Sol acquiring full confidence in that melodic ascent, especially thanks to the masterful use of the salicus, Mi-Fa-Sol, in the word meam. In qua clamávi ad te, with which I have invoked thee, the prayerful one clearly sets his gaze on the heights, raising his prayer to God: we reach a first high point, a first cry of supplication. Observe the musical highlighting of qua clamavi, a pes quadratus, and three clivis with episema, which intensify the supplicatory strength, as if the prayerful being were stressing each of the syllables. In addition, it appears for the first time, that the dominant, the La, from which begins a very reverent descent by thirds, La-Fa-Re, even touches the Do, the accent of clamavi. From that Do, from the depths of the soul, a second clamor emerges, more peaceful, ascends full of confidence, Re-Do Mi-Re Fa-Sol-Fa, and rests very delicately on the pronoun te, towards you, my God, which with another magnificent salicus, Mi-Mi-Fa, dresses again this word with loving tenderness and closeness. Furthermore, it should be noted that this pronoun was added by the composer since it does not exist in the original text.
The second phrase begins with the second high point of the piece, the cry of supplication, the petition that the prayerful one raises to the Lord: adjútor meus esto, be my helper. The prayerful person’s voice rises strongly from the Re to the La in adjútor meus, with a certain melodic-rhythmic tension, pes quadratus on the pretonic syllable and neumatic cut on the first sound of the accentuated syllable, picking up that expressive strength and extending it to the rest of the word. The B-flat, the only one in the piece, confers even more expression to this plea. From the Sol of meus that closes this melodic-verbal curve, in esto, the high Do is reached, also duplicated, of great intensity and expression, the culminating point of the prayerful one’s prayer. A very reverent leap of a fourth returns the melody to the Sol closing this incise. In ne derelínquas me, do not abandon me, the simple confidence of the beginning is returned, a brief and light recitative on the Sol, then the melodic movement broadens in the melodic ascent toward the La in the accentuated and posttonic syllable. The soul is shown to be fragile, and helpless without the presence of the Lord. Another very expressive leap of a fourth, La-Mi (in the Graduale Novum version), fundamental and dominant, reverently sealing that union between God in the heights (of the mode) and the praying person, here below. In the following incise, neque despícias me, and do not despise me, in a sort of continuation of what was said before, the soul continues the dialogue with its Creator: this incise keeps a certain melodic similarity with the previous one, a brief recitative in Sol, the prayerful one continues placing his sight in the heights searching for the Lord. Observe, however, the insistence on the conjunction neque, a very beautiful musical enhancement with the only quilismatic movement of the piece (in the Sangalense notation, the Laon manuscript chooses a four-note scandicus), from the Mi to the La, from the prayerful one to God. The accent of the verb despícias is also treated with care, expressively, with a neumatic cut on the Sol, to then, touch twice the dominant with a porrectus full of fervent adoration that is completed with great reverence by thirds on the posttonic syllable, the Fa-Re, which brings us back to the low range, to the word me, to this world: do not take your eyes off me, here below. The incise concludes with a devout cadential formula typical of mode IV, Mi-Sol-Fa-Fa Mi-Re, in the restored version of the Graduale Novum.
The piece concludes with a vocative, full of faith and love: Deus salutáris meus, O God, my Savior. The vocative Deus is treated with immense reverence, it must be chanted with great gentleness and tenderness. Everything is contemplation in the accent of the word, a magnificent elongated torculus resupinus and with a neumatic cut, Fa-La-Fa Sol, invites us to delight ourselves in admiration of the name of the Creator, to then go bowing in the posttonic syllable, Sol, highlighted with an episematic virga, Fa-Fa, with the only distropha of the piece, and after another very eloquent leap of a fourth, to finish kneeling, Do-Re-Do. From there, in salutaris, the prayerful one ascends steadily to sing to his Lord his total confidence, running almost the entire melodic range of the piece, Do-La, all covered with fervent ardor. The salicus, Sol-Sol-La, is worth mentioning for its expressive strength in the accent of the word. This beautiful and fervent piece ends with a cadence similar to that of the previous incise, a turn full of devotion that envelops with loving tenderness through the semitonal interval, Mi-Fa, the possessive meus. The God of my salvation!

