The article aims to depict how studying adiastematic manuscripts can lead us notonly to the most faithful interpretation of Gregorian music, but also to the most relevantthing, which is understanding the spiritual and theological content of plainsong.Gregorian chant is a true sonic exegesis, and semiology is the science that – through thequestion of why this and not another sign was used over a specific neum – opens the wayto regaining some performance practice that is not a copy of the past but becomes a liturgicalreality today. In this paper two chants from the Midnight Mass form at Christmaswere subjected to a comparative analysis: Introitus: Dominus dixit and Communio: Insplendoribus sanctorum. The analysis is based on two sources, widely accepted in semiologicalstudies, namely the Einsiedeln 121 manuscript containing the Sanctgallen notation,and the Laon manuscript 239, which gives us the Laon or Metzen notation. On thisbasis, the idea of the Gregorian composer’s behaviour and the way it influences musicalperformance were described.
PL
Artykuł ma na celu ukazanie, w jaki sposób studiowanie rękopisów adiastematycznych może nas doprowadzić nie tylko do najwierniejszej interpretacji utworów gregoriańskich, ale do tego, co najważniejsze – do rozumienia treści duchowo-teologicznej tych śpiewów. Śpiew gregoriański jest prawdziwą egzegezą brzmieniową, a semiologia jest tą nauką, która – poprzez pytanie, dlaczego został wykorzystany taki, a nie inny znak nad określoną neumą – otwiera drogę do odzyskania pewnej praktyki wykonawczej, która nie jest kopią przeszłości, ale staje się rzeczywistością liturgiczną dzisiaj. W tym celu zostały poddane analizie porównawczej dwa śpiewy z formularza mszy o północy na Boże Narodzenie: Introitus: Dominus dixit oraz Communio: In splendoribus sanctorum. Analiza opiera się na dwóch źródłach, powszechnie przyjętych w badaniach semiologicznych, a mianowicie na rękopisie Einsiedeln 121 zawierającym notację sanktgalleńską oraz na rękopisie Laon 239 przekazującym nam notację laońską albo metzeńską. Na tej podstawie został przedstawiony zamysł postępowania kompozytora gregoriańskiego oraz sposób, w jaki rzutuje on na praktykę wykonawczą.
In the article the author asks how the Gregorian melodies were created? How were they written down? Is it possible that the notation may be a tool for a deeper understanding of the text? In this way the author explores the secrets of the Gregorian compositional technique – which is based on using the same formulas or even the whole melodies for different texts. It is clearly visible that the Gregorian composer “thought through the perspective of the word”. Each new text has a different verbal rhythm, resulting from the nature of the words, and this gives the same melody a new sense and a new meaning in a new verbal context. To convince oneself of the truthfulness of this statement and of the sophistication of the composer’s intervention, it is not enough to look only at the Vatican notation; one must reach for adiastematic notation, which conveys the rhythm of the intonation contour. Comparing the same melodies in different verbal contexts with divergent rhythms shows us that the same melody becomes for the composer a “pretext” to express something more. In the article, three melodies (graduals) based on the modal pattern of the fifth modus – plagal tritus – (Christus factus est, Exiit sermo, Ecce sacerdos magnus) were analysed. On their example, the author demonstrates how the modal pattern of plagal tritus has been adapted to the new text.
PL
W artykule Autorka pyta się jak powstały melodie gregoriańskie? W jaki sposób zostały one zapisane? Czy zapis może być narzędziem do głębszego zrozumienia tekstu? Autorka wchodzi w ten sposób w tajniki gregoriańskiej techniki kompozytorskiej; polega ona przede wszystkim na wykorzystywaniu tych samych formuł albo nawet całych melodii do różnych tekstów, w czym wyraźnie widać, że kompozytor gregoriański „myślał słowem”. Każdy nowy tekst zawiera inny rytm werbalny, wynikający z natury słów, a to nadaje tej samej melodii nowy sens i nowe znaczenie w nowym kontekście słownym. Aby przekonać się o prawdziwości tego stwierdzenia i wyrafinowaniu zabiegu kompozytorskiego nie wystarczy spojrzeć tylko notację watykańską; trzeba sięgnąć do notacji adiastematycznej, która przekazuje rytm przebiegu melodycznego. Porównanie ze sobą tych samych melodii w różnych kontekstach słownych z różnym rytmem pokazuje nam, że ta sama melodia staje się dla kompozytora „pretekstem” do wyrażenia czegoś więcej. W artykule zostały przeanalizowane trzy melodie (graduały) bazujące na wzorcu modalnym piątego modusu, czyli tritusa plagalnego (Christus factus est, Exiit sermo, Ecce sacerdos magnus), Na ich przykładzie Autorka pokazuje, w jaki sposób wzorzec modalny tritusa plagalnego został zaadaptowany do nowego tekstu.
Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (ca. 1632–1714), a composer and organist of the Parisian parish of Saint-Sulpice, regarded as one of the keenest advocators of the Gregorian chant in the 17th c. when heated debates on its subject were carried out by the Church. The Gregorianists of Grand Siècle carefully analysed the proper approaches towards this way of singing, how to interpret it, what is the correlation between words and chants, what should be the proper rhythm. Amongst various opinions (e.g. by Jumilhac and Le Clerc) representing purely theoretical approach, Nivers’ main idea was to make a choral regain its place as most appropriate during liturgy. For that reason his theoretical work Dysertacja na temat chorału gregoriańskiego (Treatise on Gregorian Chant) was wholly written in order to present “proper” rules of the chant, cleansing it of all misinterpretations and misuses to have crept into it over the centuries. In his work Guillaume- Gabriel Nivers used his high abilities and paid due respect to tradition when relying on the authorities of the Church, e.g. St. Augustine, St. Gregory or St. Justin. In his approach towards the Gregorian chant he emphasised the principle of Church “correctness” which consisted in:excluding from singing all connections with secular music;focusing on internal sense of lyrics through „affects” included in particular modes, proper punctuation in texts, and making melodies apply to grammar rules;respecting inégalité (inequality) in singing, as resulted from „good taste” and rules of diction.
PL
Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers (ca. 1632–1714), a composer and organist of the Parisian parish of Saint-Sulpice, regarded as one of the keenest advocators of the Gregorian chant in the 17th c. when heated debates on its subject were carried out by the Church. The Gregorianists of Grand Siècle carefully analysed the proper approaches towards this way of singing, how to interpret it, what is the correlation between words and chants, what should be the proper rhythm. Amongst various opinions (e.g. by Jumilhac and Le Clerc) representing purely theoretical approach, Nivers’ main idea was to make a choral regain its place as most appropriate during liturgy. For that reason his theoretical work Dysertacja na temat chorału gregoriańskiego (Treatise on Gregorian Chant) was wholly written in order to present “proper” rules of the chant, cleansing it of all misinterpretations and misuses to have crept into it over the centuries. In his work Guillaume- Gabriel Nivers used his high abilities and paid due respect to tradition when relying on the authorities of the Church, e.g. St. Augustine, St. Gregory or St. Justin. In his approach towards the Gregorian chant he emphasised the principle of Church “correctness” which consisted in:excluding from singing all connections with secular music;focusing on internal sense of lyrics through „affects” included in particular modes, proper punctuation in texts, and making melodies apply to grammar rules;respecting inégalité (inequality) in singing, as resulted from „good taste” and rules of diction.
In the French music the period 1665–1703 is the time of great changes, when the style known generally as classical organ music of the so-called Grand Siècle took its shape. Among the numerous composers active during that period was Guillaume-Gabriel Nivers, organist of Saint-Sulpice – one of the most eminent Parisian churches. His career developed in connection with the church, the convent of Benedictine nuns as well as the school for noble young ladies in Saint-Cyr-l’École. That is why Nivers composed only church music. His works, collected in three organ books and in the Thièry manuscript (ascribed to him), are representative of French music composed in the 17th–18th cent. It was the tradition associated with alternatim technique, with alternating sections in organ verses and chant. The thee organ books by Nivers constitute a large opus which includes numerous genres characteristic for the period; Nivers worked on all of them systematically, which led to their development, especially in liturgical music.On the one hand, Nivers was „pre-classical”, which can be seen in his use of Gregorian cantus firmus (Mass, Hymns, Sequences), from which his contemporaries would largely depart, as well as in the „modal thinking”, especially in the works included in the Premier and Troisième Livre d’Orgue. On the other hand, his oeuvre opened the door to welcome the new period, which can be seen primarily in the „new style” – melodious, based on meticulously chosen registers, varied according to the character of a particular piece and its place in liturgy.
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