*3.4. Gradations in Solemnity*

Finally, the constitutions decree that the length of the pauses is observed "magis et minus pro tempore". Humbert explains that on solemn feast days, the office is sung with longer pauses within the psalms; this is possible because on those days the friars are not as occupied with study, and thus have more leisure to sing the office in a more solemn manner ([2], p. 110). In addition, however, the more solemn melodies add to the devotion of the faithful, and point to the great future feast in which our praise will be continuous and most devout ([2], p. 111). The variation of the length of pauses within the psalms referred to here is related to a systematic form of melodic solemnity that may be discerned also in other aspects of the Dominican liturgy. In the melodies assigned for various texts used on several ranks of feasts, such as the Ordinary of the Mass or the hymns of the Common of Saints, a gradated solemnity may be observed that distinguishes a major feast from a lesser one or a ferial day. For instance, the hymn *Te lucis* is sung on every day outside of Lent to a variety of melodies based on the rank of the feast; on a *totum duplex* feast, there is a very ornate melody, on a *duplex* feast there is a slightly simpler melody, and so forth.14 The same text is sung on ferial days to a very simple melody. The same phenomenon may be observed in the settings for the *Kyrie*, *Gloria*, *Sanctus*, *Agnus Dei*, and *Ite missa est*.

A related aspect of solemnity is articulated by the thirteenth-century Dominican Jerome of Moravia in chapter twenty-four of the *Tractatus de Musica*: in composing new melodies for feasts, Jerome suggests that the *Magnificat* antiphons should be composed according to a set of principles that lead to the most beautiful type of chant, whereas the other antiphons may be composed in a less beautiful manner ([20], pp. 161–66)15. Thus, within a particular set of chants for a feast there are some that are of greater solemnity than others. This distinction also seems to be implicit in the more solemn melodies assigned for the Mass, where the Gradual, Alleluia, and Offertory melodies are almost always considerably more ornate than those of the introit and communion antiphons. Like many repertoires of Latin chant, the Dominican system of progressive solemnity thus includes both variations based on the rank of a feast, and variations based on the importance of a particular liturgical element.

#### **4. History of the Dominican Chant Repertoire**

According to Humbert of Romans, in the beginning years of the Order a great diversity of liturgical practice was found in the Order, at some point a single office was compiled for the sake of uniformity in practice for the highly mobile community ([2], p. 152). In the 1240s, four friars

<sup>14</sup> In the medieval Dominican liturgy, there were was a range of six ranks for feast days: *Totum duplex, Duplex, Semiduplex, Simplex, Trium lectionum, Memoria*; for a discussion of the origins and meanings of these terms, see ([19], pp. 78–83).

<sup>15</sup> On the background of Jerome, see [21]. For an English translation of the *Tractatus,* undertaken from the 1935 critical edition by Simon M. Cserba, see [22].

from the provinces of France, England, Lombardy, and Germany were commissioned to coordinate the liturgical books used in the various provinces; their work was approved by several chapters, but was not widely accepted within the Order. Several liturgical manuscripts remain which represent the musical practice of the Order before and during the time of the four friars ([16], pp. 37–40)16. These early manuscripts are less influenced by the Cistercian chant reform than the manuscripts from the revision of Humbert of Romans ([16], p. 328; [23]).

In 1254, the newly elected *Magister ordinis* Humbert of Romans was commissioned to prepare a final revision that eventually met with acceptance throughout the Order. The exemplars of Humbert's revision contained fourteen books, including the *Antiphonale* (chants for the Divine Office), the *Graduale* (chants for the Mass)*,* and the *Processionarium* (chants for liturgical processions)*,* which were the principal chant volumes ([19]; [24]; [25], pp. 359–65). In addition to the unified exemplar copies, individual volumes of the repertoire of Humbert are found in a variety of formats; the chants of the Mass, for instance, were copied both in the form of individual Graduals and within notated Missals. When new feasts were added to the Dominican liturgy, for instance Thomas' liturgy for the Feast of Corpus Christi (belatedly adopted by the Order in the early 14th century ([26], pp. 183–85)), they would often inserted within earlier manuscripts. Aside from the offices composed in the 13th century for the first two canonized Dominican saints, Dominic and Peter Martyr, the two most significant liturgical offices of the later Middle Ages were those of Catherine of Siena and Vincent Ferrer [27].

Manuscripts of Dominican chant continued to be widely produced through the 16th century, and were even occasionally made in later centuries. With the advent of the printing press, Dominican liturgical books were printed as early as the end of the 15th century, and by the early 16th century printed chant books, including psalters, graduals, and processionals, began to be widely produced ([28], pp. 181–93; [29]). Chant editions continued to be produced in the 17th century and in the early part of the 18th century a nearly exhaustive set of Dominican chant books were produced at Paris. After the turmoil of the French revolution, a new set of books began to be produced by the French Dominican Pie Bernard, O.P., first on the basis of late medieval sources and towards the end of the 19th century based on a 13th century codex which was taken to be one of the exemplar copies of the revision of Humbert of Romans [30]. Influenced by the chant revival at Solesmes, Bernard devised a new rhythmic notation that was officially used by the Order from 1890 until 1965 [31]. In the 20th century, further volumes were produced based on the 13th century texts. At the impetus of Dominique Delalande, O.P., the Order decided in the 1960s to adopt a modified version of the Solesmes rhythmic markings in place of the notation devised by Bernard, but the widespread adoption of the vernacular in the late 1960s meant that a full set of volumes with the new notation never appeared [32].

Since the adoption of the revised Roman rites by the Order beginning in 1968, chants from the Order's liturgical heritage have continued to be sung to varying extents in Dominican communities in accord with the provisions of the 1982 *Proprium Officiorum Ordinis Prædicatorum* and the 1985 *Missale et Lectionarium*, which assign chants from the Dominican chant tradition for various

<sup>16</sup> The most important chant manuscripts before the reform of Humbert are Rome, Bibl. Vat. lat. 10773 (gradual), Malibu, CA, Getty Museum, Ludwig V 5 (noted missal), and Rome, Santa Sabina XIV L2 (noted breviary).

liturgical feasts of the year and call for the preparation of new editions of the chants of the Order17. In recent years, several audio recordings have been made that represent various approaches to the Dominican chant repertoire18. In the last decade, scans of most of the 19th and 20th-century editions of the Dominican chant have become available on the Internet, and new editions of the Dominican chant repertoire have been prepared for liturgical use in various provinces of the Order according to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
