MCE 03-02 Ave salus infirmorum
Motet
T1 and T2, mm. 59–72, ‘Virgo carens simili ... possimus in gloria’, quote the corresponding verses from the sequence Ave virgo virginum (sung to the melody of Veni sancte spiritus, Cantus ID ah54153).
Text (ed. by Eva Ferro)
Edition |
English translation |
Ave, salus[1] infirmorum |
Hail, salvation of the weak |
Ave, mater Iesu Christi, |
Hail, mother of Jesus Christ, |
Inter spinas flos fuisti, |
You were a flower among thorns, |
Ave, veri[4] Salomonis |
Hail, mother of the true Solomon, |
Virgo carens simili, |
Virgin without compare, |
Nos digneris visere[6] |
May you deign to behold us, |
[1] salus] was added above the line in Librone 1, B
[2] laudantium] laudantem Librone 3, C A T2 B
[3] gratia] graci Librone 1, C T2 B; gratie Librone 3, C T2
[4] veri] verbi Librone 1, T1
[5] gaudia] gaudium Librone 1, T2; Librone 3, T2
[6] digneris visere] dignaris viscere Librone 3, C T1
This edition is based on two sources, namely Librone 1, ff. 145v–147r (copied by Scribe A) and Librone 3, ff. 126v–127r (copied by Scribe I).
The scribes were not particularly attentive to the spelling in this motet and inserted some mistakes: the scribe forgot the word ‘salus’ at first in Librone 1, B and had to add it above the line, forgot the final a in ‘gracia’ in Librone 1, C, T2 and B, made ‘verbi’ out of veri in Librone 1, T1, and wrote ‘gaudium’ instead of gaudia in Librone 1, T2 and in Librone 3, T1. In Librone 3 we also find grammatical and orthographical variants, like ‘laudantem’ for laudantium in all voices of Librone 3. ‘Digneris visere’ (‘May you deign to behold us’) becomes ‘dignaris viscere’ (‘through the womb you deem worthy’) in Librone 3, C and T1.
In this motet too the subject is Mary and her role as mother of Christ and intercessor for mankind. She reached Heaven by giving birth to the Saviour (verses 2, 3, and 4) and is now invoked by the faithful – who are here defined as ‘sick’ (infirmi), ‘miserable’ (miseri) and polluted by sins (sordes peccatorum) – to be their intercessor before God and allow them to ascend to Heaven as well.
In this case, as in many other instances in the cycle, the motet was composed as a compilation of verses from different Marian sequences (Ave caelorum regina, AH 54, no. 275, p. 416, verses 5 and 4; Salvatoris mater pia, AH 54, no. 280, pp. 424–26, verse 5; Verbum bonum et suave, AH 54, no. 218, pp. 343–45, verse 3; Ave virgo virginum, AH 54, no. 285, pp. 432–33, verses 9–10). Verses 1 and 2 of the motet are also transmitted as prayers and can be found in books of hours or private prayer books. Two fifteenth-century manuscripts, for instance, transmit a prayer in which verses 1 and 2 of the motet are switched in order, but literally adopted as a prayer text:[1] these sources are a book of hours from Parma (Bibl. Palatina, MS Parm. 1346 [S. Quintino, 1498], f. 85v) and a book of hours following the use of Rome (Paris, BnF, MS Lat. 1157, f. 18v).[2] The texts transmitted there read as follows:
PARMA: |
PARIS: |
Ave caelorum regina |
Ave caelorum regina |
Ave templum sanctum dei |
Ave templum sanctum dei |
Ave mater salvatoris |
Ave mater salvatoris |
Ave mater Iesu Christi |
Ave mater Iesu Christi |
Ave salus infirmorum |
Ave salus infirmorum |
Ave per quam salus datur |
Ave per quam salus datur |
Dignare me laudare te virgo sacrata |
It is also plausible to think that Compère knew this text from such sources, and did not necessarily draw it directly from the sequence.
[1] See Giacomo Baroffio, ‘Corpus italicum precum: Materiali per una storia del sentimento religioso in Italia’, http://www.hymnos.sardegna.it/iter/iterliturgicum.htm.
[2] See also Victor Leroquais, Les livres d’heures manuscrits de la Bibliothèque nationale, 3 vols. (Paris: n.p., 1927), I: 70–72, no. 22.
Measure | Voice | Source | Category | Comment | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
I-Mfd1 | rubrics and verbal directions | no ‘loco’ rubric | |||
I-Mfd1 | designation of voices | –, Contra Altus, Tenor primus, Tenor secundus, Contra bassus | |||
I-Mfd3 | designation of voices | –, Altus, Tenor primus, Tenor secundus, Bassus | |||
I-Mfd1; I-Mfd3 | clefs | original clefs: c1, c4, c4, c4, f4 | |||
18-19 | 5 | I-Mfd1 | text underlay | domina missing | |
21 | 2 | I-Mfd1 | coloration | f'-e' in minor color | |
23 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | coloration | no minor color | |
24 | 2 | I-Mfd1 | coloration | d'-c' in minor color | |
36 | 2 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | f' Sm instead of Mi in I-Mfd 1; the head of the subsequent Sm c' (of our m. 37) was possibly erased to turn it into a Mi and make up for the missing value | Show |
41-47 | 2 | I-Mfd1 | text underlay | fuisti, Sic flos flori placuisti missing | |
43-45 | 5 | I-Mfd3 | text underlay | flos flori placuisti missing | |
49-50 | I-Mfd1 | rubrics and verbal directions | ‘Verte cito’ directions at ff. 145v–146r, pointing to the conclusion of the piece on the following opening, and corresponding to the passage between mm. 49 and 50 in the edition. | ||
50 | I-Mfd1 | mensuration and proportion signs | C3, instead of 3, at the start of a new opening (ff. 146v-147r) | ||
51 | 1 3 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | blackened Sb-Mi-Mi-Sb instead of white Sb-Mi-punctum divisionis-Mi-Mi | |
52 | 1 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | Sb f' was Mi (stem erased) | Show |
52-54 | 2 | I-Mfd3 | text underlay | Mater, vellus Gedeonis missing | |
53 | 1 4 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | blackened Sb-Mi-Mi-Sb instead of white Sb-Mi-punctum divisionis-Mi-Mi | |
55 | 2 3 5 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | blackened Sb-Mi-Mi-Sb instead of white Sb-Mi-punctum divisionis-Mi-Mi | |
56-58 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | text underlay | Laudant puerperium missing | |
57 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | blackened Sb-Mi-Mi-Sb instead of white Sb-Mi-punctum divisionis-Mi-Mi | |
57 | 5 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | the last Mi d is blackened | |
63-64 | 5 | I-Mfd3 | text underlay | contulisti missing | |
65 | 5 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | perfect Sb (d) instead of imperfect Sb + Mi | |
71-72 | 4 | I-Mfd1 | text underlay | in gloria missing |
Text
Edition | English translation |
---|---|
Ave, salus infirmorum |
Hail, salvation of the weak |
Ave, mater Iesu Christi, |
Hail, mother of Jesus Christ, |
Inter spinas flos fuisti, |
You were a flower among thorns, |
Ave, veri Salomonis |
Hail, mother of the true Solomon, |
Virgo carens simili, |
Virgin without compare, |
Nos digneris visere |
May you deign to behold us, |