Luogo e data di registrazione		- Montserrat Monastery (Spagna) - marzo 1973 * - Münsterschwarzach Abbey, Bavaria (Germania) - gennaio 1981
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Engineer		Andreas Holschneider / Heinz Wildhagen
	Prima Edizione LP		- Archiv - 2533 158 - (1 lp) - durata 43' 39" - (p) 1974 - Analogico - (intero) * - Archiv - 410 658-1 - (1 lp) - durata 52' 15" - (p) 1982 - Analogico - (parziale)
	Edizione "Collectio" CD		Archiv - 437 071-2 - (1 cd) - durata 73' 08" - (c) 1986 - ADD
	Note		-

THE RESPONSORIES OF MATINS AT CHRISTMAS The offices ofthe canonical Hours, sung at appointed times throughout the day and night in Benedictine communities, begin at midnight with Matins, at once a highpoint of the entire cycle. It is so not only on account of the admirable construction of this office and its - by comparison with the Mass - greater textual variety, but also by virtue of its music; its principal chants, the twelve responsoria, form a particularly impressive group within the immense corpus of several thousand plainsong melodies. If these chants are to be fully appreciated two points should be borne in mind. Firstly, as in the Mass the responsorial chants regularly follow a lesson - they are “concert pieces”, during which the liturgical action ceases and all present, including the celebrant, listen to the singing. Secondly, as its name suggests, the responsorium is an “answering” song. It is centred upon the presentation of a psalm or, as here, a freely written text, its verses being sung by one or more soloists to one of the eight modal melodies known as psalm tones, while the choir reply with a longer response in the nature of a refrain. Every listener will at once appreciate the fine effect of the sequence, which is clearly evident in the shaping of its melodies: choral responsorium - solo verse - repetition of the choral responsorium (although since the beginning of written records in the 9th century only its second half has been repeated). There is a third factor to be considered: those present at Matins are aware of all the responsoria of a festival as parts of a larger organism, whose structure is destroyed if one or more sections are sung in isolation. It is more in keeping with the intended effect to present in their entirety the twelve responsorial chants for a single festival, in this case Christmas. (The absence of the lesson which precedes each piece in the liturgical context is less important.) The texts of the responsoria, most of which are free prose passages of great lyrical beauty and profundity of ideas, throw light on the mystery of Christmas from ever new aspects: redemption through the Incarnation, the shepherds, even the ox and ass (animaliz) at the crib, the angels, the Virgin Mother Mary, John the Baptist, who foretells the coming of the Lamb of God, and finally the beginning of St. John’s Gospel telling of the Logos, the Word become flesh - every possible element of the story is drawn upon so that the joy of the festival can be savoured in every way. Fundamental to an understanding of the plainsong melodies, which are some thirteen centuries old - recent research dates them during the second half of the 7th century - is an appreciation of their intimate connection with the words. The Roman melodies are not intended to impart feelings so much as to bring out the meaning of the words, so that they will be as understandable as possible to the listeners. This definition of plainsong as a means of achieving “heightened declamation of the words” only appears to limit its scope. It is in fact a thing of musical beauty such as can scarcely be described in words. The fact that plainsong combines these two characteristics, faithful service to the words and the apparently unhindered unfolding of beautiful melody in a manner which may truly be described as classical, makes it one of the really great musical phenomena of all times. A few indications may make it easier to appreciate some of the telling effects contained in the music. It will be noticed that in the first responsorium the first and last passages (at “dignatus est” and to an even greater extent at “apparuit”) sink gracefully down from a high level to the fundamental note. The same striking effect occurs in the second responsorium at “descendit” and “sunt caeli”. In contrast to the animated melodic line of these first two pieces, the third, a dialogue with the shepherds, is more tranquil. “Descendit de caelis”, the fourth responsorium, which follows, concludes the first group of four chants, the first of the three Nocturns - the principal sections of Matins. This is also the reason why the last responsorium of each Nocturn has a second verse, namely the doxology “Gloria patri . . .”, a last reminder if its early version with several verses, which has not come down to us. A strongly expressive “O!” begins the fifth responsorium, whose melody is embellished with numerous melismata emphasizing its crucial words. In No. 6, “Beata dei genitrix”, we again admire the peaceful conclusion of the two main sections. The shorter text of No. 7, “Sancta et immaculata”, is matched by a less expansive and less ornamented melody. By contrast No. 8. “Angelus ad pastores”, which follows, is again richer in its musical setting; after its rapid opening phrase the angel’s discourse reaches its climax at “annuntio vobis”, then again becoming more placid (as in so many other instances) at “gaudium magnum” which follows. (The same effect occurs at “omni populo”, “dominus” and “civitate David”.) The first responsorium of the third Nocturn, No. 9, “Ecce agnus dei”, a very extensive piece, includes three exclamations of “Ecce!” (a word translated as “behold!”, but this lacks the depth of meaning of the Latin