Listen to the Introitus - Exaudi Domine at:https://app.neumz.com/listen/missa-exaudi-domine-vocem-meam-4/14-06-2026

Image: ©Einsiedeln, Stiftbibliothek 121 f. 317

07/06/2026

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This solemnity arose when in 1208 the nun Julienne de Cornillon promoted the idea of celebrating a feast in honour of the Body and Blood of Christ present in the Eucharist, to strongly mark the Real Presence of the body and blood of Jesus in the species of bread and wine consecrated in the Eucharistic celebration. It was first celebrated in 1246 in the Diocese of Liège, Belgium. According to tradition, in 1263, while a priest was celebrating Mass in the church of the town of Bolsena, Italy when he broke the consecrated Host blood gushed out. This event, which was widely spread and celebrated, gave a definitive impetus to the establishment of Corpus Christi as a liturgical feast. Pope Urban IV instituted it on 8 September 1264, through the Bull Transiturus de hoc mundo. Saint Thomas Aquinas was commissioned to prepare the texts for the Office and Mass proper to the day. But the ratification came from Pope Nicholas V, when, on the feast of Corpus Christi in 1447, he went in procession with the Holy Host through the streets of Rome. For this reason, Corpus Christi celebrations usually include a procession in which the consecrated Host is displayed in a monstrance.
To celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we have chosen at Neumz the offertory chant Portas caeli. The text is taken from Psalm 77:23-25: Portas caeli apéruit Dóminus: et pluit illis manna, ut éderent: panem caeli dedit illis: panem Angelórum manducávit homo, which means: “The Lord opened the doors of heaven, and rained down manna upon them to eat; he gave them bread from heaven, man ate the bread of angels.” The Israelites journeyed in the desert towards the Promised Land, the providential food of manna was a permanent sign of divine love sustaining their destitution as migrants. But from the manna eaten in the desert by the people of Israel, the Church passed to the Bread of life, a food that does not perish, the bread of the angels, which the Lord gave us, propitiated by his coming. In the words of Saint Augustine in his commentary on the Eucharist: "When Christ became man, man ate the bread of the angels. Where, how, by what means, by what merit, by what dignity was man to eat the bread of the angels if the Creator of the angels did not become man?” Indeed, this sublime passage from Psalm 77 highlights the origin of the bread of life that we receive in the Eucharist. The manna on which the faithful feed is of heavenly origin and nourishes our strength so that our souls may live from heaven and tend towards heaven. The Eucharist is called the Bread of the Angels, because if in heaven the saints, in the light of glory, are nourished by the clear vision of God, so on earth the faithful, through the splendors of faith, acquire in advance this possession in Holy Communion. On the other hand, the Bread of the Angels also becomes the bread of man, not so that heavenly things may be modeled on human things, but so that man, by his life, may rise to holiness, in the company of the angels.
As for the melody, it is in mode VIII. It soars in the heights of the mode, rises with fervor, and descends with devotion. In short, in this offertory, full of majesty, heaven and earth, angels and men are united. The piece begins with a firm ascent to Do, the dominant of the mode, with a very expressive neumatic cut in the La of the caeli accent. It is the opening of the chant and the gates of heaven, portas caeli, opened the gates of heaven. The La could symbolize in this offertory that meeting point, halfway between heaven and earth. The first incise closes with a very reverent turn between the Sol and the La, full of peaceful joy that hints at the explosion of jubilation that is about to occur. Indeed, in the following incise, apéruit Dóminus, opened (the gates of heaven) the Lord, with an ascending movement similar to that of the incipit, Fa-Sol (Sol) La-Do-(Si), the gates of heaven finish opening. We are approaching God, the presence of the Lord is already felt, and the prayerful one sings with loving tenderness, insisting on the semitonal interval, La-Do-Si Do-Si Si, in aperuit. Full of paschal joy, the prayerful soul contemplates the author of this gesture of "opening": the Lord, his God. In Dominus comes this burst of joy, the formula of mode VIII so characteristic of the canticles of the Easter Vigil, Si-Re-Mi-Do Do-La, resounds with force, and the summit of the piece is reached. The gates of heaven open, and we discover that it is the Lord who unites heaven and earth, he comes to us: note how the composer materializes all this in a beautiful movement of thirds, Mi-Do Do-La La-Do-La Sol-La-Sol, full of fervent reverence.
