MCE 04-04 Imperatrix gloriosa : Florem ergo : Res miranda
Text (ed. by Eva Ferro)
|
Edition |
Translation |
1 |
Imperatrix gloriosa, |
Glorious Empress, |
2 |
Radix Iesse[ii] speciosa, |
Beautiful root of Jesse, |
3 |
Auster lenis te perflavit |
The South Wind pervaded you |
4 |
Florem ergo genuisti |
Thus you bore the flower |
5 |
Ioseph, iustus vir[1], expavit, |
Joseph, a just man, became afraid, |
6 |
Paene tamen conservavit |
Yet, he guarded well |
7 |
Caeli quondam roraverunt |
The skies dripped dew, |
8 |
Res miranda, res novella |
Wondrous thing, unheard thing! |
9 |
Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis. |
Holy Mary, pray for us! |
10 |
Ergo[7] clemens et benigna |
Thus, merciful and kind |
11 |
Sancta dei genitrix, ora pro nobis. |
Holy Mother of God, pray for us! |
12 |
Ut carnali qua gravamur[8] |
So that we thus be absolved from the carnal shackle |
[1] vir] tunc Librone 1, B
[2] irrigavit] the second i was added below the line in Librone 1, C
[3] magnificavit] ni was added above in Librone 1, B
[4] honorans] hono was added above the line in Librone 1, B
[5] nubes] the word concre was struck through and substituted with nubes added above in Librone 1, A
[6] concreverunt] concre was added in Librone 1, A
[7] ergo] added above by another hand with bright ink in Librone 1, B
[8] gravamur] va is added above in Librone 1, C
[i] imperiosa] inperiosa Librone 1, C A B
[ii] Iesse] iese Librone 1, A
[iii] paranympho] paraninpho Librone 1, C T B
[iv] arcanum] archanum Librone 1, C T B
[v] tori] thori Librone 1, C A T B
This edition is based on Librone 1, ff. 90v–93r. The scribe of the text was again Scribe B, who inserted quite a number of incorrect readings that had then to be corrected through deletions or additions of words or parts of words. In some cases the corrections are minimal (in C the second i of the word irrigavit was added later, in B both magnificavit and honorans needed corrections, and in A the scribe had a small confusion with the words nubes and concreverunt).
This long text comprises the entire Marian sequence Imperatrix gloriosa (AH 54, no. 221, pp. 351–53) as well as some additions in form of litany formulas (‘Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis’ and ‘Sancta dei genitrix, ora pro nobis’). The topic of the motet is the devotion to Mary, who is praised here especially for her role as mother, but the main subject of the sequence is Mary’s conception expressed with the metaphor of the branch made fertile by being watered by the grace of god (‘Radix Iesse speciosa, / Virga florens et frondosa / Quam rigavit copiosa / Deitatis gratia’) and with the image of the warm south wind Auster that brings spring and the months of harvest when it blows (‘Auster lenis te perflavit / Et perflando fecundavit / Aquilonem qui fugavit / Sua cum potentia’).
As a previous study has shown,[1] this sequence was not widely spread, especially in Italy, where it is transmitted only by a few known manuscript sources. Some textual variants in Gaffurius’s motet that differ from the text edited in AH (for instance the reading ‘Ex quo fructum’ instead of the more attested ‘Fructum atque’ in verse 4 and ‘in uterum’ instead of ‘in situlam’ in verse 7) connect Gaffurius’s source for the sequence with a group of only five further manuscripts, of which only one, a fourteenth-century gradual for the cathedral church of Cividale in Friuli, can plausibly be considered as a possible source for Gaffurius.
[1] Eva Ferro, ‘“Old Texts for New Music”? Textual and Philological Observations on the Cycles “Salve Mater Salvatoris” and “Ave Domine Iesu Christe” from Librone 1’, in Motet Cycles between Devotion and Liturgy, ed. Daniele V. Filippi and Agnese Pavanello, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Scripta 7 (Basel: Schwabe, 2019), 189–218, at 200–3.
Measure | Voice | Source | Category | Comment | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
I-Mfd1 | rubrics and verbal directions | ‘F. Gafforus’ added later by Gaffurius | |||
I-Mfd1 | designation of voices | –, Contra acutus, Tenor, Contra gravis | |||
I-Mfd1 | clefs | original clefs: c1, c3, c4, c4 | |||
62 | 4 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | Sm c was B (emended by erasing its head and rewriting it) | Show |
63 | 4 | I-Mfd1 | accidentals | flat probably added later | Show |
72 | 1 2 3 4 | I-Mfd1 | musical symbols | custodes added by Gaffurius at the end of all the voices, pointing to the second part of the piece on the following opening | |
72-73 | 4 | I-Mfd1 | rubrics and verbal directions | ‘Verte folium’ direction added later by Gaffurius at f. 91r, pointing to the second part of the piece on the following opening, and corresponding to the passage between mm. 72 and 73 in the edition | |
90 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | Mi rest was Br (emended by erasing its upper part) | Show |
141-142 | 1 2 3 4 | I-Mfd1 | musical symbols | custodes added by Gaffurius at the end of all the voices, pointing to the third part of the piece on the following opening | |
141-142 | 4 | I-Mfd1 | rubrics and verbal directions | ‘Verte folium’ direction added later by Gaffurius at f. 92r, pointing to the conclusion of the piece on the following opening, and corresponding to the passage between mm. 141 and 142 in the edition | |
142 | 1 2 3 4 | I-Mfd1 | mensuration and proportion signs | the C cut signs on ff. 92v-93r (m. 142) have been added later; no space had been reserved for them |
Text
Edition | Translation |
---|---|
Imperatrix gloriosa, |
Glorious Empress, |
Radix Iesse speciosa, |
Beautiful root of Jesse, |
Auster lenis te perflavit |
The South Wind pervaded you |
Florem ergo genuisti |
Thus you bore the flower |
Ioseph, iustus vir, expavit, |
Joseph, a just man, became afraid, |
Paene tamen conservavit |
Yet, he guarded well |
Caeli quondam roraverunt |
The skies dripped dew, |
Res miranda, res novella |
Wondrous thing, unheard thing! |
Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis. |
Holy Mary, pray for us! |
Ergo clemens et benigna |
Thus, merciful and kind |
Sancta dei genitrix, ora pro nobis. |
Holy Mother of God, pray for us! |
Ut carnali qua gravamur |
So that we thus be absolved from the carnal shackle |