Gloria in excelsis deo
Vatican XV, 10th-Century Sources
| Sources for Medieval Christian Liturgy | Gloria in excelsis deo Vatican XV, 10th-Century Sources |
This setting of the Gloria in excelsis is shown here with the
Solesmes markings in the Vatican edition of the melody. The melody is extremely constrained. It
is little more than an alternation between two recitation pitches: G and a. The G is approached
from below by the E and the a from above by b. No other pitches appear until the 'Amen' at the
close of the hymn. The piece is almost more heightened speech than melody. It acheives its effect,
a certain level of drama and shape, through its elegant manipulation of the recitation pitch. The
opening third of the work creates an AABA form highlighting the short interior statements by
ending each phrase on E and changing the recitation pitch from a to G.
a Gloria in excelsis deo,
a et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis
G Laudamus te.
G Benedicimus te.
G Adoramus te.
G Glorificamus te.
a Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
Since such a straightforward piece can be sung by just about anybody (certainly no special musical
training would be required), many believe that this melody could never have been intended for a
schola cantorum. It seems probable that it was intended for the entire assembly, clergy and
laity alike.
We do not, of course, know in just what manner this melody would have been sung at any given
time. Singers may very well have ornamented these recitation tones with undulations of the voice
as is the case in many Western folk-music traditions and Arab classical music. Compare this
melody with a very similar one from the Mozarabic Rite perfomed by Marcel
Pérès and the Ensemble Organum on their CD Chant Mozarabe:
Cathédrale de Tolède, (Harmonia Mundi, HMC 901519), track 3.