To explain fully the origin of a great literary movement must always be difficult, for the subtle influences affecting its beginnings elude a scientific analysis of facts. One observes the revival of Latin hymnology between 750 and 900 A.D. with amazement. The voices of Ambrose, his contemporaries and his immediate imitators had been silenced for centuries. Venantius Fortunatus had stood forth, a solitary survival of the old Latin poetic genius or, perhaps more accurately, a solitary herald of the new medieval awakening. Then a flowering of religious poetry spread over western Europe, not to be withered by new barbarian invasions but to be the permanent possession of the Christian Church.
In this period the older cycles of office hymns were revised and expanded and fresh cycles created in such numbers as to justify the new terminology of theLater HymnalorNinth Century Hymnal. The sequence arose in the formal worship of the mass, affording a new inspirational to clerical poets and resulting in a body of sacred verse of increasing influence. The processional hymn and its related forms appeared in response to the new impulse toward a hymnic accompaniment to ceremonial acts. In effect, the hymn during the period under consideration, was well established in every aspect of formal worship.
In the background of the age which created this literature must be sought the trends and motivation which make intelligible the voices of its interpreters. Accordingly, in the years from 750 to 900 A.D. when the Carolingian rulers, Pippin, Charlemagne, Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald were guiding the destinies of the Franks, the various influences affecting public worship must be surveyed. The most important were theliturgical reforms undertaken or sponsored by the Carolingian rulers; their promotion of ecclesiastical music and singing; their interest in the reform and expansion of the Benedictine Order; the literary activity of members of the Carolingian court circles who devoted themselves to liturgical studies or poetic expression; the part played by Celtic culture; the infiltration of Byzantine ideas and arts and the rise of Germanic genius.
The introduction and permanent establishment of the Roman liturgy in Frankish realms form the background of public worship in the Carolingian era. When Pippin ascended the throne in 752, the Gallican Rite prevailed. When the reign of Charles the Bald came to a close in 877, the Roman Rite was supreme.[1]Charlemagne received the Gregorian Sacramentary from Pope Hadrian I.[2]Stimulated by his desire to unify the Germanic peoples under papal as well as imperial authority, he brought about by royal edicts or capitularies a widespread reform in the western continental church. Those features of his program which affected hymnology include requirements that priests must be educated, that monks observe their monastic rule, that the singing of the psalms and thegloriabe improved, that schools of singing and grammar be founded in monastic and diocesan centers, that both regular and secular clergy be urged to acquire knowledge and skill in singing, that the Roman Chant be ordained, that a singing school be established at Aix-la-Chapelle, that the clergy read and sing well.[3]Charlemagne’s successors, Louis the Pious and Charles the Bald continued his reforming policy.
In the legislation cited above, Charlemagne had followed his father’s example which favored a training in Gregorian music under Roman teachers, as developed in the schools of Rome.[4]Pippin’s interest had resulted in the establishment of a musical center of great repute at Metz[5]which also possessed a cathedral school representative of the finest institutions which flourished at this time side by side with monastic centers of learning.
Charlemagne was presented with a copy of the Benedictine Rule with choir rules, office and festival hymns, by Theodomar, Abbot of Monte Cassino, sometime between 787 and 797.[6]It became his chosen duty to promulgate the Rule, to require its observance everywhere within his realms and further to extend the influence of the Order in general. Consequently,monastic centers of music arose, for example, at St. Gall where the hymnody of the offices was fostered and gradually made available for the bishoprics as well. Louis the Pious, (814-840), and Charles the Bald, (843-877), in their turn continued the patronage of the Benedictine Order. Already fortified by the efforts of Charlemagne, the Benedictines entered a period of religious and cultural influence which was later merged into the age of the universities. Linked directly with the program for monastic reform, the impulse to write new hymns and the encouragement to finer musical performance together created the annual cycles of this period in which the older hymns were retained and supplemented by the new.
The writers and literary leaders of the Carolingian period were by virtue of their clerical profession actively engaged in liturgical studies. Alcuin compiled the missal which established the Gregorian Sacramentary in Frankish realms and constituted a recension acceptable to the Roman Church.[7]A significant innovation for hymnology was the decorative procession.[8]Alcuin was also influential through his devotional works which supplemented the public worship of the mass and offices. Paulus Diaconus and Angilbert were second to Alcuin in promoting liturgical studies. The works of the great writers were accompanied by numerous writings of lesser importance which bear witness, as will be evident below, to the increasing practice of hymn-singing. The influence of the Roman Rite, largely barren of hymns, was at the same period, in contact with the influence of Benedictine precedent in hymn singing which in the end prevailed.
The Latin poetry associated with the Carolingian era has been edited and published in a monumental form under the titlePoetae Latini Aevi Carolini.[9]The collection, produced in the spirit of a classical revival by a circle of court poets, includes secular as well as religious verse.
