MCE 05-06 Quem terra pontus aethera

Edition

Motet

PL-Wu 5892, ff. 11v-12r

The motet is transmitted in both Libroni almost identically. Besides a single melodic/rhythmic variant (at m. 33), a few omissions of text, and other inaccuracies in the text underlay in I-Mfd 2, no other substantial differences separate the two copies. It is unclear, however, whether I-Mfd 1 was the source for I-Mfd 2, or, more likely (on the basis of the observations concerning Ave regina caelorum), the two motets were copied from another source.

In the Silesian source PL-Wu 5892 the motet is copied without the flat in the key signature. Because of the setting of erroneous clefs in Cantus and Altus, the second part of the motet sounds in these voices at a wrong pitch, distorting the sense of the composition. Once the clefs is emended, the melodic lines on the whole match the Milanese transmission, except for some rhythmic and melodic variants and an error at m. 40 (as well as a few inaccuracies, such as the omission of the final note in the Tenor). No accidentals are notated. The text is written out in all voices. The distribution of the verses shows one major discrepancy (B, mm. 18–23) compared to the Milanese source. In the written repetition of the word ‘desideratus’ in all (and not in just two) voices this source shares the reading of I-Mfd 2.

The more complete and more carefully written version of the motet in I-Mfd 1 has been used as the source of this edition.

Text (ed. by Eva Ferro)

Edition	Translation
Quem terra, pontus^[i], aethera^[ii] Colunt, adorant, praedicant, Trinam^[1] regentem machinam^[2] Claustrum^[3] Mariae baiulat^[4], Secreta^[5] quae non noverat.	He whom earth, sea, and the heavens honour, adore, announce, ruling the threefold creation Mary’s cloistered womb carries, she who did not know the secrets.
Cui^[6] luna, sol et omnia Deserviunt per tempora, Perfusa caeli gratia Gestant^[7] puellae^[8] viscera^[9].	The one whom moon, sun, and all things ardently serve through the ages, suffused by heaven’s grace the womb of a girl bears.
Beata mater munere, Cuius supernus artifex Mundum^[10]^[iii] pugillo^[11]^[iv] continens^[v] Ventris^[12] sub arca clausus est.	Mother blessed with a gift, whose highest Creator, he who contains the world in his little fist, was closed up in ⟨her⟩ womb’s casket.
Beata caeli nuntio, Fecunda sancto spiritu, Desideratus^[vi] gentibus Cuius per alvum^[13] fusus est.	Blessed by heaven’s messenger, fertile through the Holy Ghost, desired by the people through whose womb was brought forth.

