MCE 06-08 Tota pulchra es : Iam enim hiems
Motet
Text (ed. by Eva Ferro)
Edition |
Translation |
Tota pulchra[i] es, amica mea, et macula non est in te. |
Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee. |
[1] transiit] transit Librone 1, C B
[i] pulcra] pulchra Librone 1, C A T B
[ii] hiems] yems Librone 1, C A; yemps Librone 1, B
[iii] imber] ymber Librone 1, A T
[iv] apparuerunt] aparuerunt Librone 1, C T
This edition is based on Librone 1, ff. 141v–143r (Scribe A). There are almost no divergent readings or serious mistakes to report, with the exception of the verb transiit, spelled with one i, thus making it a present tense, although the spelling ‘transit’ for a perfect tense is attested even in classical Latin (for instance in Virg. Aen. 5, 274). The most frequent variants are phonetic and typical for medieval Latin (for instance ‘yems’ or ‘yemps’ for the classical hiems; or ‘ymber’ for imber).
The subject of Marian devotion is thematized through different quotations from the Song of Songs, in this case a compilation from 4: 7–8 and 10–11 and 2: 11–13. Song of Songs compilations were frequent in various Marian devotional genres: compare, for instance, the late medieval rosary.[1] Even though the text of this motet has partial correspondences with different liturgical chants (antiphons, responsories, verses, or sequences) used in different Marian feasts or for the offices of female saints, the most exact textual match is an antiphon for the feast of Mary’s Assumption to Heaven (Assumptio Mariae; see CAO 3, no. 5162). This antiphon is widely attested in manuscript sources from the high and late Middle Ages as well as in early modern prints.
[1] See Anne Winston-Allen, Stories of the Rose: The Making of the Rosary in the Middle Ages, University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997, 145–46.
Measure | Voice | Source | Category | Comment | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
I-Mfd1 | designation of voices | –, Contra Altus, Tenor, Contra bassus | |||
I-Mfd1 | clefs | original clefs: g2, c2, c4, c4 | |||
3 | I-Mfd1 | clefs | c4 clef on f. 141v, but c3 on f. 142v (from m. 23). The c3 clefs of the second and third staves of f. 142v (corresponding respectively to the passage between mm. 30 and 31 and to that between Mi and Sb g in m. 39) have been written over erased c4 clefs | Show | |
17 | 4 | I-Mfd1 | accidentals | flat not explicitly indicated before the second Sb e | |
22-23 | 1 3 4 | I-Mfd1 | rubrics and verbal directions | ‘Verte folium’ directions on ff. 141v-142r (C, T and B), pointing to the conclusion of the piece on the following opening, and corresponding to the passage between mm. 22 and 23 in the edition | |
23 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | mensuration and proportion signs | the mensuration sign is placed at the very beginning of the stave, very distant from the first note | Show |
24-25 | 1 4 | I-Mfd1 | text underlay | transit instead of transiit | |
26 | 4 | I-Mfd1 | accidentals | the flat which refers to the Sb a has probably have been added later, as shown by its position (the scribe had originally left no space right before the note) | Show |
27 | 4 | I-Mfd1 | accidentals | flat not explicitly indicated before the Mi e | |
28-29 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | ligatures | in the edition the lig. has been splitted in order to accomodate all the syllables | |
30-31 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | key signatures | the flat at the beginning of the second stave of f. 142v, corresponding to the passage between mm. 30 and 31 in the edition, has been erased and written a third lower | |
34 | 4 | I-Mfd1 | musical symbols | the flat referred to the Sb B is anticipated at the end of the previous stave, between the Sb d and the Mi f; it is then repeated at the beginning of the new stave, before the Sb B | Show |
36 | 1 | I-Mfd1 | musical symbols | fermata missing | |
38 | 2 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | Sb e'-flat instead of d' | |
39 | 1 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | the first Sb b' was Mi (emended by erasing the stem) | Show |
39 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | key signatures | the flat at the beginning of the third stave of f. 142v, corresponding to m. 39, between Mi and Sb g in the edition, has been erased and written a third lower | |
39-47 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | text underlay | the scribe wrote only ‘a’ and then stopped copying the text in this voice | |
42 | 3 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | Sm c' was Mi (emended by filling its head with lighter ink) | Show |
47 | 1 2 3 4 | I-Mfd1 | pitch and rhythm | last note Mx instead of Lo |
Text
Edition | Translation |
---|---|
Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te. |
Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee. |