Reflecting on Advent through the responsories: Aspiciens a longe (Responsories Pt 1)

I thought this Advent I might try to highlight one of the most neglected parts of the chant repertoire, namely the responsories of Matins.

The Matins responsories, which occur after each reading at the hour of Matins, are interesting and important from several perspectives, both in their own right, as encapsulations of the theology of and aids to interpretation of the season, saint or Scriptural text being read; as beautiful chants; and as historical evidence for the development of the Office.

I hope to touch on all those points, but above all, I want to encourage you to at least read through the texts of some of them, and ideally also listen to the chants or settings of some of them.

A neglected responsory repertoire

The responsories were a key part of the medieval Office, and many of them have polyphonic settings dating from the Renaissance and baroque periods.  

But they have long been neglected in more recent times - Solesmes, for example, has produced editions of only a small selection of the total repertoire (published originally mainly in the Liber Responsorialis).

The Nocturnale Romanum produced by Peter Sandhofe in 2001 went a long way to filling the gap, but there are a number of issues with many of his transcriptions, a problem that the Nocturnale Romanum Project is aiming to rectify.  In addition, though, as the Roman Office has fewer responsories than the Benedictine, many are still not available in published form.

Their modern neglect is understandable - singing them in full takes an average of at least five minutes apiece.  Indeed, the one below, the first responsory for the First Sunday of Advent, comes in at over nine minutes in the recording I've chosen.  

There is also a substantial learning curve associated with them - while many do draw on standard melodic structures, and the verses and doxologies do follow (mostly) pre-set forms (albeit somewhat more elaborate ones than the common psalm tones), some of the main chants are quite challenging.  And there are a lot of them to learn!

So on Sundays and feasts with twelve lessons and responsories, that's around an extra hour (even added to an already long hour of the Office in its Benedictine form.

The function of the responsories

All the same, many of them are very beautiful indeed, and they do have a proper function, both in allowing time to reflect and meditate on the content of the reading, and aiding in its interpretation.  

The texts of the responsories generally pick out key verses of the Bible book being read, or around the season or type of saint, and provide some direct (through the verse(s)) or indirect (through the musical setting) interpretative aids for it.

The Advent responsories

Advent actually has more than its fair share of responsories, possibly because the season was originally longer, stretching for six weeks until St Gregory the Great shortened the period in Rome at least.  

This first one is actually probably best known in an English setting based on Palestrina, often used in the service of lessons and carols put on by Kings College and others.  But I want to urge you to listen to at least some of the chant version, which I think has a particular charm.

R. Aspíciens / a longe, ecce video Dei poténtiam veniéntem, † et nébulam totam terram tegéntem. † Ite obviam ei, et dícite: * Núntia nobis, si tu es ipse, * Qui regnatúrus es in pópulo Israël. V. Quique terrígenæ, et fílii hóminum, † simul in unum dives et pauper. Ite obviam ei, et dícite. R. Ite obviam ei, et dícite. V. Qui regis Israël, inténde, qui dedúcis velut ovem Ioseph. R. Núntia nobis, si tu es ipse. V. Tóllite portas, príncipes, vestras, † et elevámini portæ æternáles, et introíbit Rex glóriæ. R. Qui regnatúrus es in pópulo Israël. V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto. R. Aspíciens a longe, ecce video Dei poténtiam veniéntem, et nébulam totam terram tegéntem. * Ite obviam ei, et dícite: * Núntia nobis, si tu es ipse, * Qui regnatúrus es in pópulo Israël.

R. I look from afar, and behold I see the power of God, coming like as a cloud to cover the land with the hosts of his people: Go ye out to meet him and say: Tell us if thou art he, * That shalt reign over God's people Israel. V. All ye that dwell in the world, all ye children of men, high and low, rich and poor, one with another. R. Go ye out to meet him and say. V. Hear, O thou Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. R. Tell us if thou art he. V. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. R. That shalt reign over God's people Israel. V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost. R. I look from afar, and behold I see the power of God, coming like as a cloud to cover the land with the hosts of his people:  Go ye out to meet him and say: Tell us if thou art he, * That shalt reign over God's people Israel.