^[1] trinam] trina Librone 2, C A

^[2] machinam] added below the line PL-Wu 5892, C

^[3] claustrum] clastrum PL-Wu 5892, B

^[4] baiulat] baiulant Librone 1, T

^[5] secreta] was corrected in secreta from secrata PL-Wu 5892, C

^[6] cui] added below the line PL-Wu 5892, C

^[7] gestant] gestat Librone 2, T B

^[8] puellae] pele Librone 2, T, puella B

^[9] viscera] uisera Librone 1, T B; Librone 2, B

^[10] mundum] mundo Librone 2, T

^[11] pugillo] pusilo Librone 2, T

^[12] ventris] ventis Librone 2, T; ventus Librone 2, B

^[13] alvum] alium Librone 1, T

^[i] pontus] pondus Librone 1, C A T B; puntus Librone 2, C T

^[ii] aethera] etera Librone 2, A

^[iii] mundum] mondum Librone 1, A

^[iv] pugillo] pugilo Librone 1, A T

^[v] continens] cuntinens Librone 2, A T

^[vi] desideratus] descideratus Librone 2, T

The edition of the text of this motet is based on three sources: Librone 1 (ff. 131v–132r), Librone 2 (ff. 52v–53r), and PL-Wu 5892 (ff. 11v–12r). The two Libroni, and especially Librone 2, present more inaccuracies than the Silesian/Polish manuscript: in Librone 2 for instance we find: ‘trina’ for trinam in Cantus and Altus, ‘gestat’ for gestant in Tenor, ‘pele’ for puellae in Cantus, ‘mundo’ for mundum in Tenor, ‘ventis’ for ventris in Tenor, and ‘ventus’ for ventris in Bassus, and so on. The Silesian/Polish source, on the contrary, transmits a good text and its copyist even intervened to correct words that had been wrongly copied in the first place (for instance, he corrects ‘secrata’ to secreta in the Cantus). Also, while the Libroni offer a wide range of phonetic variance (d for t in pontus in Librone 1, A T B; o for u in mundum in Librone 1, A), the third source presents no particular phonetic phenomena, except those most commonly attested in medieval Latin.

The literary source for this motet is a hymn dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Quem terra, pontus, aethera (AH 50, no. 72, at pp. 86–87, stanzas 1, 2, 4, 5), written in the sixth century by Venantius Fortunatus, an Italian poet who was active in the Merovingian territory and became bishop of Poitiers. All stanzas of the motet are drawn from this hymn, except for the insertion of a line from another late antique hymn, Sedulius’s A solis ortus cardine (AH 50, no. 53/2, at p. 58, stanza 3, line 4) at the end of the first stanza (‘secreta, quae non noverat’). Quem terra, pontus, aethera was used liturgically for different Marian feasts (Annunciation, Purification, Nativity, and so on). The text of the hymns is followed to the letter, except for the substitution of the word ‘beata’ for benedicta in the fourth stanza of the motet.

Librone 1, ff. 131v–132r and Librone 2, ff. 52v–53r	AH 50, no. 72
Quem terra, pontus, aethera Colunt, adorant, praedicant, Trinam regentem machinam Claustrum Mariae baiulat, Secreta quae non noverat.	1. Quem terra, pontus, aethera Colunt, adorant, praedicant, Trinam regentem machinam Claustrum Mariae baiulat.
Cui luna, sol et omnia Deserviunt per tempora, Perfusa caeli gratia Gestant puellae viscera.	2. Cui luna, sol et omnia Deserviunt per tempora, Perfusa caeli gratia Gestant puellae viscera.
Beata mater munere, Cuius supernus artifex Mundum pugillo continens Ventris sub arca clausus est.	4. Beata mater munere, Cuius supernus artifex Mundum pugillo continens Ventris sub arca clausus est.
Beata caeli nuntio, Fecunda sancto spiritu, Desideratus gentibus Cuius per alvum fusus est.	5. Benedicta caeli nuntio, Fecunda sancto spiritu, Desideratus gentibus Cuius per alvum fusus est.

The metrical scheme of this hymn is typical for medieval hymns and goes back to Ambrose’s hymns. It involves the use of eight iambs (∪ — ∪ — ∪ — ∪ —).

