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50-659: The text is frequently sung to plainsong at Mass and in the Divine Office during Advent where it gives expression to the longings of Patriarchs and Prophets, and symbolically of the Church, for the coming of the Messiah . Throughout Advent it occurs daily as the versicle and response after the hymn at Vespers . The text is used in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite : The Introit plainsong may be found in

100-464: A certain "Gregorius", probably Pope Gregory II , with his more famous predecessor. The term Gregorian Chant is often incorrectly used as a synonym of plainsong. For several centuries, different plainchant styles existed concurrently. Standardization on Gregorian chant was not completed, even in Italy, until the 12th century. Plainchant represents the first revival of musical notation after knowledge of

150-545: A clay tablet and its resolution did not permit long entries. An example from Lerner (1998): Honored and noble warrior Where are the sheep Where are the wild oxen And with you I did not In our city In former days Many books in the Hebrew Bible are named in Hebrew using incipits. For instance, the first book (Genesis) is called Bereshit ("In the beginning ...") and Lamentations , which begins "How lonely sits

200-450: A leaf: and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away: thou hast hid thy face from us: and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. Víde Dómine afflictiónem pópuli túi, et mítte quem missúrus es: emítte Agnum dominatórem térræ, de Pétra desérti ad móntem fíliæ Síon: ut áuferat ípse júgum captivitátis nóstræ. Behold, O Lord, the affliction of thy people, and send forth him whom thou wilt send; send forth

250-525: A miniature or an illuminated or historiated letter . Traditionally, papal bulls and encyclicals , documents issued under the authority of the Pope , are referenced by their Latin incipit. Some of the mantras , suktas from the hymns of the Vedas , conform to this usage. The idea of choosing a few words or a phrase or two, which would be placed on the spine of a book and its cover, developed slowly with

300-553: A nun who lived in the 12th century, composed a total of 71 Latin liturgical pieces. The following is a list of her devotional pieces to the Virgin Mary. Responsory- Antiphon- Hymn- Sequence- Allelula- Plainchant employs the modal system and this is used to work out the relative pitches of each line on the staff. Read more about the use of modes in plainsong here . Incipit The incipit ( / ˈ ɪ n s ɪ p ɪ t / IN -sip-it ) of

350-434: A text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition , an incipit is an initial sequence of notes , having the same purpose. The word incipit comes from Latin and means "it begins". Its counterpart taken from the ending of the text is the explicit . Before the development of titles , texts were often referred to by their incipits, as with for example Agnus Dei . During

400-401: A use is an incipit and not a title is most obvious when the line breaks off in the middle of a grammatical unit (e.g., Shakespeare 's sonnet 55 "Not marble, nor the gilded monuments"). Latin legal concepts are often designated by the first few words, for example, habeas corpus for habeas corpus ad subjiciendum ("may you have the person to be subjected [to examination]") which are itself

450-544: Is a Solemn High Mass) goes to the center of the altar. He then intones the antiphon three times after which the antiphon is continued by those present. Each intonation is begun at higher pitch than the previous one. This mirrors the practice of the three-fold "Ecce Lignum Crucis" on Good Friday and the three-fold Alleluia at the Easter Vigil. The text of the antiphon reads: "Ecce Dominus veniet, et omnes sancti ejus cum eo: et erit in die illa lux magna, alleluia. / Behold,

500-514: Is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church . When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive form of Christian church music until the ninth century, and the introduction of polyphony . The monophonic chants of plainsong have a non-metric rhythm, which is generally considered freer than

550-440: Is a wilderness, Sion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation: our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee. Peccávimus, et fácti súmus tamquam immúndus nos, et cecídimus quasi fólium univérsi: et iniquitátes nóstræ quasi véntus abstulérunt nos: abscondísti faciem túam a nóbis, et allisísti nos in mánu iniquitátis nóstræ. We have sinned, and are as an unclean thing, and we all do fade as

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600-537: Is called Me-ematai ("From when"). This word is printed at the head of every subsequent page within that chapter of the tractate. In rabbinic usage, the incipit is known as the "dibur ha-matḥil" (דיבור המתחיל), or "beginning phrase", and refers to a section heading in a published monograph or commentary that typically, but not always, quotes or paraphrases a classic biblical or rabbinic passage to be commented upon or discussed. Many religious songs and prayers are known by their opening words. Sometimes an entire monograph

650-659: Is celebrated either in the early morning or in the late evening of Advent weekdays. "As a rule the Blessed Sacrament was exposed at the same time" as the Rorate Mass was being said. This was still customary "in many places" in the 1960s. There is the custom of singing three times the antiphon "Ecce, Dominus veniet" at the conclusion of the Rorate Mass. After the Last Gospel, the Priest (and ministers if it

