“Sweet” or “Decompositional”? The Bernardine Pseudo-Plainchant in the 1761 Series Concentuum Divae Annae Sacra from the Dominican Nunnery in Święta Anna near Częstochowa (Poland)

Abstract

This article is devoted to the 18th-century Bernardine repertoire of pseudo-plainchant, that is, Latin liturgical monophony, which differs significantly from the style of Gregorian and Neo-Gregorian chant. The research employs methods of codicological (from Latin, codex = book) analysis of the source, as well as analysis of the repertoire, melody, text and musical notation. Melodies are also transcribed and compared with selected manuscripts from the Library of the Bernardine Province in Kraków. The research reveales that the pseudo-plainchant collection comprises 14 ordinarium missae (the Ordinary of the Mass, i.e., the fixed or invariable parts of the Mass), one Gloria and 15 Patrem (Credo, the Creed). The repertoire dedicated to St Anne, local patron saint, shares tonal language, elements of rhythm and metre, key signatures, chromatic signs, melodic sequences, the repeated use of the same musical material, alternatim technique (vocal and instrumental parts performed alternately), contrasts in performance, register and style, melodies based on Polish church songs, and geographical titles. The term “sweet” (suaves) appearing on the title page may indicate the aesthetic stance of the Bernardines from Święta Anna and their positive attitude towards the repertoire in question, although 20th-century musicological literature has attributed decompositional elements to it. In this way, the manuscript under study may serve as a basis for updating our understanding of the pseudo-plainchant repertoire as such.