*3.2. "Breviter et Succincte"*

The *Constitutiones antiquae* ordered that the liturgy be sung "briefly and succinctly" (*breviter et succincte*) so that the devotion of the brothers should not become lax, and that their study might be minimally impeded. According to Humbert of Romans, study was not to be preferred to prayer as such, but to overly prolix prayer ([2], p. 97). Thomas Aquinas writes within this tradition when he states that liturgical prayer should not last such a long time that the devotion of the participants would grow slack in their devotion.12 Humbert offers several reasons why a shorter office is better than a longer one, the first of which is that otherwise the choir would be evacuated as many would seek occasions of staying away based on this prolixity! ([2], pp. 85–86).

This emphasis on brevity led to one of the most distinctive characteristics of Dominican chant: the Dominican versions of chants often have one or two notes in places where other traditions have three or more, and omit certain melodic repetitions that appear in other chant traditions ([16], pp. 199–207). A comparison of the chant manuscripts from before and after the revision of Humbert of Romans shows that these abbreviations were a self-conscious development on the part of the early friars ([16], pp. 327–29). In some cases, however, Dominican versions of chants can be more ornate than versions sung in other chant traditions, for instance in the case of the Dominican setting of the Passion sung on Palm Sunday and Good Friday or the *Exultet* of Holy Saturday. In addition to the length of the melodies, there are clear indications that the early Dominicans self-consciously sang the chants in a way faster than many of their contemporaries13.

#### *3.3. Pauses in Dominican Chant*

Despite the emphasis on singing *breviter et succincte*, brevity was not meant to lead to sloppiness or irreverence. The constitutions also ordered that pauses were to be made in the middle of verses of the psalms which were nevertheless to be ended briefly and succinctly. According to Humbert, pauses were to be made in the middle of psalms to prevent confusion, although it is clear from his writings that the length and position of the pauses were a matter of some confusion ([2], pp. 98, 102, 159; [14], pp. 242–44). Humbert distinguishes between a *pausa brevis* and a *pausa maior* that are made during the recitation of the psalms ([2], p. 101). He points out, however, that these brief and major pauses are not only made in psalms and canticles but also in hymns, in chants such as the *Gloria in excelsis*, the *Credo in Deum*, and the *Te Deum laudamus*—indeed, "in everything that is chanted" ([2], p. 102). Humbert explains that it is expedient to use "virgulas transversales"

<sup>12</sup> Thomas Aquinas, ST II-II, q. 83, a. 14.

<sup>13</sup> Humbert of Romans contrasts the Dominican mode of singing to that of "certain religious": "non nimis morose, sicut faciunt quidam religiosi" ([2], p. 97). Although it is not clear exactly which groups of religious are intended by this "quidam," it may perhaps include groups such as the Carthusians who thought the monk's duty was "to lament rather than to sing" (see [17]).

[vertical bars] to note the location of pauses in books, which he mentions is done already in certain churches ([2], 102–03; [18]).