In the next incise, the rain of heavenly bread falls. Et pluit illis manna, and rained down manna upon them to eat, the composer masterfully symbolizes the rain with a swaying La-Do and places that manna in the Do, let us note that triple Do in illis. On the other hand, in the Sol, we are all those who long to receive that heavenly rain of spiritual nourishment, here below: note the genius of the leap of a fourth, Do-Sol, to illustrate the descent of the manna to us. In the last incise of the first sentence, ut éderent, to eat, the purpose of opening the doors is made concrete: to feed us all with the bread of heaven. In this sense, the melodic turn of aperuit reappears, Sol La-Do-Si Do-Do-Si, thus musically and textually uniting aperuit with ut ederent. The melodic movement ends by settling on the La, between heaven and earth, and eating the angels' bread is a motif of elevation from our "Sol".
The following phrase strongly insists on the bread from heaven, a clear parallel is established with the last phrase, besides having a strong musical connection panem caeli / panem angelorum and dedit / manducavit: the Lord gave them the bread from heaven, so that man could eat the bread of the angels, rising thanks to it to the heavenly heights. In panem caeli, the bread from heaven, panem is clothed in a majestic and solemn movement of thirds, Fa-La Do Mi-Re-Do, it lifts us back to the Lord, to the Mi, the climax of the piece. Then, in caeli, the melodic movement hovers over the Do, with two beautiful ornaments on the Re, before descending suddenly to the Sol, the same interval of a fourth as the manna. In the following incise, dedit illis, he gave them, the melody returns to Do, again gliding over the dominant, the bread that is given from heaven. A very beautiful and reverent descending movement between dedit and illis where the rhythm is amplified by two clivis with episema, Do-La La-sol Sol-Fa-Sol, materializes musically this giving of the bread from heaven to mankind. Likewise, a very suggestive melodic ascent is drawn, firm, solemnized by the only quilisma that appears (we do not take into account the verses of this offertory), Sol-La-Si-Do-Si-La: It is the bread of spiritual elevation, the one that brings us closer to heaven.
The last phrase, panem Angelórum manducávit homo, man ate the bread of angels, is an extension, an amplification of the preceding one, a sort of logical consequence. The musical construction is therefore similar to the previous one. Thus, in panem angelorum, the melodic movement hovers once again over the Do, this time, it delights even more, two groups of 5 strophae, something rare, respectively in panem and Angelorum: the prayerful one contemplates almost ecstatically the bread of the angels on the heights, and their descent to us (the sudden leap of a fourth, Do-Sol, reappears for the third time, closing the word Angelorum). In manducavit homo, the composer displays his genius to culminate this magnificent piece, where heaven meets earth and vice versa. Manducavit masterfully captures the effects for the soul of feeding on heavenly bread: the melody rises gradually but powerfully, agilely, with great enthusiasm. In homo, this heavenly and earthly union is realized. For this, the composer shapes a twist with melodic snippets from other passages: Re-Do-Re-Do-Do of caeli, the leap of a fourth Do-Sol so characteristic of the piece, the climacus Do-Si-La of ederent or the climacus resupinus Si-La-Sol-La of the other caeli, the one at the beginning. In other words, we are told explicitly and implicitly that they ate from heaven!
Moreover, the rhythmic-melodic movement is widened in that sublime descent from the high Re to the Sol in the word homo: in its construction, it is all contemplation in that descent to us, even to the depths of being, of the bread of eternal life. Let us remember what was said above: the Bread of the Angels also becomes the bread of man, so that man, nourished by it, and with its life, rises to holiness, in the company of the angels. The final alleluia is a kind of delight in the divine food, around the Sol, where we find ourselves and the La, that "place" between heaven and earth.

