Kapitulní síň, Klášter Zlatá Koruna
Kapitulní síň, Klášter Zlatá Koruna
In
Pragensi Ecclesia
Christmas at
Prague’s Cathedral Under the Reign of Charles IV
It would doubtless be interesting actually
to attend some of the festival ceremonies that used to take place at
St. Vitus’ Cathedral in the Middle Ages. Still unable to travel in
time, however, we have to rely exclusively on what can be learned about
the subject from surviving written documentary evidence and other
historical sources of information. As regards liturgy in Prague’s
cathedral, we are fortunate enough to have available a fairly extensive
body of source material on which to draw. Meticulously rubricated
Prague breviaries make it possible to reconstruct all but completely
the "scenarios" of certain ceremonies which were developed under the
Prague rite into an entire sophisticated system involving a host of
local particularities and making use of specific dispositions of St.
Vitus’ interior.
This recording brings an attempt at reconstructing part of the
Christmas services conducted in the cathedral, drawing on sources from
the second half of the 14th century. These include most notably the
manuscripts of Ernest of Pardubice, i.e., a series
of codices commissioned in 1363 by the first Archbishop of Prague for
the metropolitan chapter (Prague, Metropolitan Chapter Library, P VI —
P IX).
The Christmas liturgy starts with the first vespers
— the Christmas Eve service. Related to this canonical hour is the
opening antiphon here, Gaude et letare Iherusalem,
typical for the Prague rite.
A nocturnal canonical hour, matutinum, or matins, begins with an
invitation for prayer (invitatory). In a most lapidary form, its
antiphon makes known the principal idea of the feast: Christ
is born unto us. The invitatory is followed by the hymn Veni
Redemptor, one of the most mystical texts in the entire
Western European hymnography.
Lecture is another permanent feature of matins. In Bohemia, Christmas
matins Old Testament lectures would frequently involve the use of
several voices. Here, the three lectures from the first nocturn — Primo
tempore, Consolamini and Consurge — the
first two of which are thoroughly unique compositions, exemplify a
version discovered only recently in a late-14th-century manuscript
which probably originated in the circle of the Prague archbishopric.
They are characterized by an ingenious leading of the various voices,
and by surprising dissonances. Contrapuntal lectures followed by
responsories actually constitute a backbone of this album, being
interspersed within the individual blocs of Christmas masses.
The Christmas liturgy consists of three masses: the first, "in
primo galli cantu" (on the first song of the cock) — that is,
the midnight mass; the second, "in aurora" (on
dawn); and the third, principal mass, on Christmas Day.
Under the rite observed by the Prague cathedral, each of these masses
is celebrated at a different location. The first one is to be served at
the west choir of Our Lady. Accordingly, it
includes as its mandatory part the Marian ordinarium missae, from which
the Kyrie "de Beata Virgine" here was taken.
Also part of the midnight mass is the remarkable lecture from Isaiah, Laudem
Deo. A troped lecture, it features the text of the Scripture
interspersed with poetic commentary by a medieval author, providing a
highly emphatic reaction to Isaiah’s prophecy. The Prague breviaries
carry an interesting note accompanying this particular lecture: "Laudem
Deo, quam cantant duo pueri vel alii bene vociferati" —
"Laudem Deo, which is sung by two boys or others well endowed with
voice". This note is particularly important in view of the fact that
instances of troped recitation of Laudem Deo
featuring two-voice passages are in fact documented also by the
surviving late-14th-century sources presented here. The singling out of
two singers apparently relates to the alternate rendition of Biblical
text and trope. The emphasis on the interpreters’ vocal skills, utterly
unusual in a liturgical book, could have been inspired by the demanding
two-voice passages in the lecture’s final section.
The locale for the celebration of the second mass, "in aurora",
is specified with equal precision: it is to be sung at the cathedral’s Chapel
of St. Wenceslas. While the priests are on their way to the
chapel, their progress is mandatorily accompanied by the processional
hymn Lumen clarum; the individual verses sung by
the soloists are responded to by a refrain delivered by the full choir.
The main theme of this mass, served at daybreak, is the emergence of
light as the symbol of Christ’s birth. The motive of light appears,
apart from the aforetold hymn, Lumen clarum, also
in the introit, Lux fulgebit, introduced by the
trope, Iam fulget oriens.
The third, great mass, is celebrated on 25th December,
naturally at St. Vitus’ main choir. Its introit, Puer
natus est, is preceded by a dialogic prologue, Hodie
cantandus est. The three verses of this prologue, performed
alternately by two groups of singers (soloists and choir), are
accompanied by an interesting spatial effect: namely, the first verse
is sung from the main choir pulpit, the second from the opposite choir
of Our Lady, and the third once again from the pulpit. The present
recording strives to generate a corresponding impression of spatial
distinction in the delivery of the individual parts of the passage in
question.
The album’s final section, once again focusing on matins
lecture, brings A Record of the Genealogy of Christ
according to Matthew, with interesting variations of
three-voice passages.
David Eben
(Translation: Ivan Vomáčka)