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Measure	Voice	Source	Category	Comment
		I-Mfd1	designation of voices	-, Contra Altus, Tenor, Contra bassus
		I-Mfd2	designation of voices	-, [A]ltus, [T]enor, [B]assus
		PL-Wu_5892	designation of voices	-, A[ltus], T[enor], B[assus]
		I-Mfd1; I-Mfd2	clefs	original clefs: c1, c3, c4, f2
		PL-Wu_5892	clefs	original clefs: c1, c4, c4, f2
	1 2 3 4	PL-Wu_5892	key signatures	no b-flat is notated
	1 2 3 4	PL-Wu_5892	mensuration signs	C instead of cut-C
1-10	4	I-Mfd2	text underlay	Quem terra pontus aethera (the two following verses are missing)
1-10	4	PL-Wu_5892	text underlay	machinam is missing
5-10	2	I-Mfd2	text underlay	Colunt, adorant, praedicant trinam machinam claustrum (regentem is missing)
6	3	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	two Mi b instead of dotted Mi b and Sm b
8	3	PL-Wu_5892	coloration	minor color instead of dotted Mi c' and Sm b
8	3	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	Mi c' instead of the second Mi b
11-15	2	I-Mfd2	text underlay	Mariae baiulat secreta quae non noverat
12	1	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	Mi f' and Sm f' instead of dotted Mi
12	2	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	Sm g instead of Sm a after dotted Mi a
12	4	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	Sm c instead of Sm d after dotted Mi d
13	4	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	Mi e instead of Mi f
14-19	1	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	the whole passage is erroneously notated a third higher
15	1 3	I-Mfd1; I-Mfd2	text underlay	Cui is treated here as a single syllable
15	2	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	black Sb and Mi rest instead of white Sb
15	4	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	black Sb and Mi rest instead of white Sb
16	3	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	two black Mi b instead of black Sb b
19-23	4	PL-Wu_5892	text underlay	cui luna sol et omnia deserviunt per tempora instead of the following two verses (perfusa…viscera)
20	4	I-Mfd1	pitch and rhythm	Sb b formely notated with stem as Mi (emended through erasure)
23-43	1	PL-Wu_5892	clefs	g2 clef until the end of the piece; this groundless insertion causes the Cantus to be a third higher
23-43	2	PL-Wu_5892	clefs	wrong clefs determine an uncorrect reading of the pitches: c3 clef until the first half of m. 37; c4 clef from the second half of m. 37 (new staff); this causes the pitches to be a second lower in the whole passage
23-43	1	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	the passage is a third higher if read in the given g2 clef, while it is correct if read in the c1 clef of the beginning
26	1	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	black Sb a' and black Sb f' instead of black Mi a' and black Mi f'
26	2	PL-Wu_5892	accidentals	no flat
26-27	2	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	dotted Mi e' + Sm d' + Mi b + dotted Mi d' + Sm d' + Mi a (reading the notes at the correct pitch level: see comments to mm. 23–43 above) instead of dotted Mi e'-flat + Sm b + Mi c' + dotted Mi d' + Sm c' + Mi a
27-33	4	PL-Wu_5892	text underlay	nuntio is missing
29	3	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	black Mi c' instead of black Mi d'
30	3	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	black Mi b and black Mi a instead of dotted black Mi b and black Sm a
30	4	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	black Mi d and black Mi c instead of black dotted Mi d and black Sm c
33	1	I-Mfd2	pitch and rhythm	dotted Mi a' and Sm b' instead of Sb a'
37-38	2 4	I-Mfd2; PL-Wu_5892	text underlay	the repetition of desideratus is written out in the mss.
40	2	PL-Wu_5892	accidentals	no flat before e'
40	4	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	c and d notated as black Sb instead of black Mi (stem is missing)
43	3	PL-Wu_5892	pitch and rhythm	final note is missing
43	1 2 3 4	I-Mfd1	pitch and rhythm	all final notes are Mx
43	1 2 3	PL-Wu_5892	musical symbols	fermata signs

Edition	Translation
Quem terra, pontus, aethera Colunt, adorant, praedicant, Trinam regentem machinam Claustrum Mariae baiulat, Secreta quae non noverat.	He whom earth, sea, and the heavens honour, adore, announce, ruling the threefold creation Mary’s cloistered womb carries, she who did not know the secrets.
Cui luna, sol et omnia Deserviunt per tempora, Perfusa caeli gratia Gestant puellae viscera.	The one whom moon, sun, and all things ardently serve through the ages, suffused by heaven’s grace the womb of a girl bears.
Beata mater munere, Cuius supernus artifex Mundum pugillo continens Ventris sub arca clausus est.	Mother blessed with a gift, whose highest Creator, he who contains the world in his little fist, was closed up in ⟨her⟩ womb’s casket.
Beata caeli nuntio, Fecunda sancto spiritu, Desideratus gentibus Cuius per alvum fusus est.	Blessed by heaven’s messenger, fertile through the Holy Ghost, desired by the people through whose womb was brought forth.

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