Luogo e data di registrazione		Klosterkirche Montserrat (Spagna) - 14/17 marzo 1973
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Production		Dr. Andreas Holschneider
	Recording supervision		Heinz Wildhagen
	Recording Engineer		Heinz Wildhagen
	Prima Edizione LP		ARCHIV - 2533 158 - (1 LP - durata 44' 00") - (p) 1974 - Analogico
	Prima Edizione CD		ARCHIV - 435 032-2 - (4 CD's - durata 78' 14"; 73' 13"; 71' 18" & 73' 54" - [CD1 1-12]) - (c) 1993 - ADD
	Cover		MS 72 Bibliothek Montserrat, 12. Jh., pag. 26/27; 24,2 cm x 14,7 cm. R. O magnum misterium etc. (Aquitanisch-katalanische Notation)
	Note		-

 

The Tradition of the Gregorian Chant (II) Montserrat - The Responsoria of Matins at Christmas The offices of the 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 (animalia) 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. Anyone who follows the words printed here will be able to hear how Roman musicians made the form of the text both visible and audible, because at a single vertical stroke the rest in the melody is shorter than at the double stroke which occurs when the conclusion of a particular idea marks the end of a passage. The function of final phrases is emphasized by melismata, the increased musical elaboration of particular syllables, represented here by slanting print. Psalmody, i. e. the verse melody sung by the soloist, is always in two sections, simpler at its centre and more richly ornamented towards its close. 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 1st 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 2nd 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 4th 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 of its early version with several verses, which has not come down to us. A strongly expressive “O!” begins the 5th 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 ange1’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 thirty 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 effect of the melody seeming to sway down to the fundamental 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 8th psalm tone as used for the 2nd 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 1000 A. D., 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 Escolanía (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, 1st edition, page 56 et seq. In some cases the monks of Montserrat sing from better manuscript versions, which were unknown or had not yet found favour at Solesmes nearly eighty years ago. Bruno Stäblein