Listen to the Offertorium - Portas caeli at: https://app.neumz.com/listen/missa-portas-caeli-8/07-06-2026

Image: ©Bamberg, Staatsbibliothek lit. 6 f. 42v

31/05/2026

The Most Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three persons, one true God, is the liturgical solemnity that the Universal Church celebrates today. The Trinity designates the truth that in the unity of the Divinity, there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are different from one another.

The feast to honor the Holy Trinity is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. No special day or Office was assigned for the Most Holy Trinity in the early Church. However, the prayers and the Preface of the Trinity already appeared in the Sacramentary of Pope St. Gregory the Great. In the eighth century, the writings of the erudite Monk Alcuin attest that, filled with the spirit of the Sacred Liturgy, he thought that the time had come to write a votive Mass in honor of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Also, it seems to be that he was prompted to do so by a desire of the illustrious apostle of Germania, St. Boniface. However, this Mass, merely votive, was nothing more than an aid to private piety, and there was nothing to suggest that it would one day lead to the institution of a feast.

Stephen, the bishop of Liège, solemnly instituted the feast of the Most Holy Trinity in his church in 920 and had a complete Office composed in honor of the mystery. Little by little, devotion to the Mass of the Most Holy Trinity spread, and we see that it was accepted in Germany by the Council of Seligenstadt in 1022. The feast was established quite early in the same century in Cluny. There is written evidence from 1091 in the liturgical books of this illustrious monastery, where it is mentioned as having been instituted for quite some time. Pope Alexander II (1061-73), refused a request for a special feast with the argument that the Holy Trinity was honored daily with the Gloria Patri and that such a feast was not customary in the Roman Church; but, he did not forbid the celebration where it already existed. Pope John XXII (1316-34) ordered the feast for the whole Church for the first Sunday after Pentecost, since it was after the first great Pentecost that the doctrine of the Trinity was proclaimed to the world, the feast conveniently follows that of Pentecost.

To celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, we have chosen at Neumz the alleluia chant Benedictus es Domine. The text of the alleluia of this solemnity is taken from the Book of Daniel 3:52, and, specifically, from the “Song of the Three Young Men”, canticum Trium Puerorum, is the beginning. It should be emphasized that this alleluia is sung on the Saturday of Pentecost, the eve of the Holy Trinity, right after the reading that contains the previous verses, as a kind of Lectio cm cantico: "The flames rose forty-nine cubits above the furnace, and spread out, burning the Chaldeans that it caught around the furnace. But the angel of the Lord went down into the furnace with Azariah and his companions, drove the fiery flames out of the furnace, and made the inside of the furnace as though a dew-laden breeze were blowing through it. The fire in no way touched them or caused them pain or harm. Then these three in the furnace with one voice sang, glorifying and blessing God: ‘Blessed are you…’" (Book of David 3:47-51).

The text of our alleluia is the exaltation of the three young men to the God of all the lineage of Adam, Noah, and Abraham for having filled the souls of their fathers with the hope and joy of the Messiah: Benedictus es, Domine, Deus patrum nostrorum, et laudabilis in saecula. The translation from Latin means: “Blessed art thou, O Lord, God of our fathers, and worthy of praise; and thy name is glorified forever” (Book of Daniel 3:57). It also places before our eyes or in our voice the thought of the Resurrection and martyrdom. Perhaps the fire of the Holy Spirit was present in the heart of the composer and these three young men prefigure the action of the Holy Trinity. With them, the Church sings of the Three Persons of the Trinity and their beneficial action, day after day, in each of its members. We also consider the Trinity in the destiny of our parents, in the destiny of the generations, and the ways of men. The Most Holy Trinity has shown himself admirable.

