{"id":849,"date":"2016-08-12T16:07:08","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T16:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.dur.ac.uk\/theatrum.mundi\/?page_id=849"},"modified":"2016-08-12T16:07:08","modified_gmt":"2016-08-12T16:07:08","slug":"music-in-the-harrowing-of-hell","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/reed-ne.webspace.durham.ac.uk\/?page_id=849","title":{"rendered":"Music in The Harrowing of Hell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Much of the music used in the production of the <em>Harrowing <\/em>is derived from the <em>Liber Usualis. <\/em>This book, compiled by the monks of the Abbey of Solesmes, contains the most commonly used Gregorian chants sung in the Catholic Church since at least the sixth century. The complexity of the plainsong reflects the relative importance of the characters. At the beginning of the play only Christ sings. His Latin words, as he challenges Satan and hell, are based on the antiphon which precedes Psalm 23 (Authorised Version Psalm 24), on which the dialogue with Satan is based, in the Holy Saturday liturgy, \u2018Elevamini, portae aeternales, et introibit Rex gloriae\u2019 (<em>Liber<\/em> p. 723, Antiphon 5a, \u2018Be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in\u2019).<\/p>\n<p>The subsequent play is supported by eight comments by the Narrator, all set to the same psalm chant, the fifth tone with the first ending. This rather simple plainsong serves to identify the Narrator as a lesser, but unifying, character in the play.<\/p>\n<p>Three plainsong hymns are sung by the Ancient Righteous led by Abraham. The melody of <em>Pange lingua gloriosi\u00a0 proelium certaminis <\/em>(\u2018Sing my tongue the glorious battle\u2019) is sung as the souls are released from hell. This is fitting here, since the Latin hymn was used in the adoration of the cross in the Good Friday liturgy and hence represents the souls\u2019 longing to escape from hell. The second hymn, <em>Conditor alme siderum <\/em>(\u2018Creator of the stars of night\u2019)<em>, <\/em>was sung during Advent and similarly anticipates the souls\u2019 reunion with Christ, (<em>Liber<\/em> p.324). The final processional hymn, <em>Vexilla Regis prodeunt <\/em>(\u2018The royal banners forward go\u2019)<em>,<\/em> takes the whole cast as the \u2018army of Christ\u2019 towards the altar.<\/p>\n<p>The two major mortal characters are Adam and Eve and consequently their music is more lyrical. Adam\u2019s song before his chains are struck off begs for pity for his crimes in lines based on Psalm 73, and is represented by an introit based on the same verses (<em>Liber<\/em> p. 1032, Introit 7). His song of blessing after his release from his chains is, appropriately, drawn from music of an Alleluia for Easter Monday (<em>Liber<\/em> p. 784, Antiphon 8).<\/p>\n<p>However, it is Eve\u2019s songs which are represented by the most complex pieces of plainsong. Eve\u2019s first lament is based on the hymn, <em>Ave maris stella <\/em>(\u2018Hail, star of the sea\u2019, <em>Liber<\/em> p. 1259). Her second song, \u2018I call on you now, Lord, for your handmaid Saint Mary\u2019s sake\u2019 is sung to the music of the great hymn to Mary, the <em>Salve Regina <\/em>(\u2018Hail, queen, mother of mercy\u2019, <em>Liber<\/em> p. 276, Antiphon 1).<\/p>\n<p>Music notes by Angela Robley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Much of the music used in the production of the Harrowing is derived from the Liber Usualis. This book, compiled by the monks of the Abbey of Solesmes, contains the most commonly used Gregorian chants sung in the Catholic Church since at least the sixth century. The complexity of the plainsong reflects the relative importance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":82,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-fullwidth.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-849","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P67HiV-dH","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reed-ne.webspace.durham.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reed-ne.webspace.durham.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reed-ne.webspace.durham.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reed-ne.webspace.durham.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reed-ne.webspace.durham.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reed-ne.webspace.durham.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/849\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reed-ne.webspace.durham.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reed-ne.webspace.durham.ac.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}