Hodie Christus natus est!
A New Edition of the Christmas Mass
The Associazione OrbiSophia in collaboration with prof. Matthew Peattie (University of Colorado, Boulder) is pleased to offer new editions of Beneventan Chant that are intended for performance. These editions are publicly available to all singers who wish to transform the neumes into living music and prayer.
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Transcribing old Beneventan chant is challenging. The vast majority of melodies are preserved in eleventh-century manuscripts that do not transmit a precise record of pitch. Nonetheless, there are numerous published transcriptions including foundational work by R-J Hesbert (Paléographie musicale XIV), Thomas F. Kelly (The Beneventan Chant), and a critical edition of the complete extant melodies (The Music of the Beneventan Rite) by Thomas Kelly and Matthew Peattie .
The editions offered on this website are new but owe a great deal to the insights and discoveries of previous generations of scholars. We will not attempt to duplicate that work here, but focus instead on practical aspects - reading, singing, and bringing the chants to life again. These new editions transcribe 11th-century neumes onto staves to clarify aspects of pitch and to allow the melodies to be read at sight. We also propose some transcriptions in recall notation that can be referenced by singers who already know the melodies, or who learn mostly by ear. The editions have been refined by performances by the Schola Cantorum OrbisSophia, the Choro Vox Pacem, and other projects of the Associazione Culturale OrbiSophia. For the Christmas season 2024, we are beginning with the mass for Christmas (Dec. 25) and St. Stephen (Dec. 26). We will add more editions as the liturgical calendar progresses. See you on February 18 for S. Barbato!
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Messa di Natale / Mass for Christmas
A single folio contains the end of the Mass Proper for Christmas, and the beginning of a Mass Proper for St. Stephen (December 26). This folio is the only surviving Beneventan chant from the first part of the liturgical year. It is written in well-heightened notation, in campo aperto, and dates from the eleventh century. The origins of this folio are unknown, but it has been bound together with a 12th-13th century gradual (Benevento, Biblioteca capitolare MS 35). A new pdf edition of the Mass for Xmas is linked here. The Mass is interpolated with items of the Mass Ordinary - the end of a Credo, a Sanctus and an Agnus Dei. A video of the offertory Hodie sung by the Schola Cantorum OrbiSophia is below.
Hodie, Christus natus est;
Hodie, Salvator apparuit;
Hodie, In terra canunt angeli,
Laetantur archangeli;
Hodie exultant iusti dicentes:
Gloria in exclsis Deo, et in terra pax hominbus bone voluntatis,
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
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Messa di S. Stefano / Mass for St. Stephen
A Mass for St. Stephen (December 26) follows the Mass for Christmas in Benevento, Biblioteca capitolare MS 35, f. 202r/v. The material is fragmentary and contains an Ingressa,a Gradual, and a fragment of the Alleluia. A new pdf edition of the Ingressa, Stephanus autem, is linked here.
St. Barbatus
Barbatus, a Bishop of Benevento in the seventh century, was credited with definitively establishing the Catholic faith in Benevento, after having driven pagan religion and witchcraft out of the city. He is listed in the Roman Martyrology as patron of the city of Benevento and is revered alongside S. Mercurius, the XII Brothers, and other saints of importance to the city and its institutions. The office for Barbatus consists of seven antiphons – short liturgical songs that serve as melodic bookends for the recitation of psalms in the Divine Office. Antiphons served to bring the veneration of the feast day into dialog with the Old Testament and the monastic practice of singing the entire psalter each week. The texts of the antiphons frame Barbatus as a savior of the city, and recount some of his acts and miracles. The feast of Barbatus is celebrated on February 19.
Vir Domine Barbatus: Barbatus, man of God, famous for his acts and brilliant with his miracles, shines forth over Benevento having abolished the path of destruction.
Let’s Work Together
Let us know if you use one of our editions :)