As for the melody, it is composed in mode VIII, it is not a copy. It is an original composition, which also appears in the Mass of the Christmas vigil, alleluia Crastina die. It is a joyful melody, of great exterior joy, but without exuberance, full of immense reverence, adoration, and solemnity. We are fully before the majesty of mode VIII, with some touches of mode VII when the Re appears.
The jubilus masterfully condenses the essence of this sublime piece. If we could see celestial beings singing it, we would understand better what is the key to singing these chants: with an immense reverent attitude in the melodic descents and continuous gestures of adoration in the ascents. One can perceive a subdivision in the jubilus, into five parts, an initial motif that is gradually amplified: the first incise, Sol La Si Sol, then the clivis La-Sol marks the second motive (and the others as well) where the appearance of the Do stands out, Sol La Do Si Sol, this second motive is amplified with the distropha on the Sol and the repetition of the clivis La-Sol, and in the last incise the climax appears with the very beautiful leap of a fifth according to the Graduale Novum version (Si-Re in the Vaticana), Sol-Re, of overflowing joy, followed by a very fervent descent from the Do to the Sol full of immense reverence. In the final motive that closes the jubilus, the melody gradually becomes peaceful: the motive that appears in the second incise is utilized again, this time the pes subbipunctis, Sol-Do-Si-Sol, becomes subtripunctis, Sol-Do-Si-La-Sol, and the presus major ends by placing the melodic movement with great serenity and delicacy on the Sol. As we said, it is a jubilus full of adoration, reverence, fervor, and devotion. All of it is materialized by the repetition of the clivis La-Sol, the pes subpunctis of four, five and even six notes, and a certain presence of the semitonal interval of Do-Si, which is much more present in the verse as we will see, and it denotes the loving tenderness that is given off by the prayerful one and his closeness to God.
The verse begins with a beautiful outburst of fervor; Benedictus es, Blessed are you. Tristropha, three Sol-Sol-Sol, in the song of three young people, on the day in which we celebrate the Holy Trinity, this Trinitarian presence could not be more evident. The prayerful one sings giving free rein to a fervent thanksgiving to the Lord: The melody of this incise manifests great fervor in the heights of the mode (the Graduale Novum restores the Si in this passage, Sol-Si Si Do-Si), and after that, it descends to bow or almost genuflect in the Sol, the clivis La-Sol, which characterizes this piece, reappears, passing by. In the following incise, Domine, Deus, Lord, God, there is another burst of fervor, the prayerful cantor once again sets his gaze full of adoration and gratitude on the heights and again resounds the leap of a fifth Sol-Re. The word Deus is covered with the semitonal interval, Do-Si, which envelops it with a tender touch of loving tenderness as we have already indicated. The melody of patrum nostrorum, of our fathers, continues to sound like an echo of gratitude, devotion, and infinite love. The similarity with the beginning of the first incise is considerable: Sol Si Do-Si La-Sol, with the two clivis characteristic of this alleluia. In the posttonic syllable of nostrorum, there is a melodic ascent that reaches the Re, an irrepressible enthusiasm for praising God in the prayerful one, with another sublime semitonal cadence of Do-Si.

The second phrase uses again the motif of Benedictus es, another echo in the piece, et laudabilis in saecula, and praiseworthy forever. In laudabilis for the third time sounds the turn Do-Si (La) La-Sol. The incise closes with the bow or genuflection in the Sol. In in saecula, forever, the umpteenth echo of the piece reappears, the tristropha in the Sol, and a similar start to Benedictus (if one considers the Graduale Novum version). The composer unites both words musically and textually (blessed are you eternally), the beginning and the end, it is like an endless praise. The soul has time to gather its desires for eternal praise before making them blossom in the luminous alleluiatic jubilus.

Listen to the Alleluia at: https://app.neumz.com/listen/missa-benedictus-es-domine-8-126601/31-05-2026

Image: ©Sankt-Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek 359 - Cantatorium f. 139

29/05/2026

🎶 Neumz is joining the Solesmes Gregorian Chant Session once again this year — and we'd love for you to be part of it!