Carolingian culture not only in the specific field of literature but in the broader sense afforded a medium for the spread of Celtic, Byzantine and Germanic genius. The Celtic portion of the poetry in the early monastic cycles has already been described in connection with theOld Hymnal. Prior to the eighth century, a transfer of Celtic scholarship to the continent began to take place. The missionaries, Columbanus, Gall, Foilan, Disibod and others, came first, during the seventh and eighth centuries. Refugees,fleeing before the Norse invasions of the late eighth and ninth centuries, followed. Wanderers and pilgrims crossed the Channel, among themperegriniwho left their homeland to live in new countries as a means of spiritual satisfaction and reward. Scholars came also who hoped for a more sympathetic reception for their teachings among the continentals.[10]On the whole, Celtic immigrants found a welcome. Charlemagne himself favored them.[11]Celtic teachers were proficient in orthography, grammar, Greek, scriptural and liturgical subjects and the arts.[12]They brought with them manuscripts, the influence of which was felt, not only in their subject matter but in musical notation and characteristic scripts.[13]The Bangor Antiphonary, the hymns of which have already been considered, came to the continent at this time. Among the famous teachers of music was Marcellus[14]who, at St. Gall, instructed Notker, Tutilo, Waltram and Hartmann, a fraternity devoted to finer ecclesiastical music and hymnody.
The role of Byzantine influence cannot be ignored in any account of the cultural and historical background of ninth century literature. One should recall that the Carolingian period was an era of general European intercourse which could not fail to have an effect upon society. The foreign relations of the Frankish Empire necessitated much traveling, visiting and correspondence. Warlike as well as peaceful movement, commercial or cultural, increased the interchange of ideas. There was an overlapping of boundary lines, too, which amalgated populations. The infiltration of Byzantine influence might be conceived as a by-product of European intercourse.
Insofar as hymnology is concerned, musical contacts between the Byzantine and Frankish realms were frequent. As early as Pippin’s reign, Byzantine musicians appeared at the Frankish court with a gift of an organ from the Emperor Constantinus Copronymus.[15]Many refugee monks who fled to the west during the iconoclastic controversy remained there even after its close in 787, enjoying monastic hospitality and imperial favor. Charlemagne permitted them to use the Greek language in worship and was so much impressed by the music employed in chanting the psalms that he caused it to be adopted for the Latin version also.[16]The paramount influence of Byzantine music upon liturgical practice in the west will be considered more fully in connection with the sequence.
Verifiable traces of Byzantine influence had already appeared with the activities of Gregory the Great and are entirely comprehensible, so far as he is concerned, in view of his residence at Constantinople, 579-585, as papal envoy of Pelagius II.[17]The importation of litanies into the west illustrates this type of influence. When Charlemagne received the Sacramentary from Pope Hadrian I, it was labelled “Gregorian.” But in the interval between the lives of Gregory and Charlemagne, popes of eastern origin, ruling at the end of the seventh and the beginning of the eighth century were responsible for western practice.[18]The influence of the Eastern upon the Western Church seems to have been cumulative, with Charlemagne in his day acting as the agent for its diffusion throughout the Frankish Church.
In matters concerning the church and its worship the Greeks were an acquisition not only as musicians but as scholars and as experts in the fine arts. Their scholarship was in demand in New Testament studies. Illustrations of Greek and of oriental inspiration in general are numerous in architecture, painting, sculpture, ivories, work in precious metals and the decoration of manuscripts.[19]Perhaps it was a natural desire to emulate the splendor and ornament of eastern rites which led Charlemagne to favor Greek elements in western observance at the expense of the Gallican.
In the midst of Gallic, Celtic, Italian, Byzantine and oriental influences mingled in Carolingian culture, the presence of native genius is strongly felt. Charlemagne has been criticized for his devotion to classical rather than Germanic culture. Sacred poetry as produced in the Carolingian literary circles, was written in Latin and clothed in classical garb. It could hardly have been otherwise since Latin was demanded by the Church and the vernacular languages of western Europe were then in their early infancy. But in spite of the studied artificiality of this verse, a note is sometimes heard in harmony with the poetry of later centuries which emanates from Germanic sources.
Such in brief is the background of that revival of hymnody which appears in the Carolingian period. It remains to trace, in detail, the evolution of the monastic hymnal known as theLaterorNinth Century Hymnal.
