Lengthening in Mass I Kyrie & Ite
  • madorganist
    Posts: 906
    A lively debate erupted in last night's schola rehearal. While I'm thrilled to have such dedicated and perceptive singers, the topic at hand caught me totally off guard. At issue is the do-re-mi-re figure following the quilisma in Mass I.

    In the Solesmes Vatican edition books:
    penultimate Kyrie: short long long long
    final Kyrie: short? long long long
    Dismissal (Ite): short? long long long

    But in the "Ordinary Chants of the Office" section of the Liber and Mass and Vespers, the episema is shorter:
    Dismissal (Benedicamus): short? long long SHORT

    But in the Antiphonale Monasticum, it's the same as is the Kyriale. In similar passages, the AM also prints an episema below the podatus, presumably for clarity (c.f. Ant. Loquebantur). Otherwise, it's unclear whether the long episema affects the lower note or only the upper.

    The modern-notation Liber gives us:
    penultimate Kyrie: short long long SHORT
    final Kyrie: LONG long long SHORT
    Ite: LONG long long SHORT (also for the Office)

    In practice, we've been treating these passages this last way because that's how they're notated in the accompaniment book.
    I suppose I should be happy my guys are paying such careful attention to the rhythmic markings!
    Thanked by 1JonathanKK
  • JonathanKKJonathanKK
    Posts: 542
    What worked for me, I would advise people to sing:

    Christe, lengthen really only the 1st note of the torculus, the other two only imaginarily.

    Then on the Kyrie's at the end, all of these lengthenings are also imaginary.

    And you can hear this on e.g. the recording HERE.

    (By imaginary lengthenings I mean: OK, they are written, but sing them with hardly any ado. It's just a little float like when you drive over the top of a hill with a sudden drop. And thus it shouldn't bother others who in their subconscious may have simplified the gesture to just unlengthened notes with the exception of the first note of the Christe's.)
    Thanked by 1madorganist
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