Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1968, Blaðsíða 32
Of course, the Roman Catholics in singing their liturgical chants,
observe — or are supposed to observe — the said rule, although the
mode of singing to which the transcriptions of Dr. Haberl bear witness,
and fairly recently at that (from 1895), may have survived, perhaps till
our days, at least in certain regions (Germany? The book was printed
in Ratisbon; the Manuale Missæ et Officiorum, on the other hånd, from
1920, was printed in Paris, and relies partly on researches made in
Solesmes; presents perhaps a specific French view?).
Now let us turn to the question of rhythm. It concerns mainly the
sequences of the third (the last) phase or period, those with a fixed
and rather homogeneous metre.
Although we do not know exactly whether, or when, or where, the
procedure of accentuating a syllable of a foot - the former one in the
trochee, the latter one in the iambic — has taken place, we may perhaps
be justified in assuming that the poet, if he was the composer of the
music as well, would scarcely through the music make the latter syl-
lable of the trochee, or the former one of the iambic, longer than the
other ones, — or that, if another person composed the music, he would
scarcely approve of such a procedure.
In the samples of “correct” rendering given here above, the second
syllable of “letabunda” becomes three times as long as the first one;
and in “celi” it is four times as long. It is unthinkable that it occurred
to the poet, when he wrote these words, that these syllables should
receive such a long stress because of the music.
Another line of the first verse of “Lux illuxit” is perhaps instruc-
tive. It runs thus: “lux digna preconio”. The metre is still trochaic. If
we accentuate the former syllable of each foot, the second syllable of
“digna” would become so accented and strong that it would be de-
claimed as if the word stood in the ablative instead of the nominative
case.1
1. The Analecta hymnica occasionally points out similar instances. As instar
omnium, let us look at vol. 55, No. 2, the sequence De sanctis Apostolis “Cor
angustum dilatemus” which “Ascribitur Adamo de S. Victore”.
The initial line indicates the trochaic metre; and this must be said to reign
through the half-verses 1-14. “Ob der grosse Victoriner Adam Verfasser sei,
erscheint nach manchen rhythmischen Unebenheiten recht zweifelhaft. Im Strophen-
paare 15 u. 16, 17 u. 18, ferner 21 u. 22, 23 u. 24 ist allerdings Takrwechsel und
auch verschiedener Versbau, wie das bei Sequenzen zum Brauche gehort; aber es
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