The enlargement and diversification of the Hymnal to which Canon Douglas referred in the words quoted at the close of Chapter Two, occurred within the general historical limits of the Carolingian era and with the exception of Spain and the British Isles, within the general geographical limits of Carolingian political influence. The hymn cycles of the period, recorded in manuscripts which reflect the numerical increase in hymns as well as their diffusion upon the continent, are associated with religious centers, for example, St. Martial, Laon, Douai, Moissac, St. Germain-des-Prés, Corbie, Jumièges, Reichenau, Treves, Schäftlarn near Munich, Murbach, Rheinau, St. Gall, Einsiedeln, Bobbio, Monte Cassino, Benevento, Padua, Toledo, Canterbury, Naples and many other places. The nucleus of theLater Hymnalhas been identified with the hymn cycle found partly in ahymnariumof the ninth century from St. Paul’s in Lavantthal, Carinthia, and partly in a similar manuscript from Karlsruh, both manuscripts being associated with Reichenau.[20]The basic hymns from this group of sources current in the Carolingian period are listed in theappendixto this chapter. A complete list of the manuscript sources (prior to 1100), including the above and others, with an index of the hymns which they contain, approximately 800 in number, was provided by James Mearns, the English hymnologist, in hisEarly Latin Hymnaries.[21]
So much for the evidence as to the actual hymns in use from sources available at the period when theLater Hymnalflourished. The origin of theLater Hymnal, however, is far from clear. It has been defined as a collection arising about the seventh century which superseded theOld Hymnaland has since prevailed.[22]This opinion advanced by Blume and affirmed by Walpole, depends upon the theory that the later cycle had been in use in the British Isles since the period of Gregory the Great. An Anglo-Irish cycle therefore, was posited which took possession of the continent, usurping the original Benedictine hymnal. As early as 1911, Blume’s theory was questioned by Wilmart, the Benedictine scholar, who asserted that the early cycle constituted a Gallican hymnal only,—a possibility mentioned above. He thought that theLater Hymnalwas a new version of the Benedictine cycle representing a normal growth throughthe centuries. Other critics of note have adopted one or the other viewpoint, Frere following that of Blume; and Raby, that of Wilmart.[23]A final solution is obviously impossible for lack of manuscript evidence.
At the accession of Charlemagne, 768, the future of liturgical hymnody was uncertain as the forces of Roman usage and Benedictine practice were in conflict and the possibility of transferring the Benedictine heritage to the church extremely doubtful, as the preceding survey has already made clear. Secondary forces, however, were at work to achieve this very end. First, the early gains made in compiling the Gallican Hymnal and extending it to the secular clergy were never entirely lost. A precedent had been set. Second, the Benedictine cycle was enjoined wherever the Rule was effective and its use was further stimulated by royal capitularies upon the subject of music and singing. Third, the establishment of monastic centers of music in the leading Benedictine abbeys was productive of literary as well as musical effort, attested by the very manuscripts of hymn collections gathered there. The manuscripts of St. Gall, for example, cover every department of contemporary medieval hymnology.
Charlemagne was particularly interested in St. Gall but was also concerned with the monastic centers at Mainz, Fulda, Treves, Cologne, Bamberg, Hersfeld, Lorsch, Würzburg and Reichenau.[24]He founded Neustadt and endowed twelve monasteries in Germany. Meanwhile missionary zeal had guided Benedictine pioneers beyond the old boundaries, and Bavaria and Frisia had already been opened to missions and incidentally to the full round of Benedictine activities. Louis the Pious was active in monastic reform through his association with Benedict of Aniane; he was a special patron of St. Gall and he stimulated the efforts of leaders from Corbie to found New Corbie. Charles the Bald was a benefactor of Marchiennes, Compiègne, Prum and St. Denis.[25]Prior to this period, the numerous and influential foundations established on the continent by Irish monks had adopted the Benedictine Rule, swelling the total number of centers devoted to religious and educational activities.
The numerical increase in the Benedictine abbeys offers in itself presumptive evidence of a greater use of hymns. What is known of the monastic centers and their store of hymnaries offers direct proof. A closer bond between the Order and the cultural activities of the age is found in thegreat personalities drawn from Benedictine ranks to serve the imperial designs. Of particular interest here are the statements regarding hymns and hymn singing which appear in contemporary writings.
Alcuin was chiefly interested in the Roman liturgy as such but he wroteDe psalmorum usu,Officia per feriasand theEpistolae, the last of which shows a special interest in music. Rabanus Maurus testifies to the general use of hymns by secular as well as regular clergy. Amalarius of Metz mentions the use of hymns outside the monasteries. Walafrid Strabo traces the use of hymns from the time of Ambrose and repeats the Canon of Toledo recommending hymns. He says that churches which do not use hymns are exceptional.[26]The testimony is scattered but it points to the adoption of the hymnal by the secular clergy. It should also be recalled that the Ambrosian tradition of musical independence was constantly maintained at Milan.
As the Latin language became more and more an exclusive clerical possession, the old safeguards provided by monastic walls were no longer necessary. The whole body of clergy whether regular or secular became the custodians of the hymnaries used in monastic and diocesan centers of music and scholarship.[27]The Christian laity of Europe at this period may have been largely ignorant of their hymnic heritage because the Carolingian extension of hymn writing and hymn singing occurred within clerical ranks. There was at this time scant indication of the future course of Latin hymnology which would ultimately restore to the layman his original possession handed down from the Early Christian Church.
