Sequence writing
  • aldrich
    Posts: 230
    I have taken to writing sequences in the past few days, intended to be sung to "Laetabundi jubilemus" of Adam of St. Victor. People are more familiar with the melody in St. Thomas' "Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem."

    Below are examples:

    http://www.4shared.com/office/Y3mwiART/Sequentiae_Philippinarum_Sanct.html
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Maybe I'm misunderstanding your intent, but don't sequences have to come from the liturgical books?
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    Well, you could use a new sequence anywhere a motet would be permitted, couldn't you?
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    would it really be a sequence then, or more of a chant hymn/motet thing?
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    It seems to me a newly composed chant hymn would be indistinguishable from a newly composed sequence. In fact, perhaps someone trained more "detailedly" than I could shed light on what exactly is the difference between a sequence and a hymn.

    Is a "chant hymn" only a sequence because of it's liturgical position in the Mass (Victimae Paschale, Veni Sancte, Lauda Sion). For example, Dies Irae still exists in the modern liturgy, but not as a sequence, rather as a hymn split up among various Hours of the Office for optional use during the final week of Ordinary Time.

    In other words, is the use of a metric (sometimes rhyming) Latin text and chant what determines if its a hymn or a sequence? Or in other other words, are all sequences really just hymns which happen to be assigned as the "sequence" of specific Masses?
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    Or, perhaps the distinguishing factor is melodic. All hymns repeat the same melody for each verse, where sequences have melodies that alternate and/or vary?
  • Earl_GreyEarl_Grey
    Posts: 904
    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequence_(poetry)#section_2 It's been awhile since taking history, but this seem accurate:

    Thanked by 1SkirpR
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    I should have looked it up myself!
  • mahrt
    Posts: 517
    SkirpR: you are correct: hymns are stanzaic, each stanza is set to the same melody; sequences consist of a succession of different paired melodies, aa bb cc dd etc., or for the earlier sequences: a bb cc dd . . . z. At some point the sequences sometimes repeated the sequence of paired melodies, so that Dies irae has this pattern: aa bb cc aa bb cc aa . . . The same text can be treated both ways: Stabat mater as a sequence has the succession of pairs, while the same text as a hymn has the same melody for all stanzas. The earlier sequences did not permit such stanzaic setting, since each of the pairs had a different syllable count. Later sequences were composed with a consistent metric pattern throughout, allowing them to be set to the same melody.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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