MCE 06-04 O pulcherrima mulierum

Edition

Motet

See the general ‘Evaluation of the sourcesʼ at the level of the cycle.

Text (ed. by Eva Ferro)

Edition	English translation
O pulcherrima^[i] mulierum, qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto tuo, quia sic^[1] adiurasti nos^[2]?	O thou most beautiful among women, what manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, that thou has so adjured us?
Dilectus meus candidus et rubicundus^[3]^[ii], electus^[iii] ex milibus.	My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands.
Labia illius stillantia mirram^[iv] primam.	His lips are as lilies dropping choice myrrh.
Guttur illius consuavissimus^[4] et^[5] totus desiderabilis.	His throat is most sweet, and he is all lovely.
Talis est dilectus meus et ipse amicus meus, filiae Ierusalem.	Such is my beloved, and he is my friend, o ye daughters of Jerusalem.

^[1] sic] in Librone 1, T sic looks like siq but this is because the vertical line, that the copyist usually adds to separate words that are near to each other, was written with dark ink and could be mistaken for the vertical stroke of the letter q.

^[2] nos] Librone [4], T wrote no

^[3] rubicundus] Librone [4], C wrote rubicudus

^[4] consuavissimus] all voices in Librone [4] have suavissimum

^[5] et] Librone [4], C T B wrote est

^[i] pulcherrima] pulcerrima Librone 1, C A T B; pulcerrima Librone [4], T B; C A no longer visible

^[ii] rubicundus] rubicondus Librone [4], A

^[iii] electus] ellectus Librone 1, A

^[iv] mirram] miram Librone 1, T B; miram Librone [4], C A T B

This edition is based on Librone 1, ff. 137v–138r, where the text was written by Scribe A, and on Librone [4], ff. 134v–135r, where Scribe J was at work. Librone [4] transmits some textual variants and mistakes, for instance the choice of ‘suavissimum’ (as in the Vulgate) in all voices instead of consuavissimum as in Librone 1, the incomplete ‘no’ in the T (instead of nos) and the wrong ‘est’ in C T B (instead of et).
The text draws from Song of Songs 5: 9–10, 13, and 16, and, as previously noted,^[1] some parts of it can be found in the liturgies for Nativity and Assumption (see CAO 3, nos. 2227 and 5098). Thus, it fits into the context of Marian devotion of the whole cycle.

^[1] Nolan Ira Gasser, ‘The Marian Motet Cycles of the Gaffurius Codices: A Musical and Liturgico-Devotional Study’ (Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 2001), 288.

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Measure	Voice	Source	Category	Comment	Image
		I-Mfd1	designation of voices	–, Contra Altus, Tenor, Contra bassus
		I-Mfd4	designation of voices	–, Altus, Tenor, Bassus
		I-Mfd1; I-Mfd4	clefs	original clefs: g2, c2, c3, c4
1-6	2 3 4	I-Mfd4	text underlay	O pulcherrima (passage no longer visible in the C)
3	4	I-Mfd1; I-Mfd4	accidentals	flat not explicitely indicated before the Mi and the dotted Mi e
3	4	I-Mfd4	musical symbols	‘3’ under the blackened Sb e
6	2	I-Mfd1; I-Mfd4	pitch and rhythm	d' Br instead of Sb
6-8	2	I-Mfd4	text underlay	mulierum
8-13	3 4	I-Mfd4	text underlay	mulierum
10	4	I-Mfd4	coloration	no minor color
13-23	3	I-Mfd4	text underlay	Qualis...tuo
15	2	I-Mfd1	pitch and rhythm	the tie is editorial (passage no longer visible in I-Mfd [4])
16-17	1	I-Mfd1	text underlay	tuus missing (passage no longer visible in I-Mfd [4])
17-20	4	I-Mfd4	text underlay	ex dilecto tuo missing
21	3	I-Mfd4	coloration	no minor color
22-23	2	I-Mfd4	ligatures	no lig. between a' and g'
23	2	I-Mfd4	text underlay	nos missing
24-27	3 4	I-Mfd4	text underlay	Quia...adiurasti
28-30	4	I-Mfd4	text underlay	nos
28-31	3	I-Mfd4	text underlay	no[s]; Dilectus…rubicundus missing
29	2	I-Mfd1	pitch and rhythm	Mi d' erased and replaced with a Sb f'	Show
33	1	I-Mfd4	coloration	no minor color
36	4	I-Mfd1	pitch and rhythm	the tie is editorial
36	4	I-Mfd4	pitch and rhythm	b dotted Sb instead of Sb+Mi
39-44	3	I-Mfd4	text underlay	Labia...stillantia
41-42	4	I-Mfd4	ligatures	lig. between d and g
44	1	I-Mfd1	pitch and rhythm	Sb g' was probably Mi (emended by erasing the stem); Sb d'' erased and replaced by Mi b' with a round shape	Show
44-47	3	I-Mfd4	text underlay	primam
45-46	1	I-Mfd4	ligatures	no lig. between b' and a'
45-46	3	I-Mfd4	ligatures	no lig. between d' and c'
48	3	I-Mfd4	text underlay	guttur
49-53	2	I-Mfd4	text underlay	suavissimus (instead of consuavissimus)
50-53	1 3 4	I-Mfd4	text underlay	suavissimus (instead of consuavissimus)
50-56	4	I-Mfd1	text underlay	consuavissimus...Talis est missing
55	3	I-Mfd4	pitch and rhythm	d' Sb+Mi instead of dotted Sb
55	4	I-Mfd1; I-Mfd4	pitch and rhythm	the tie is editorial
57-58	4	I-Mfd4	text underlay	meus missing
58	4	I-Mfd4	pitch and rhythm	d perfect Sb instead of Sb+Mi
65	1 2 3 4	I-Mfd1	pitch and rhythm	last note Mx instead of Lo

Edition	English translation
O pulcherrima mulierum, qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto tuo, quia sic adiurasti nos?	O thou most beautiful among women, what manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, that thou has so adjured us?
Dilectus meus candidus et rubicundus, electus ex milibus.	My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands.
Labia illius stillantia mirram primam.	His lips are as lilies dropping choice myrrh.
Guttur illius consuavissimus et totus desiderabilis.	His throat is most sweet, and he is all lovely.
Talis est dilectus meus et ipse amicus meus, filiae Ierusalem.	Such is my beloved, and he is my friend, o ye daughters of Jerusalem.

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