The poetical writings of the era included a substantial body of religious verse from which hymns are attributed to the following authors: Paulus Diaconus, 1; Paulinus of Aquileia, 7; Alcuin, 3; Theodulphus, 1; Rabanus Maurus, 2; Walafrid Strabo, 5; Florus of Lyons, 2; Wandelbert of Prum, 1; Paulus Albarus of Cordova, 1; Cyprian and Samson, 2; Sedulius Scottus, 2; Milo, 2; Ratbod, 2; Hucbald, 1; Hartmann, 4; Ratpert, 4; Eugenius Vulgarius, 1; these with 73 of doubtful authorship make a total contribution of 114 hymns.
(SeeIllustrative Hymns, VIII.Ut queant laxis resonare fibris, “In flowing measures worthily to sing,” Paulus Diaconus.)
Ambrosian meters are set aside in favor of the classical meters of theGreeks, the Sapphic and elegiac meters proving to be the most popular thereafter. To what extent this influence is actually observable in hymn cycles may be determined by a comparison of the list of Carolingian hymns with the lists of hymns provided by Blume, Julian or Mearns. Batiffol selected thirteen as found in later breviary lists[28]but the actual direct contribution is much larger if other than breviary hymns are admitted. Moreover, the literary and liturgical studies of the time broadened the original Benedictine concept that the hymns of the monastic cycle should be Ambrosian in style. The hymns of Sedulius and particularly of Prudentius and Fortunatus were recognized, introduced or freely adapted to ecclesiastical usage.
The direct influence of Celtic culture upon the new hymn cycles must be associated with the introduction of biblical and liturgical works containing hymns into Frankish territory. Later, hymns were written by Celtic scholars, for instance, Samson, Sedulius Scottus (enumerated above) and possibly others who are anonymous. Blume’s theory of the Anglo-Irish hymn cycle, originally sponsored by Gregory the Great and finally transferred to the continent, illustrates the most decisive form which Celtic influence has so far been presumed to have exerted. The list of hymns (seeAppendix) bears, on the contrary, no resemblance to the group of contemporary Celtic hymns.[29]It seems much more probable that Gregory, the Benedictine Pope, approved the use in Anglo-Irish lands, of the continental hymn cycle which the Order was responsible for carrying northward with it when it entered Britain. In any case, the Benedictine cycles from the ninth century onward are enriched from every aspect of the diverse culture of the age, in which the Celtic contribution, both direct and indirect, is important.
At this period hymnology in the Greek-speaking world was at its height. Yet proof is sought in vain that Greek hymns were used in the west, either in the Greek language or in translation. The hymnal of the Western Church received from Greek sources its recorded tunes, not its words. Although the earliest liturgical manuscript with musical notation dates from the ninth century, the Greeks had already given their neumes to the west. As for the hymn melodies which are crystallized in these manuscripts when they do appear, theories of origin abound. A definitesystem of notation was in existence from the seventh century but hymns had been sung from the fourth century.
In modern times through the consecrated efforts of Benedictine students of the chant, working chiefly at Solesmes, a collation of the existing musical manuscripts produced in the Middle Ages, has been made. Their object has been to determine the authentic melodies of the Benedictine cycle throughout its long history. Today the results of their scholarship are available to the public and the great hymns which they have fostered may be heard as well as read in their medieval form.
The assimilation by the Franks, of alien cultures whether through conquest or peaceful interchange, may have been to a certain extent inevitable and involuntary. Such phenomena occur in every period of history. It is the conscious appropriation by the Carolingian leaders of a cultural heritage and its organization through existing institutions which reveals their true genius. This same process had taken place when Roman genius secured and conserved the achievement of the Greeks. In the field of religious culture with which this volume is concerned, an unbroken continuity had been maintained from the days of the primitive church. Even in the minor category of Christian hymnology, the hymnal as such, created in the fourth century, was to flourish all the way into our own times and might have done so without any special intervention. Historically speaking, in the ninth century and under Frankish auspices, a transformation took place which must be attributed to the conscious effort of Frankish churchmen who, receiving the old hymnology, restored it to formal worship with a much larger content and a greatly diversified form. Herein lies the fundamental contribution of Germanic genius to theLater Hymnal.
Individual hymn writers of the Carolingian age have been named above as far as they are known, of whom Theodulphus of Orleans, Rabanus Maurus and Walafrid Strabo are perhaps the most notable.