700-730: Is celebrated on several or even all weekdays during Advent (the Votive Mass of Our Lady in Advent ). This custom faded after liturgical changes that occurred after the Second Vatican Council . The Rorate Mass is a Votive Mass in honor of the Virgin Mary for the season of Advent. It has a long tradition in the Catholic Church, especially in German-speaking areas. The Masses had to begin relatively early in

750-675: Is known by its "dibur hamatḥil". The published mystical and exegetical discourses of the Chabad-Lubavitch rebbes (called "ma'amarim"), derive their titles almost exclusively from the "dibur ha-matḥil" of the individual work's first chapter. The final book of the New Testament , the Book of Revelation , is often known as the Apocalypse after the first word of the original Greek text, ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis "revelation", to

800-513: Is named for the first words spoken in the episode (leading to episode titles such as "What I don't understand is this..." and "Um...I know what you're thinking"). Musical incipits are printed in standard music notation. They typically feature the first few bars of a piece, often with the most prominent musical material written on a single staff (the examples given at right show both the single-staff and full-score incipit variants). Incipits are especially useful in music because they can call to mind

850-760: Is still heard in Middle Eastern music being performed today. Although the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches did not split until long after the origin of plainsong, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong. Plainsong developed during the earliest centuries of Christianity, influenced possibly by the music of the Jewish synagogue and certainly by the Greek modal system. It has its own system of notation . As

900-853: The Rorate coeli have been composed by, amongst others, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1572), Jacob Handl (1586), William Byrd (1605) and Heinrich Schütz (1639). Settings of the English text, Drop down ye heavens , have been written by a number of composers, including Judith Weir (written in 1983 for the choir of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge ), Andrew Cusworth and Richard Hey Lloyd (1979). Ne irascáris Dómine, ne ultra memíneris iniquitátis: ecce cívitas Sáncti fácta est desérta: Síon desérta fácta est, Jerúsalem desoláta est: dómus sanctificatiónis túæ et glóriæ túæ, ubi laudavérunt te pátres nóstri. Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: thy holy city

950-462: The medieval period in Europe, incipits were often written in a different script or colour from the rest of the work of which they were a part, and "incipit pages" might be heavily decorated with illumination . Though the word incipit is Latin, the practice of the incipit predates classical antiquity by several millennia and can be found in various parts of the world. Although not always called by

1000-556: The ordinary form of the Roman Rite, it is often replaced by a Mass with the liturgical texts of the corresponding Advent weekday (consequently with violet vestments), or possibly the day's saint, but with the rest of the Rorate Mass traditions. The Rorate Mass originated during the course of the Middle Ages as one of the various popular Advent devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary which were then developed. As one of

1050-580: The Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion: that he may take away the yoke of our captivity. Vos testes mei, dicit Dóminus, et servus meus quem elégi; ut sciátis, et credátis mihi: ego sum, ego sum Dóminus, et non est absque me salvátor: et non est qui de manu mea éruat. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know me and believe me: I, even I, am

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1100-778: The Latin text and an English rendering of the Prayer. The Latin text and a different English rendering are also given in the Baltimore "Manual of Prayers" (pp. 603–4). A plain-song setting of the "Prayer", or series of prayers, is given in the Solesmes "Manual of Gregorian Chant" (Rome-Tournai, 1903, 313–5) in plain-song notation, and in a slightly simpler form in modern notation in the "Roman Hymnal" (New York, 1884, pp. 140–3), as also in "Les principaux chants liturgiques" (Paris, 1875, pp. 111–2) and "Recueil d'anciens et de nouveaux cantiques notés" (Paris, 1886, pp. 218–9). In

1150-521: The Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer. The Rorate Mass got its proper name from the first word of the Introit (Entrance antiphon): "Rorate caeli désuper et nubes pluant justum" ("Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just"). In the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, this Mass is celebrated very early in the morning on all Saturdays. In some areas, it

1200-618: The Lord will come, and with Him all His saints; and on that day there shall be a great light, alleluia." The "Ecce, Dominus veniet" is the third antiphon for the Office of the First Sunday of Advent. The reference to the great light is fitting for a Mass that was just conducted in candlelight and during which the sun has risen. Plainsong Plainsong or plainchant ( calque from the French plain-chant ; Latin : cantus planus )

