O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies

Question 1

O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies background information

Answer 1

• polytextual motet, from Bamberg Codex
• anonymous
• composition date: 13th century
• sources of text: poems in praise of the Virgin Mary; Haec dies
• Latin
• three voices (lowest voice sometimes played by an instrument)
• polyphonic texture

Question 2

O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies essay sections

Answer 2

(none)

Question 3

O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies essay

Answer 3

• polyphonic texture
• polytextual, w/ 3 different texts
• chant fragment is in the tenor part; it involves a repeated rhythmic pattern (ostinato): …
• triplum and duplum share the same range, w/ frequent overlapping of melodic lines
• both share in the rhythmic activity: create the effect of triple meter
• predominant text setting of upper voices is syllabic and neumatic while the tenor text is set melismatically
• most frequently used harmonic intervals are perfect fourths, fifths, and octaves

Question 4

What are the 3 different voices/texts in O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies?

Answer 4

1. top voice (triplum): a plea for Mary to ask her son, Jesus, to help in resisting evil temptations
2. middle voice (duplum or motetus): praise for Mary and her purity and virginity
3. bottom voice (tenor or canus firmus): prise to God and His eternal mercy (“This is the day the Lord hath made””)

Question 5

What is the rhythmic pattern in the chant fragment (tenor voice) of O mitissima/Virgo/Haec dies?

Answer 5

long-long-short-long, although the original manuscript did not yet employ modern rhythmic notation