A Goth by race, a Spaniard by birth, Theodulphus, (c. 760-c. 821), belonged to that population dwelling north and south of the Pyrenees which the Franks had amalgamated into their kingdom. He was learned in all the wisdom of that age and a man of action in a sense understandable in any age. Bishop of Orleans, courtier, officer in the administration ofCharlemagne, he served the church and the state with equal distinction. Theodulphus as a poet of sacred verse is best known for his Palm Sunday processional hymn,Gloria, laus et honor tibi sit, “All glory, laud and honor,”[30]which he wrote during the period of his fall from royal favor under Louis the Pious. This beautiful processional hymn, a triumph of Carolingian verse, invested with all the attraction of legend and religious pageantry, has been a favorite in every period of Christian history. Theodulphus was not a member of the regular clergy and he did not, as far as we know, write hymns for the monastic cycle. He represents the contemporary trend which brought the hymn into new areas of worship in the offices and ceremonies of the cathedral.
Rabanus Maurus, (780-856), of Germanic origin, was primarily a theologian. His boyhood studies were completed at Fulda. As a young man he became a pupil of Alcuin at Tours. In his maturity he returned to Fulda reaching the climax of his career as Abbot of Fulda and later, as Archbishop of Mainz. As a writer, Rabanus undertook to hand on, through excerpts, the knowledge of his predecessors. He wrote commentaries on the Bible, discussed ecclesiastical organization and discipline, theology, liturgy and worship and the liberal arts. He made translations into German with the collaboration of Walafrid and a Latin-German glossary for the Scriptures. In connection with worship he became interested in the Latin hymns which were rapidly spreading through the west. He discussed the Psalms as hymns and then the hymns of Hilary and Ambrose, saying of the Ambrosian hymns, how widespread had become their prestige in his day. We know from other evidence that he was acquainted also with the hymns of Sedulius, Columba and Bede. It seems almost certain that he practiced the art of poetry although we are restricted to a very small remnant of verse conceded to be his. The poems include a number of hymns for the festivals of the seasons and of the saints, illustrating the vogue for the classic in metrical forms. Like Theodulphus, he wrote for processional ceremonies. The Pentecostal hymn,Veni, creator spiritus, has been persistently associated with the name of Rabanus but without adequate proof. It is a lasting hymn of the ninth century.
(SeeIllustrative Hymns, IX.Veni, creator spiritus, “Creator-Spirit, all-Divine.”)
Walafrid Strabo, (809-c. 849), was like Rabanus of Germanic origin and like him a member of the regular clergy. At Reichenau he received his early education and at Fulda his theological training under Rabanus. Walafrid was drawn into the courtly circle of Louis the Pious whose son Charles he tutored and whose wife Judith became his literary patron. His life was one of scholarship, prosperity and contentment almost to the end of his career. Louis had appointed him Abbot of Reichenau, a place dear to him from boyhood. From these happy surroundings and from his garden which he immortalized in careful and loving description, he was ousted during the civil conflict following the death of the emperor. At the end he was restored to Reichenau and there he died. His hymns like those of Theodulphus and Rabanus, although few in number, were written in the spirit of the classical revival. Some were intended for festivals and others which will be described in connection with processional hymnody, were written to honor royal patrons.
In reviewing the basic hymns of theLater Hymnal(seeAppendix), one finds only two of Mozarabic origin whereas nine were duplicated in theOld Hymnalin Spain and Gaul. The new cycles in areas under Frankish influence appear to diverge from the Mozarabic as they become more diversified. At the same time, Mozarabic sources reveal a parallel evolution of the hymnal in the Iberian peninsula. The existing manuscripts were collated and edited in 1897 by Blume in volume twenty-seven of theAnalecta Hymnicaunder the titleHymnodia Gotica, comprising 312 hymns of which 210 were identified by him as Mozarabic in origin.
The hymns of Spain, first assembled under the auspices of Gothic churchmen as recounted inChapter Two, continued to increase with the encouragement and participation of Mozarabic liturgists, scholars and prelates. The generation that supported Isidore of Seville was succeeded two hundred years later by the group associated with Eulogius, Archbishop of Cordova (d. 859), who fostered the old traditions under Moslem control.[31]In spite of a ruling power alien in every aspect of culture, Christian hymnology held its own. After the Moorish invasions, it is estimated that between thirty and forty hymns were written, several of which contain references to the yoke of the oppressor and petitions for its removal.[32]When the movement toward the expulsion of the Moors had been successfullyinitiated and the Roman Rite introduced (1089) the Mozarabic hymnals were comparable to the finest of the continental cycles. In certain instances the contacts between Spain and Gaul were close and direct even under the rule of the Moslems. Theodulphus of Orleans combined the Gothic and Carolingian trends. Alcuin was indebted to Mozarabic sources in his reform of the Frankish rites.[33]Hymns of Mozarabic origin appeared in other parts of western Europe and vice versa.
(SeeIllustrative Hymns, X.Deus immensa trinitas, “O glorious immensity.”)