1250-509: The Lord, and beside me there is no Saviour: and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. Consolámini, consolámini, pópule méus: cito véniet sálus túa: quare mæróre consúmeris, quia innovávit te dólor? Salvábo te, nóli timére, égo enim sum Dóminus Déus túus, Sánctus Israël, Redémptor túus. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people; my salvation shall not tarry: why wilt thou waste away in sadness? why hath sorrow seized thee? Fear not, for I will save thee: For I am

1300-508: The Tridentine rite has increased; this, along with other papal comments on the use of appropriate liturgical music, is promoting a new plainsong revival. The Plainsong and Medieval Music Society was founded in 1888 to promote the performance and study of liturgical chant and medieval polyphony. Interest in plainsong picked up in 1950s Britain, particularly in the left-wing religious and musical groups associated with Gustav Holst and

1350-434: The ancient Greek system was lost. In the late 9th century, plainsong began to evolve into organum , which led to the development of polyphony . When polyphony reached its climax in the sixteenth century, the use of plainsong chant was less appealing and almost completely abandoned. There was a significant plainsong revival in the 19th century, when much work was done to restore the correct notation and performance-style of

1400-676: The birth of printing , and the idea of a title page with a short title and subtitle came centuries later, replacing earlier, more verbose titles. The modern use of standardized titles, combined with the International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD), have made the incipit obsolete as a tool for organizing information in libraries. However, incipits are still used to refer to untitled poems, songs, and prayers, such as Gregorian chants , operatic arias, many prayers and hymns, and numerous poems, including those of Emily Dickinson . That such

1450-411: The chant's words to help the performer identify the piece's melody but did not specify the pitches or intervals that needed to be sung. Even though there were written musical manuscripts, the performers still needed to memorize the chants through oral traditions before interpreting the notation. It was not until the eleventh century that musical pitches were being integrated into written music. Most of

1500-416: The choral compositions being of a simple kind, the solo compositions more elaborate, using a more extended compass of melodies and longer groups of notes on single syllables. The last type of plainsong performance is the solo performed by the choir or the individual performer. A marked feature in plainchant is the use of the same melody for various texts. This is quite typical for the ordinary psalmody in which

1550-485: The city...", is called Eykha ("How"). A readily recognized one is the "Shema" or Shema Yisrael in the Torah : "Hear O Israel..." – the first words of the proclamation encapsulating Judaism's monotheism (see beginning Deuteronomy 6:4 and elsewhere). All the names of Parashot are incipits, the title coming from a word, occasionally two words, in its first two verses. The first in each book is, of course, called by

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1600-580: The early plainsong scripts have been destroyed due to war, purposeful destruction and natural causes such as water, fire, and poor environmental conditions. The Toledo Cathedral in Spain has one of the world's largest collections of indigenous plainsong manuscripts devoted to Western Christianity. Their collection consists of 170 volumes of plainsong chants for the procession, Mass, and Office. There are three methods of singing psalms or other chants, responsorial , antiphonal , and solo. In responsorial singing,

1650-541: The key words of a much longer writ. Many word processors propose the first few words of a document as a default file name, assuming that the incipit may correspond to the intended title of the document. The space-filling, or place-holding, text lorem ipsum is known as such from its incipit. Occasionally, incipits have been used for humorous effect, such as in the Alan Plater -written television series The Beiderbecke Affair and its sequels, in which each episode

1700-410: The metered rhythms of later Western music. They are also traditionally sung without musical accompaniment , though recent scholarship has unearthed a widespread custom of accompanied chant that transcended religious and geographical borders. There are three types of chant melodies that plainsongs fall into: syllabic , neumatic , and melismatic . The free flowing melismatic melody form of plainsong

1750-492: The morning when it was still dark due to winter-time and were said by candlelight. "Rorate Mass" is, originally, the name for a votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin in Advent, named by its introit (the same Rorate coeli as above). As such, its liturgical color is white. It is a tradition to celebrate such Rorate Masses in the early morning (before sunrise), accompanied by candle light in an otherwise dark church. In

1800-410: The name of incipit today, the practice of referring to texts by their initial words remains commonplace. In the clay tablet archives of Sumer , catalogs of documents were kept by making special catalog tablets containing the incipits of a given collection of tablets. The catalog was meant to be used by the very limited number of official scribes who had access to the archives, and the width of

1850-444: The number of chants in the church's repertoire increased, officials needed a better way to standardize the music. A unique form of musical notation was developed to help standardize the music and provide a reference for the performers and audience alike. The musical notations that were used were called neumes , and they are employed on a four-line staff, unlike the five-line staff we are accustomed to today. The neumes are placed above

1900-502: The old plainsong collections, notably by the monks of Solesmes Abbey , in northern France. After the Second Vatican Council and the introduction of the vernacular Mass, use of plainsong in the Catholic Church declined and was mostly confined to the monastic orders and to ecclesiastical societies celebrating the traditional Latin Mass (also called Tridentine Mass ). Since Pope Benedict XVI 's motu proprio , Summorum Pontificum , use of