expression). The third “Ecce!”, set to almost 30 notes, rises to a very high pitch, and with the “de quo dicebam vobis” forms the climax of the impressive, impassioned declaration of John the Baptist. In responsorium No. 10, “Beata viscera”, the crucial words “Qui hodie pro salute mundi de virgine nasci dignatus est”, the idea at the very heart of the festival of Christmas, are presented most vividly to the listener by means of the high-lying and richly embellished melody. The opening words of St. John’s Gospel are divided between the last two responsoria: the animated “In principio” and the rather more tranquil “Verbum caro”, in which we encounter on three occasions the already familiar and beautiful ettect of the melody seeming to sway down to the fundameutal note (“in nobis”, “eius” and “veritatis”): this last responsorium is unusual in that its versicle does not adhere to the traditional pattern, here of the eigth psalm tone as used for the second responsorium; the fact that it is, unusually, in three sections, and its jagged, restless line, show this new piece of psalmody to be a later composition. The Benedictine monastery of Montserrat, founded soon after AD 1000, which lies high in the mountains to the west of Barcelona, can look back on a long and glorious musical heritage, unequalled anywhere else in Spain. The singing of the present-day Escolania (Schola) is distinguished by its refreshingly lively manner of presentation, with great rhythmical elasticity and freedom. One can imagine that the melodies were sung in this manner, or something like it, in Mediterranean countries at the time of their composition. The twelve responsoria are included in the Liber Responsorialis published by the Benedictines of Solesmes, first edition, page 56 ff. In some cases the monks of`Montserrat sing from better manuscript versions, which were unknown or had not yet found favour at Solesmes nearly 80 years ago. Bruno Stäblein (Translated from the German) PROPER OF THE FIRST MASS FOR CHRISTMAS Keeping a birthday - using the anniversary of a birth as an occasion for celebration - is familiar nowadays both in family and in public life. It is, therefore, surprising how many years elapsed before Christendom established the custom of celebrating liturgically the birth of its Lord; not until the early fourth century (or possibly the late third century) did the feast of Christmas take its place alongside the earliest and, originally, only annual celebration of the Church, but from then on the birth of Christ has been remembered in addition to the Easter mysteries of his death and resurrection. Thus the feast of Christmas is 200 years younger than that of Easter, and 300 years younger than the Christian observance of Sunday! This initial delay is not due solely to the fact that the Bible gives us no clear information concerning the exact date of Christ’s birth, so that it was not known when his birth should be celebrated. When this subject began to arouse interest, pious speculation soon estimated and established a date; this had less to do with any historical tradition than with the conviction that the chronology of Christ’s life was governed by particular numerical laws, and in some mysterious manner was connected with the seasons of the year. Was this speculation, and the apparent success of the calculations to which it had given rise, the reason for the introduction of the new festival? Or was this the result of increasing Christian reflection on the significance of the Incarnation of the Son of God? Or should it be regarded as the “festival of a great religious idea”, namely the Nicene dogma (AD 325), which originally celebrated not the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus, but the equally divine Son proceeding from God the Father before time began? There is good reason to believe that the principal reason for the introduction of the feast of Christmas was apologetic rather than dogmatic. To be precise, the institution of the festival was - in the opinion of the majority of Church historians - the Christian reaction to the fact that the Emperor Aurelian (AD 270-75), proclaimed the Sol Invictus as Dominus Imperii Romani, and declared 25 December, at the time of the winter solstice, an imperial holiday, Natalis Solis Invicti. This pagan festival of the ancient cult of the sun thus gave the Roman Christians an opportunity to celebrate quite deliberately on the same day their feast of the Natalis Christi, commemorating the birth of their true Lord and King, the “sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2). From Rome the feast of Christmas spread rapidly throughout the Western churches; it was also adopted in the East, and was finally proclaimed by the Emperor Justinian II (565-78) as being binding throughout the entire Empire. Meanwhile celebration of the Nativity had been codified into three Masses (for use at midnight, dawn, and during the day), whose liturgical prayers, melodies and lessons had been chosen and appointed. Consideration of the works of the Proper of the Mass of Christmas, which are sung in this recording to the plainsong melodies passed down to us from the earliest sources of liturgical music notation dating from the ninth and tenth centuries, reveals the unexpected fact of the absence of anything in the nature of Christmas idylls and Romanticism associated with the crib - indeed, of any direct reference to the event at Bethlehem. Instead, most of the texts, all of which are from the Psalter, refer to power, might and kingship. The emphasis on this aspect of the subject, with occasional allusions to symbols of the sun and of light, remind us that the festival originated in opposition to the pagan cult of the Roman sun-god. However, in order fully to