The possible influence of Arabian music and poetry upon the Christian hymn has been a tempting idea and one most elusive of pursuit. Studies of medieval Spanish music and musical instruments have failed to demonstrate that the ecclesiastical chant in Spain was thereby affected. Such novelties as it may have possessed have been traced to influences similar to those which had long before affected the Ambrosian chant and been transmitted to the west. As for the tentative assumption that Arabian lyric poetry influenced contemporary hymn writers in Spain, the evidence narrows to the mono-rhyme or repeated end-rhyme common to Arabian poetry and to several Mozarabic hymns.[34]The whole subject of the Arabian impact, highly controversial as it is, appears to be concerned with influences, which when scrutinized, are observed to spring from cultures prior both to Christianity and to Islam.
The Mozarabic Hymnal in its fully developed version possessed an unusually large number of hymns honoring local saints. This feature must be referred to the history of the Roman persecution in the Iberian peninsula where the complete destruction of the Church was intended and martyrdom was the rule. Again the Hymnal is unique in its hymns for public occasions either of mourning and intercession in time of war, pestilence, drought and flood or of joy, in festivals of the consecration of bishops, the coronation of kings and thanksgiving for full harvests.
For the most part the hymn writers of the later hymn cycles are anonymous, like their predecessors in this field. Anonymity is then thefirst characteristic to be noted concerning the hymnal in this period, which makes it necessary to survey the whole as an objective achievement of the age, not of a few individuals.
Next to the anonymity of its authorship, possibly the most conspicuous feature of the new hymnal is the enlargement of each of its general divisions, the Common and the Proper of the Season and the Common and the Proper of Saints. The old hymn cycle, it will be recalled, comprised thirty-four hymns as listed by Blume. The later cycle in its nucleus numbers thirty-seven hymns of which seven are repeated from the old cycle. In ten representative tenth century hymnals, the hymns number from about fifty to about one hundred, many of them common to several lists.[35]
Not only is the total number of hymns increased but festival hymns are multiplied, the ecclesiastical year as it was later known being fully established in hymnology. Advent, Nativity, Epiphany, Lent, the Passion, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost and Trinity have their own groups of hymns. The various feasts of the Virgin and that of All Saints are honored. Among the Apostles, Sts. Peter, John and Andrew are praised; of other biblical saints, Sts. John the Baptist, Stephen, Paul; of the angels, St. Michael; of martyrs, the Innocents and St. Laurence; of local saints, Sts. Martin of Tours, Gall, Germanus, Martial, and a number of others. So stands the record of manuscripts of the tenth century when hymnal gains had been consolidated. The process went steadily onward as Latin hymns for the offices continued to be written to the end of the Middle Ages. A few have been added since the sixteenth century but, with certain exceptions, the great body of office hymns of the medieval church was permanently established by 1100, the date which Mearns selected as a boundary line. The same sources enriched the present-day Roman breviary which by a paradox of history, has preserved to modern times the representative hymns to which the Roman liturgy of that early period was so inhospitable.
As a matter of fact, in the interval between and including the fourth and the eleventh centuries, the Latin hymn, considered in its literary implications and in its liturgical usage, was founded for the ages. Attaching to the wordhymnits strictest sense and narrowest function, that of the office hymn, the student perceives the great significance of this departmentof medieval hymnology as compared with the sequence, processional and extra-liturgical hymns of the Middle Ages. It becomes more evident that here is the core and heart of Latin hymnody. The Church could and did in the event, dispense with much of its medieval collection, but never with the hymnal. Here was preserved the ethics of the Christian life, the intimacy of the scriptural narrative, the presentment of the Christian feasts and the praise of God and of his saints.
The problem presented by the origin of the sequence is perhaps the most difficult of all those connected with the evolution of medieval hymnology. So far the available information on the subject has never been brought together in one place. To do so is a baffling task which has by no means been completed here nor is that which follows either exhaustive or conclusive. It is merely an attempt to trace the origin and early development as far as the evidence at hand makes it possible, at the same time referring the reader to those scholars who have investigated special topics in detail.
Thealleluiaof the mass is the starting-point of the sequence. Inherited from the synagogue and incorporated in the Byzantine rite, it was nevertheless brought independently to Rome. The extension of the finalaconstituted a musical phrase, called aiubilusoriubilatio. This elaboratedalleluiawithiubilusis Gregorian.[1]It became necessary for the sake of breathing, to divide the extendediubilusinto musical phrases, each asequentiaand the wholesequentiae. Someiubilihowever, remained single while others were sung by two choirs with a repetition of phrases. The next step was the composition of a text for some of theiubili, which text was written below the musical notation. Finally a text was supplied for every such melody, which resulted in thesequentia cum prosa.[2]
It is one thing to note the preceding succession of steps as objective phenomena. It is quite another to explain the origin of the idea which transformed thealleluiainto the largeriubilus. This is the most obscure point in the musical development of the sequence, which, for lack of manuscript evidence cannot at present be clarified. At least three hypotheses have been offered. Arguing from the appearance of the trope, somehave suggested that theiubilusis a musical interpolation just as the trope is a textual interpolation. This is quite possible but perhaps too simple for an adequate solution. A much more tempting hypothesis has appealed to a variety of scholars,—that of the introduction of Greek melodies.[3]To these students it has seemed more than probable that the intercourse between western Europe and the Byzantine realms in the reign of Charlemagne constitutes a sufficient explanation for the appearance of fresh musical themes. Again, a possibility only has been suggested. So far manuscript evidence for the Greek melodies from which the Gregorianalleluiaeand theiriubiliare derived, has not appeared. Blume, whose treatment of the subject forms the basis of this chapter, not only questions the hypothesis of Greek melodies but he offers a third suggestion and that tentatively; Gregory, he thinks, shortened thealleluiabrought over by the Greeks. When, later, a tendency was felt to elaborate the forms of worship, the longer melodies were once more revived in the sequence. This very interesting suggestion, if one day capable of proof, would harmonize the Byzantine and Gregorian influences which produced the initial extension of the finalaof thealleluia.
