MCE 04-04 Imperatrix gloriosa : Florem ergo : Res miranda

Edition

Motet

See Introduction, footnote 28.

Text (ed. by Eva Ferro)

	Edition	Translation
1	Imperatrix gloriosa, Potens et imperiosa^[i], Iesu Christi generosa Mater atque filia.	Glorious Empress, powerful and imperious, generous mother and daughter of Jesus Christ.
2	Radix Iesse^[ii] speciosa, Virga florens et frondosa Quam rigavit copiosa Deitatis gratia.	Beautiful root of Jesse, flowering and leafy branch, which the abundant grace of God nourished.
3	Auster lenis te perflavit Et perflando fecundavit Aquilonem qui fugavit Sua cum potentia.	The South Wind pervaded you and, in so doing, impregnated you, and it chased away the North Wind with its power.
4	Florem ergo genuisti Ex quo fructum protulisti, Gabrieli cum fuisti Paranympho^[iii] credula.	Thus you bore the flower from which you brought forth the fruit, when you trusted Gabriel, the best man.
5	Ioseph, iustus vir^[1], expavit, Ista dum consideravit, Sciens quod non irrigavit^[2] Florescentem virgulam.	Joseph, a just man, became afraid, when he considered this situation, knowing that he did not nourish the little blossoming branch.
6	Paene tamen conservavit Arcanum^[iv] nec divulgavit, Sponsam sed magnificavit^[3] Honorans^[4] ut dominam.	Yet, he guarded well and did not divulge the secret, but rather he magnified his bride, honouring her like a lady.
7	Caeli quondam roraverunt Nubes ex quo^[5] concreverunt^[6] Et concretae stillaverunt Virginis in uterum.	The skies dripped dew, from which clouds condensed and once compact they trickled down into the womb of the Virgin.
8	Res miranda, res novella Nam procedit sol de stella, Regem dum parit puella Viri thori^[v] nescia.	Wondrous thing, unheard thing! For the sun arises from a star, when a girl ignorant of a man’s bed brings forth a king.
9	Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis.	Holy Mary, pray for us!
10	Ergo^[7] clemens et benigna Cunctorumque laude digna, Tuo nato nos consigna Pia per suffragia.	Thus, merciful and kind and worthy of praise from all, make us known to your Son through your pious intercessions.
11	Sancta dei genitrix, ora pro nobis.	Holy Mother of God, pray for us!
12	Ut carnali qua gravamur^[8] Compede sic absolvamur, Ut soluti transferamur Ad caeli palatia. Amen.	So that we thus be absolved from the carnal shackle with which we are burdened, and, once freed, be transported to the palaces of heaven. Amen.

^[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.

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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

Edition	Translation
Imperatrix gloriosa, Potens et imperiosa, Iesu Christi generosa Mater atque filia.	Glorious Empress, powerful and imperious, generous mother and daughter of Jesus Christ.
Radix Iesse speciosa, Virga florens et frondosa Quam rigavit copiosa Deitatis gratia.	Beautiful root of Jesse, flowering and leafy branch, which the abundant grace of God nourished.
Auster lenis te perflavit Et perflando fecundavit Aquilonem qui fugavit Sua cum potentia.	The South Wind pervaded you and, in so doing, impregnated you, and it chased away the North Wind with its power.
Florem ergo genuisti Ex quo fructum protulisti, Gabrieli cum fuisti Paranympho credula.	Thus you bore the flower from which you brought forth the fruit, when you trusted Gabriel, the best man.
Ioseph, iustus vir, expavit, Ista dum consideravit, Sciens quod non irrigavit Florescentem virgulam.	Joseph, a just man, became afraid, when he considered this situation, knowing that he did not nourish the little blossoming branch.
Paene tamen conservavit Arcanum nec divulgavit, Sponsam sed magnificavit Honorans ut dominam.	Yet, he guarded well and did not divulge the secret, but rather he magnified his bride, honouring her like a lady.
Caeli quondam roraverunt Nubes ex quo concreverunt Et concretae stillaverunt Virginis in uterum.	The skies dripped dew, from which clouds condensed and once compact they trickled down into the womb of the Virgin.
Res miranda, res novella Nam procedit sol de stella, Regem dum parit puella Viri thori nescia.	Wondrous thing, unheard thing! For the sun arises from a star, when a girl ignorant of a man’s bed brings forth a king.
Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis.	Holy Mary, pray for us!
Ergo clemens et benigna Cunctorumque laude digna, Tuo nato nos consigna Pia per suffragia.	Thus, merciful and kind and worthy of praise from all, make us known to your Son through your pious intercessions.
Sancta dei genitrix, ora pro nobis.	Holy Mother of God, pray for us!
Ut carnali qua gravamur Compede sic absolvamur, Ut soluti transferamur Ad caeli palatia. Amen.	So that we thus be absolved from the carnal shackle with which we are burdened, and, once freed, be transported to the palaces of heaven. Amen.

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