MCE 02-08 Da pacem domine

Edition

Motet

The first six notes of the antiphon Da pacem domine are quoted in transposition at the incipit (T1 and T2, mm. 1–15). Compare Cantus ID 002090:
1--d--c--d--f--g--f---e--f--g--fe---d---d---4
‘Da pacem domine in diebus nostris’

Verse 1a and 1b of the sequence Ave Maria, gratia plena (Cantus ID 850309) are quoted in transposition in the corresponding passage ‘Ave, Maria...virgo serena’ (T1 and T2, mm. 28–45). Compare for instance de Goede (ed.), The Utrecht Prosarium, 63, no. 38:
1--g--g--g--hj--g----g--e--d--eg--g---4
‘Ave Maria, gratia plena
dominus tecum, virgo serena’

A common two-pitch reciting formula is used in the passage ‘Ecce ancilla domini...verbum tuum’ (T1 and T2, mm. 45–52). Compare for instance Graduale Triplex, 820:
1--k--k--k--k--k---h----k--k--k--k--k--k---h---4
‘Dominus vobiscum / Et cum spiritu tuo’

The incipit of verse 1 of the sequence In honore matris dei (sung to the melody of Sospitati reddit aegros) is quoted in transposition in the corresponding passage ‘In honore…plena gratia’ (T1 and T2, mm. 53–74). Compare the melody of Sospitati in Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, MS latin 15181, f. 374r:
1--d--h--h--g--f--e--g--h----d--f--e--d--c--d--d---4
‘Sospitati dedit egros / olei perfusio
Nicolaus naufragantum / affuit presidio’

Text (ed. by Eva Ferro)

Edition

Translation

Da pacem, domine, in diebus nostris, quia non est alius qui pugnet pro nobis nisi tu, deus noster.

Deliver peace, Lord, in our days, because there is no one else who fights for us except you, our God.

Ave, Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum, virgo serena.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, serene virgin.

Ecce ancilla domini. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord. May happen to me according to your word.

In honore matris dei
Et eius memoria
Decantemus omnes ei:
Ave, plena gratia.
Amen.

In honour of the mother of God and her memory let us sing to her: Hail full of grace. Amen.

The edition of this motet text is based on Librone 1 (ff. 169v–170r), where it was copied by Scribe A, who made no copying mistakes.
According to the loco rubric, this last motet of the cycle was sung during the Deo gratias, a chant that resounded at the end of the mass. Above all, this motet is interesting with regard to the technique of mixing different genres of liturgical poetry in one piece. At least three different liturgical genres were used as sources for the text: antiphons, sequences, and prayers. The first section of the text (‘Da pacem ... deus noster’) is an antiphon mostly associated with the votive Suffragium pro pace or the Feast of the Holy Maccabees,[1] but it is also used as a prayer in books of hours, for instance in a fifteenth-century book of hours from Lille (Lille, Bibl. municipale, MS 14 [a.c.69]), where it is introduced by the rubric: ‘Say this prayer after you receive the peace’ (‘Postea recipias pacem dic’) or in a fifteenth-century book of hours following the use of Rome, now in Paris (Bibl. nationale de France, MS lat. 10561).[2] The second section (‘Ave ... serena’) is drawn from a Marian sequence (AH 54, No. 216, pp. 337–40, st. 1–2), just like the last section (‘In honore ... plena gratia’: AH 39, No. 70, pp. 67–68, st. 1a–b). The third section of the text (‘Ecce ... tuum’) corresponds to a line from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1: 38) and is used as an antiphon and versicle for the feast of the Annunciation or during the Christmas season.[3]


[1] See http://cantusindex.org/id/002090.

[2] See Giacomo Baroffio, ‘Corpus italicum precum: Materiali per una storia del sentimento religioso in Italia’, http://www.hymnos.sardegna.it/iter/iterliturgicum.htm.

[3] See http://cantusindex.org/id/002491.

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Measure Voice Source Category Comment Image
I-Mfd1 designation of voices –, Contra Altus, Tenor primus, Tenor secundus, Contra bassus
I-Mfd1 clefs original clefs: c1, c4, c4, c4, f4
58 4 I-Mfd1 musical symbols no fermata sign
60 2 I-Mfd1 pitch and rhythm Sb c' instead of b-flat (emended because of the dissonance with C and B) Show
Text
EditionTranslation

Da pacem, domine, in diebus nostris, quia non est alius qui pugnet pro nobis nisi tu, deus noster.

Deliver peace, Lord, in our days, because there is no one else who fights for us except you, our God.

Ave, Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum, virgo serena.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, serene virgin.

Ecce ancilla domini. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord. May happen to me according to your word.

In honore matris dei
Et eius memoria
Decantemus omnes ei:
Ave, plena gratia.
Amen.

In honour of the mother of God and her memory let us sing to her: Hail full of grace. Amen.