For purposes of clearness a differentiation should be made between the musical and poetical development of the sequence as soon as thesequentia cum prosais reached. Manifestly it is impossible to do so, in any complete fashion, where words and music are so inextricably interwoven in a common development. It is better, however, to attempt the impossible and for the present, to ignore overlappings.[4]
The origin of the wordsequentiaitself, in the phrasesequentia cum prosahas often been discussed because of its significance in tracing the musical development of the forms in question. To some scholarssequentiameans merelysequela,i.e.notes following theaof thealleluia, a simple and tenable theory. To the great majority, however,sequentiais a translation of the Greekakoulouthia. In fact it has been generally accepted as such, althoughsequentiaconveys the idea of continuation in the Greek word rather than its technical meaning of a continuation specifically of songs, etc. If this is valid, Greek influence upon the origin of the sequence is inferred.[5]Another form of the theory of Greek influence is evident in the suggestion thatsequentiameanshirmos, that is, a regular continuationof tones.Hirmosmay refer to poetry also.[6]A derivation ofsequentiafrom Greek terms, if proven, would of course, buttress the theory of Byzantine influence upon the whole development; but the weakness of the derivation fromakoulouthia, for example, is its dependence upon a misunderstanding of the Greek form of worship to which the word applies.[7]An entirely different suggestion as to origin arises from the formula used in the liturgy to announce the Gospel,Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundumetc.[8]Often some practical consideration, extraneous condition or unrelated incidental circumstance has affected liturgical change or development. Consequently, even a slight suggestion like this provokes thought.
Whatever may be the correct origin of the wordsequentiathe place of origin of the sequence is generally conceded to have been France sometime in the eighth century. The part played by other lands in the origin of thesequentia cum prosacannot be wholly determined at present. It must suffice to study the evidence available. It has been demonstrated how the early French sequences have a closer tie with thealleluiaand how the word is sometimes retained to introduce theprosaewhich accompany the music. There is considerable evidence supporting French priority over the Germans in the creation of these new musical forms, the chief centers of composition being St. Martial, Luxeuil, Fleury-sur-Loire, and Moissac, the outstanding rival of St. Martial. An origin for the sequence in France is independently probable due to the interest in liturgical music stimulated by Charlemagne, who, as shown in the preceding chapter, favored Gregorian and Byzantine innovations at the expense of Gallican forms.
One of the suggestions mentioned to account for the original lengthening of thealleluiain theiubilusis connected with the trope. The word has long been defined as a textual interpolation.[9]Gastoué, however, contends that it was originally and primarily musical, a vocalization in the existing chant and that it was created in the music school. The ancient form of trope is aneuma triplexadded to the responseIn medioetc.for the Feast of St. John the Apostle, or toDescendit de caelisfor Christmas. This vocalism is described by Amalarius of Metz and indeed Metz may be its place of origin. Alcuin has been named as the possible originator, a theory strengthened by the fact that Amalarius was one of his pupils.[10]At any rate Amalarius seems to have been the first to call the melody followingthealleluia, asequentia,[11]from which it is evident that theiubilimust have been regarded in some other light prior to his writing. Thesequentiain connection with thealleluiamay very reasonably have been considered a trope, since vocalisms like these had already appeared elsewhere in rites of worship, and sequences in addition to those which belong to thealleluiaof the mass have been found in antiphonaries. To repeat, Gastoué describes a musical interpolation or trope originating in the music schools of the Franks and appearing in various liturgical settings. He likens theiubilusto a trope which Amalarius called asequentia. The original divisions created by the musical phrases in theiubilusnow appear in a series, each repeated a certain number of times with introduction and conclusion and thus the completed sequence structure comes into being. The germ of its formal construction, Gastoué finds in certain Gregorian sources. The ancientalleluia,Justus ut palma florebit, shows such characteristics and reveals the liturgical Latin origin of the sequence, its melody going back to theversus alleluiaticus.
