Viderunt omnes
The Viderunt omnes (Latin, all [ of the earth ] have seen ) is a Gregorian gradual from the liturgy of Christmas Measuring the Proper. The text is based on the Vulgate translation of Psalm 98 ( Ps 98.3 ee ). The chorale settings ( Organa ) of the Notre Dame School, which dated to the late 12th century, are among the earliest surviving polyphonic compositions in music history.
Text
The Vulgate is one of the psalm as the 97th (Ps 97.3 VUL ), the text of Graduales offers for unknown reasons, only the second half of verse 3 The call Iubilate Deo, omnis terra ( " Shout to the Lord, all the earth " ) is in turn the first half of the story currently marked as verse 4. These two half- verses then follows the passage now listed as verse 2. It should however be noted that the division of the Bible into verses, and even their exact succession was not yet unified in the Middle Ages.
Musical arrangements
The Gregorian Graduale
The unanimous Gregorian Graduale is dated to the 11th century, the author or authors of the melody are not known. It serves the edits Léonins and Pérotins as a cantus firmus. Both composers grab most likely back to a practiced before them performance practice that allows the singers a rich improvisatory ornamentation of the originally simple Gregorian melody. A rich melismas version can still be found in the Liber Usualis.
The Organa of the Notre Dame school
The Magnus liber organi handed a two-part process the Viderunt omnes of Léonin as well as a four-part ( quadruplum ) of the younger Pérotin, who was probably a pupil of the former. Since it is not to clarify to what extent has gone lost medieval source material can only speculate regarding the often postulated revolutionary novelty of the Notre Dame school.
In contrast to older forms of sacred vocal music but just the quadrupla Pérotins require precisely because of the need for coordination of the four voices a quite unknown at the time precision of the rhythmic execution.
In the setting, the Notre- Dame school holds (hence the term tenor, from Latin tenere to hold ) a voice on the zerdehnten extremely long note values cantus firmus, while one or more other voices - Duplum, Triplum etc. - rhythmically much more animated develop melisma about it.
This melismatic ( organic tional ) passages claim upon Léonin, but especially in the Pérotin considerably longer part of the performance period during which, however, are only a few syllables of the Psalm text on the blade. The remaining text will be carried unanimously in a relatively short time of the Schola in traditional Gregorian, much more syllabic embossed style.
Subsequent edits
The development of liturgical music led in a comparatively short time to compose complete Mass settings, where - given to the Ordinary of preference - also for pragmatic reasons. Compositions of individual sections of the Mass, especially liturgical subordinated as the Graduale, this occurred gradually in the background.
Nonetheless, the composers of later epochs attacked you back on familiar Gregorian melodies that they used often as a cantus firmi their motets. The spiritual Latin text was able to quite sound simultaneously with secular, vernacular, such as in Adam de la Halle De ma dame vient ( French with upper voices ).
The Catholic English Renaissance composer William Byrd published in 1607 a four-part processing of the Viderunt omnes in the style of his time. Orlando di Lasso put the Psalm text as a five-part motet.
Swell
- Bruno Stäblein: Art Graduale ( vocals) Ludwig Finscher. The music past and present, property, part 5, p 632ff, Barenreiter / Metzler, Kassel and Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-7618-1105-5