Dream of studying Gregorian chant at its very source? This July 6–11, 2026, the Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes opens its doors for the SGS (Solesmes Gregorian Session) — the place where the restoration of Gregorian chant was born, a thousand years of history alive in every stone.

Live the rhythm of ora et labora alongside the Benedictine community: immerse yourself in chant, liturgy, and sacred music in an atmosphere unlike anywhere else.

✨ New this year: an English-language level is offered for English-speaking participants!

Come and deepen your understanding of one of the Church's most treasured musical traditions — with Neumz by your side. 🙏

📩 Info & registration: [email protected]

24/05/2026

Today we commemorate the Solemnity of Pentecost, the day that the promise of Christ to the apostles that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to guide them in their evangelizing mission was fulfilled. Therefore, it could be said that it is the feast of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost comes from the Greek meaning "fiftieth" (pentecoste). The reason is that Pentecost is the fiftieth day (in Greek, pentecoste hemera) after Easter Sunday (in the Christian calendar). The Holy Spirit is manifested in different ways in the New Testament. Pentecost is a real event as stated in the passage of the Acts of the Apostles which narrates the scene of Pentecost and contains two symbols of the Holy Spirit and his activity, the wind and the fire:
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts of the Apostles 2:1-4). The Solemnity of Pentecost is, therefore, one of the most important in the calendar of the Church. It contains a richness of profound meaning. It also celebrates the universal reign of the Holy Spirit, of whom love is the spiritual fruitfulness of the Church of Christ.

We have chosen at Neumz the communion chant Factus est repente to commemorate this important solemnity, which, like the Introit Spiritus Domini, admirably narrates the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The text is taken from fragments of verses 2, 4, and 11, in chapter 2 of the Acts of the Apostles: Factus est repente de caelo sonus advenientis spiritus vehementis, ubi erant sedentes; et repleti sunt omnes Spiritu Sancto, loquentes magnalia Dei, Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind, where they were sitting, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking of the wonderful works of God. The composer has carefully chosen the words of this passage, focusing not on the miracle of eloquence in other languages, but on the fact that filled with the Holy Spirit the apostles, who were sitting, rose up and began to speak of the greatness of God. All thanks to this celestial commotion. This story and what happened is well put in the mouth of the Church at the moment of Communion. The reception of the Eucharist in a certain way renews the miracle. The Love of God takes hold of us like the Apostles and, filled with the Spirit, we too feel in our interior an uncontrollable ardor to sing and to proclaim the wonders of the Lord. We resemble Mary, our Mother, and her Magnificat: quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est, “for the Mighty One has done great things for me” (Luke 1:49). Thus, as on the day of Pentecost, but this time without wind and noise, the Holy Spirit invades the soul, which also, in the silence of thanksgiving, begins to chant the wonders of God.