In spite of the evidence which would make the sequence a native musical product of western Europe, the theory of Greek origin is still persistently held by certain scholars. For that reason it must be considered in greater detail. Gregory’s adoption of Greek novelties forms the starting point of this theory, while Charlemagne’s well-known enthusiasm for Greek innovations carries its proponents still further. The fact that the original Greek melodies which are assumed to have been used in the west, have never been produced in evidence, is not a proof of their non-existence. An extensive study of certain sequence melodies has been made in order to determine whether they are modeled upon Greek originals, since the Greek names for these melodies and features of notation point to such an origin.[12]But such names are secondary, the original and natural name being the first phrase of the Latin words accompanying the melodies and the Greek word a suggested title. A Greek melody, calledOrgana, for instance, might be assumed to retain its name in Latin. The opposite is the case for the nameFilia matrisis original andOrganathe suggested title.
Regarding the argument from notation it is a matter of common knowledge that theneumeis native to Greek-speaking lands and may have existed as early as the sixth century.[13]Neumestook firm root at St. Gall,the great German center for the propagation of the sequence, so much so, that they persisted until the twelfth century even after the invention of the staff and in the interval were spread by teaching. Moreover,neumeswere written in the manner of the eastern church,i.e.in a straight line, not at different levels to indicate pitch.[14]It is unfortunate that the dearth of manuscripts showingneumesmakes a gap in the evidence just where support is most needed, for the earliest musical manuscripts with this notation date from the ninth century;[15]but the assumption in favor of Greek originals is at least strong enough to forbid its being ignored.
An additional circumstance which supports the theory of Greek origin is the fact of musical parallelism in the structure of the sequence. This is an important point of contact between the sequence and Byzantine musical forms, although it has not been universally convincing. On the contrary, some have traced this phenomenon of musical parallelism to one of those extraneous conditions, affecting liturgical practice, namely, the use of antiphonal choirs.[16]
Nothing can be more unsatisfactory to the student who is trying to force the sequence into any particular theory of musical origin than the contemplation of what is actually known on this subject, for the question seems destined to remain undecided. A better perspective may be reached by examining the poetical development of the sequence which began with thesequentia cum prosaand ended in a new form of Latin hymn for which melodies were in turn composed.
The text written below thealleluiamelody is generally accepted as of French origin and likewise the naming of that text. As the text became important the melody too was named so that the melody and text were differentiated from each other, the latter as aprosa. It is unknown whether the namesequentiainstead ofprosawas chosen deliberately as differing from the French usage. Amalarius was apparently the first to use the wordsequentiain connection with the music. Later the term was destined to supersede the nameprosafor the poetical text.
We owe to Notker, whose part in creating the sequence will be considered in greater detail below, an account of his invention of words as an aid to memorizing the elaborate melody of thealleluiatrope. Whether Notker was the first to see the value of this device and to employ it, isunknown.[17]As a theory of origin it has always been popular, being held by Frere and many others. For the present it may be acknowledged that it is a reasonable theory for, of course, only the choir leader had a musical codex to refer to and the musical ability of the average monk was unequal to the difficulties of memorization by ear alone. Moreover, this theory can always be accepted with others, although it seems inadequate by itself.
A second explanation of origin arises from the possibility that sequence poetry originated in the imitation of Greek hymn models. The statement has been made definitely that sequence poetry shows the transference of the Byzantine structure of hymnody to Latin church poetry, especially Notker’s.[18]With every circumstance favoring such a transfer it is amazing that the Franks who heard so much of Greek hymns and could have translated them into Latin and sung them to the same tunes, evidently did nothing of the kind. Some other explanation of similarity must be found. Metrical parallelism, which is characteristic of the Latin sequence and contemporary Greek hymns, in Gastoué’s opinion, can be accounted for only by reference to Hebrew poetry as the ultimate inspiration of liturgical poetry.[19]Thus a Byzantine theory of origin breaks down when metrical sources are subjected to closer scrutiny. After all, the sequence is unknown in the Byzantine ritual and therefore the Byzantine influence could never have been direct.
A third theory emphasizes the metrical form of thealleluiamelody as the determining factor in creating a new poetical rhythm.[20]Here, the desire to create fitting expressions of praise is not explained so much as the form in which the praises are cast. Von Winterfeld thought that rhythmical prose was inseparable from the liturgical music which had already been composed, just as the Greek chorus and the Wagnerian music drama found their complement in a dignified and sonorous prose rhythm.[21]This theory may well be called the liturgical. It is most significant for the lyrical movement in general since a new metrical form is created differing from the Ambrosian meter or the revived classical meters popular among Carolingian poets. The lyric is born again, as Meyer expresses it, in the music of the church.[22]A poem arises consisting of a series of parallel strophes with introduction and conclusion, a lyric counterpart to the musical phrases of thesequentia.