1950-825: The orations (prayers) from the Feast of the Annunciation . The Rorate Mass was also known in the Middle Ages as the Missa aurea (the Golden Mass), because of the various promises added to it (varias enim promissiones adjungebant his Missis), and the Missa Angelica (the Angelic Mass) because of the Gospel reading which, recounting the Annunciation, opens with the words "Missus est Angelus Gábriel (The Angel Gabriel

2000-662: The point where that word has become synonymous with what the book describes, i.e. the End of Days ( ἔσχατον eschaton "[the] last" in the original). Each chapter in the Quran, with the exception of the ninth, begins with Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Rahim -- meaning "in the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful." Incipits are generally, but not always, in red in medieval manuscripts. They may come before

2050-517: The reader's own musical memory of the work where a printed title would fail to do so. Musical incipits appear both in catalogs of music and in the tables of contents of volumes that include multiple works. In choral music, sacred or secular pieces from before the 20th century were often titled with the incipit text. For instance, the proper of the Catholic Mass and the Latin transcriptions of

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2100-409: The same formula, the "psalm tone", is used for all the verses of a psalm, just as in a hymn or a folk song the same melody is used for the various stanzas. Gregorian chant is a variety of plainsong named after Pope Gregory I (6th century A.D.), but Gregory did not invent the chant. The tradition linking Gregory I to the development of the chant seems to rest on a possibly mistaken identification of

2150-633: The same name as the book as a whole. Some of the Psalms are known by their incipits, most noticeably Psalm 51 (Septuagint numbering: Psalm 50), which is known in Western Christianity by its Latin incipit Miserere ("Have mercy"). In the Talmud , the chapters of the Gemara are titled in print and known by their first words, e.g. the first chapter of Mesekhet Berachot ("Benedictions")

2200-668: The seventeenth century, Rorate was arranged into a hymn combining the traditional text with other scriptural passages used in the liturgy for Advent. The earliest known version is in the Oratorian Officia Propria (1673); it also appears in French diocesan rites, such as the Rouen Processional of 1729 and 1763. The hymn was popularized in English by the English Hymnal . In the Book of Hymns (Edinburgh, 1910), p. 4, W. Rooke-Ley translates

2250-409: The soloist (or choir) sings a series of verses, each one followed by a response from the choir (or congregation). In antiphonal singing, the verses are sung alternately by soloist and choir, or by choir and congregation. It is probable that even in the early period the two methods caused the differentiation in the style of musical composition which is observed throughout the later history of plain chant,

2300-580: The text in connection with the O Antiphons ('Mystic dew from heaven Unto earth is given: / Break, O earth, a Saviour yield—Fairest flower of the field'). The text also forms the basis for the hymn ' O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf '. The traditional English translation of the text is from the English Hymnal (except for the third verse, and with the last verse modified here to follow the Latin). In addition to traditional plainsong, musical settings of

2350-768: The themes of Advent is the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the emergence of these devotions to the Blessed Virgin was natural. The Rorate Mass, in particular, was a favorite of the people. The Introit Antiphon , the Epistle , the Gradual , Gospel , and Communion Antiphon of the Rorate Mass were taken from the Mass of Ember Wednesday in Advent , the Offertory was taken from the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and

2400-539: The various editions of the Roman Gradual and the Solesmes " Liber Usualis ", p. 125. Under the heading, "Prayer of the Churches of France during Advent", Prosper Guéranger (Liturgical Year, Advent tr., Dublin, 1870, pp. 155–6) gives it as an antiphon to each of a series of prayers ("Ne irascaris ", "Peccavimus", "Vide Domine", "Consolamini") expressive of penitence, expectation, comfort, and furnishes

2450-537: The writer George B. Chambers . In the late 1980s, plainchant achieved a certain vogue as music for relaxation, and several recordings of plainchant became "classical-chart hits". The following is a classification of Gregorian chants into types. Other chant traditions, such as the Ambrosian or Visigothic , may lack some of the types listed, and may have other types not listed. Syllabic Neumatic Neumatic with melismatic sections Hildegard of Bingen ,

2500-402: Was sent)". The Rorate Mass was celebrated in the following ways: There is also the custom in "Austria, Switzerland, and Germany" that "families walked in the dark of the early morning, (carrying lamps, candles, or later, flashlights) to church, where Mass was celebrated and favorites Advents hymns were sung.". This tradition is also alive in modern Poland; however, depending on local custom, it

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