8 - Responsory Verses for Irish and Insular Saints

Summary

The responsory verses of early chant (Gregorian, Old Roman, Ambrosian, Beneventan, and Old Hispanic) were sung to recitation tones more elaborate than the tones of antiphonal psalmody. Eight standard responsory verse tones were in use in the ninth century on the Continent, but new melodies gradually replaced them. At first, these retained some characteristics of the old tones, then later abandoned them. Comparison of responsory verse melodies from offices for Irish, Anglo-Saxon, and selected Continental saints shows similar changes in the melodies over time, but also distinct stylistic characteristics in the treatment of text and in the development of melody within the prescribed tonal space. Cantors often sang responsory verses on the Continent in the earlier Middle Ages. This study reveals the musicianship of the corresponding medieval Irish and Insular singer-composers.