understand why the earliest Christian liturgical music for Christmas differs so greatly in subject matter from the Christmas carols with which We are familiar, why it leaves unsung the manger and crib, the shepherds and angels, the Mother and Child, evidently viewing the object of adoration in an entirely different light, it is necessary to consider the essential nature of Christian liturgical celebration. What is celebrated is not a past event in the history of man’s redemption, but something which is taking place now as part of the process of salvation; the feast of Christmas proclaims not the historical birth but (like, in fact, any birthday celebration) the person who is being honoured, as he is today. For this reason the texts of the Christmas Masses go far beyond the historical event of Bethlehem. When the offertory of the Missa in nocte refers to the Lord’s coming, this is the “quoniam venit” of the 96th Psalm - at once past, present and future; thankful recollection of the coming which occurred at a particular moment in history, believing trust in the coming which takes place today (especially in the liturgical celebration), and hopeful expectation of the promised final return at the last day. And when the other sections of the Proper of this Mass, with verses from the Messianic Psalms 2 and 110, acclaim Christ as the Son of God, then the fourfold “genui te” encompasses the Christmas mystery of the Incarnation, although it refers first and simultaneously to the eternal begetting of the Son “ante luciferum”, i.e. before the beginning of time and history, and “hodie”, i. e. at this present time, to the presence among us of the glorified Lord, in whose resurrection - as Jesus the man entered into the full glory of God - the early Church saw the fulfilment of the psalmist’s words (cf Acts 13:33). It is astonishing how many and how varied were the means of musical expression provided by unison Gregorian plainchant singing to give an “adequate body of sound” to words of great weight and depth of meaning. As certain texts appear more than once in the Christmas Masses, these provide particularly good opportunities to observe how, in accordance with the liturgical functions of the chant, the same Words can appear in entirely different musical settings. The particular features of socalled processional and meditative chants, of antiphonal and responsorial pieces to be sung by soloists or in chorus - all these are unmistakably evident: there are the concentrated texture of an introit or communion antiphon, the wealth of notes of a gradual, the straightforward psalmody of the verses of an introit, and in complete contrast the melismatic richness of the verses of an offertory... Melodies of the highest degree of individuality are contrasted by others which make use of conventional formulae, although these depart from the customary patterns where it is important to give special weight to a particular passage in the text (as at the beginning of the gradual Tecum principium, where by means of an unusual musical setting the words “Thine is the kingdom” bear the appropriate emphasis. If one examines the introits of the first Mass, one is all the more astonished by the musical richness of plainchant (which is also spiritual richness, because in a unique manner it gives immediacy to the text and its presentation, bringing it to life in sound): in the introit Dominus dixit ad me the melody seldom goes beyond the compass of a minor third in mode 2, and this, together with the necessary extreme delicacy of sound (the neumes in the earliest manuscripts demand almost everywhere light and swift, “floating” singing), creates a sense of awe before the profound mystery of Divinity taking on human flesh, forbidding from the outset any attempt to present the words with the normal means of musical expression and melodic intensity. And how differently the same mystery is proclaimed in the communion, now that the believer is able to approach the mystic Godhead in tangible form. Beginning with the compass of a minor third as in the introit, the melody ascends a major third at the word “utero”, and at “luciferum” even a fifth; above all, the musical setting here undoubtedly requires considerable weight and emphasis in performance (in this instance the neumes in the earliest manuscripts demand almost everywhere deliberate, heavily-stressed interpretation). Dom Joseph Gajard (of Solesmes), in a paper published in 1924, singled out the Communio as convincing proof that study of the earliest manuscripts containing plainsong, the subtlety of whose neumatic notation has preserved the original rhythmic nuances of Gregorian chant, is indispensable for anyone “Who wishes to comprehend the true character of a melody and its real meaning”. The singers in this recording have attempted to take seriously this advice, which Gajard gave not only “in the interest of art” but also “in the interest of prayer”. Their rhythmic presentation of the melodies is in accordance with the earliest and most authentic manuscripts (and they have not hesitated to depart from the form published in the Editio Vaticana in instances where the earliest source reveals a clear difference). They have proceeded in this way not only in order to comply with the findings of musicological research (which is the self-evident duty of all true and responsible interpretation in every branch of music), but, even more important, to experience again in an increased measure the abundant life and spiritual power with which plainsong melodies are able to present the words of proclamation and adoration - and, perhaps, also to enable the listener to share this experience at a new and more profound level of perception. Rhabanus erbacher OSB (Translation: John Coombs)