Error in Ash Wednesday Offertory??
  • paulrau
    Posts: 7
    Is it possible that Exaltabo te, the Ash Wednesday offertory, was supposed to have been written with a Fa clef and not a Do clef? It says it is in mode 2, but with the DO clef on the 4th line nothing about it seems to be like mode 2. I checked, and the Graduale Romanum is the same as the Liber.

    Thanks,

    Paul Rau
  • Richard R.
    Posts: 775
    This is what's called a transposed mode II, used to avoid a flat on the bottom line ("suscepisti me"), and showing how ambiguous these modal designation can be.
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    I don't think so. You need to remember that the melodies of the chants came first. They were later classified in particular modes. The Offertory that you cite isn't "technically" in Mode II at all; it's in Aeolian mode. The sixth note above the final in Mode II is usually "Ti," but in this case it's "Te" (actually, as written it's Fa instead of Fi, but it's the same difference).

    Anyway, the clef was most likely chosen because of ease of notation. If it were written in the Fa clef, every single "bottom line" note would have been flatted. I can't remember where, but I know I've seen this phenomenon in other places in the Gradual. Simply remember that the modes were written for the melodies, not the melodies for the modes.
  • paulrau
    Posts: 7
    thanks- I didn't realize the mode designation was added later.

    Paul
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