MCE 06-08 Tota pulchra es : Iam enim hiems

Edition

Motet

Text (ed. by Eva Ferro)

Edition	Translation
Tota pulchra^[i] es, amica mea, et macula non est in te. Favus distillans labia tua, mel et lac sub lingua tua. Odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata. Iam enim hiems^[ii] transiit^[1], imber^[iii] abiit et recessit. Flores apparuerunt^[iv], vineae florentes odorem dederunt et vox turturis audita est in terra nostra. Surge, propera, amica mea et veni, veni de Libano, veni, coronaberis.	Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee. Thy lips are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue. The smell of thine ointments above all aromatical spices. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared, the vines in flower yield their sweet smell; and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Arise, hurry, my love, and come, come from Libanus, come, thou shalt be crowned.

^[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.

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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

Edition	Translation
Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te. Favus distillans labia tua, mel et lac sub lingua tua. Odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata. Iam enim hiems transiit, imber abiit et recessit. Flores apparuerunt, vineae florentes odorem dederunt et vox turturis audita est in terra nostra. Surge, propera, amica mea et veni, veni de Libano, veni, coronaberis.	Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee. Thy lips are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue. The smell of thine ointments above all aromatical spices. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared, the vines in flower yield their sweet smell; and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Arise, hurry, my love, and come, come from Libanus, come, thou shalt be crowned.

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