As for the melody, it is composed in mode VII. It develops around the fifth of the two modal poles Sol-Re, expresses clarity and joy, and sings in the heights of the angelic mode. It is a very lively recitative, even dramatic. All the sensitive reactions provoked by the miracle are present. This communion chant has a very clear musical structure, marked by the two phrases separated by the full-bar: one is Factus est repente which corresponds to the arrival of the Holy Spirit, and the other et repleti sunt which shows the effects of this arrival on the Apostles, both phrases accompanied by alleluias. At first sight, we observe that the two parts are clearly distinguished by the chant. In fact, the alleluias that conclude them have the same melody. The two phrases have a fast, agile beginning, which rises to the dominant, develops around it, and then begins a soft cadence towards the fundamental, with a much more serene and peaceful melodic climate, which stands out for its counterposition with the beginning. The two phrases are like this: the melody, very lively, highlights all the sensitive reactions produced by the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, "suddenly"; "a loud sound", the suddenness and violence of the impetuous breath that follows. To highlight all these episodes the melody takes advantage of the perfect fifth, Sol-Re, proper to mode VII, both to rise suddenly and to descend suddenly or in a soft cadence in the Sol. With these movements of enthusiasm and strong ardor, the melody manages to transmit and incorporate the assembly of faithful that is celebrating today, in that same outpouring of the "spirit" that the apostles experienced on the day of Pentecost. And this, as is proper to Gregorian chant, is not done in a purely emotional way, but in a truly sacramental way. This is when Gregorian chant reaches its greatest richness in the liturgy.
As we have already noted, the beginning of the piece is lively and agile. Factus est repente de caelo sonus, Suddenly there came a sound from heaven: several successive direct leaps, from the fundamental to the dominant, convey the impression of surprise and emotion, as well as translating the violent wind. In the melodic summit of the piece, Fa-Mi-Fa-Re, in de caelo sonus, the astonishment and admiration in front of the irruption of this celestial sound is chanted. The porrectus flexus of the accent of sonus vibrates agilely but with force, a vibration that extends to the following incise, advenientis spiritus vehementis, as of a mighty wind. Indeed, the melodic movement will revolve around the Re, embellished with the Mi and Do, the wind levitates in the heights of the mode, and blows strongly: note the pes quadratus, Do-Mi, of the accent of Spiritus or the quilismatic movement of vehementis (by the way, the only one in the piece), La-Si-Do Do-Re. The melody settles on the Do to close the incise and from there, in the following incise, ubi erant sedentes; where they were sitting, it begins a staggered descent, a figure of the same descent of the Spirit where the disciples were seated. The melody becomes somewhat more ornate, slower, and more paused to translate the almost motionless attitude of the apostles. This mood is transmitted to the alleluia that concludes this first phrase: peaceful, full of paschal joy that shines with a beautiful melodic arc Sol-Do-Sol.
In the second phrase, et repleti sunt omnes Spiritu Sancto, and all were filled with the Holy Spirit, the melody restarts again with impetus, toward the dominant, with the enthusiasm of the prayerful one to chant the action of the Holy Spirit. It is worth noting the magnificent scandicus with the first articulated note, Do-Re-Mi, of the accent of repleto: the melody is filled with the strength of the breath of the prayerful soul. The melody moves again with lightness and vivacity, as in the beginning, in the heights of the mode, spiritus and Spiritu present a very similar melodic turn: one clearly identifies the spiritus vehementis of the first phrase, Do-Mi Re Do, with the explicit presence of the Holy Spirit in the text, Mi Re Do, but in the second phrase there is a greater majesty. The incise closes with a cadenza on the high Mi, of character of much suspense. In loquentes magnalia Dei, speaking of the wonderful works of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit enters the deepest part of creation: the hearts of the disciples and, from them, little by little, fills all things. All this is expressed in the magnificent fifth Re-Sol, which is the foundation of this incise. After a beautiful turn around the dominant in loquentes, the melody begins a peaceful descent towards the fundamental, it widens in magnalia, and contemplates the wonders of God. The inner state of the disciples prevails, this passage is more a manifestation of how the interior of the soul is, full of serenity, peace, and joy: the low Fa appears for the first and only time, the semitonal interval Si-Do is insisted upon, denoting that closeness with God, of the soul that is filled with the Spirit and chants with loving tenderness the wonders of its Creator.
As for the two final alleluias, the first takes again the enthusiasm and vivacity of the start of the two phrases of this piece (in fact the Graduale Novum indicates a leap of a fourth, Sol-Do, much more joyful than the leap of a third of the Vaticana). The second one already echoed in the piece, is more interior, peaceful, and serene, but full of Easter joy. And thus closes another jewel of the Gregorian repertoire that so magnificently expresses the immensity of the prodigy that the Church celebrates today.

Image: ©Einsiedeln, Stiftbibliothek 121 f. 257

Listen to the Communio • Factus est repente • at: https://app.neumz.com/listen/missa-factus-est-repente-de-caelo-sonus-7/24-05-2026

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