"Multiple Meanings" in the Text and Music of the Missa Salve diva parens
In some manuscripts, the tenor voice of Obrecht’s Missa Salve diva parens includes a text in red ink that does not belong to the ordinary of the mass (» Abb. Kyrie Salve diva parens). Such textual annotations usually indicate the material—that is, a liturgical, sacred, or secular melody—on which a cantus firmus mass is based. However, with the characteristically titled Salve diva parens (which is also noted as the mass’s heading in A-Wn Mus.Hs. 15495), we face a mystery: this prominently indicated text is not preserved elsewhere.[19]
Text Salve diva parens
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Salve diva parens prolis amoenae, |
Hail, divine mother of the lovely offspring, |
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Aeternis meritis virgo sacrata, |
through eternal merits, sacred virgin, |
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Qua lux vera, deus, fulsit in orbem |
through whom the true light, God, shone upon the world |
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Et carnem subiit rector Olympi. |
and the ruler of Olympus took on flesh. |
The first half of the verse follows the metrical pattern of a hexameter, resembling the opening words of the Introitus of the Marian Mass Salve sancta parens. Its rare, post-classical meter places it within the context of humanist poetry.[20] The content also references Salve sancta parens. Notably, however, the opening words differ in the use of “diva” instead of “sancta.” “Diva” is not a typical epithet for Mary, unlike “sancta” or “vera.” Here, the divine mother is explicitly addressed, followed by her divine son—invoking not only Christian but also mythological connotations, such as Virgil’s Aeneid.
Surprisingly, the ruler is addressed with the non-Christian imagery of the “ruler of Olympus” (“rector Olympi”), intertwining the expected meaning of “Jesus” with that of “Jupiter” (the actual “rector Olympi”[21]). Likewise, the choice of “Olympi” rather than the more customary Christian alternative “caeli” is significant.
Thus, Salve diva parens is a text that formally and thematically adopts liturgical motifs but is not liturgical itself; rather, it is a sophisticated new creation (» I. Humanisten). Christian and mythological elements are interwoven.[22] The text, describing the world’s enlightenment through the incarnation of the ruler, refers not only to God and Christ but also to the ruler in general. This peculiarity is as difficult to reconcile with a pure Marian Mass as is the text’s highly artistic meter.
Just as the Neo-Latin text is deliberately ambiguous (blending Christian-liturgical and mythological-classical terms), the musical construction is similarly double-layered. Some scholars have noted that, while the first notes of the tenor in each mass movement seem to follow a fixed cantus firmus melody, the composition does not consistently maintain it. Instead, the mass appears largely freely composed, employing purely musical construction principles (e.g., motivic-additive structures[23] and cyclic turns; » Hörbsp. ♫ Qui cum Patre).
Both the resonating text and the musical structure of Salve diva parens operate on the principle of the superimposition of two levels. Comparable approaches have been known in the context of ruler representation since the Middle Ages and reached a particular height under Maximilian I (see the Kap. „Mehrfacher Sinn“: Maria als Mutter des zukünftigen Herrschers).
[19] The reconstruction of the Latin text according to Staehelin 1975, 20–23.
[20] The underlying text, a type of hymn strophe, could represent a humanistic expansion of the Marian hymn O quam glorifica luce coruscas (attributed tp Hucbald of Saint-Amand, 840–930), in the same rare meter (catalectic Asclepiadeus minor), especially since the cantus firmus of the mass, notoriously resistant to reconstruction, seems to show similarities with that in Févin’s Missa O quam glorifica (Strohm 1985, 148).
[21] “Rector” does not appear in the New Testament, but frequently in Ovid, especially concerning Augustus and Jupiter; see Flieger 1993, 67–69.
[22] See Stieglecker 2001, 388–391 et passim; for general information on humanistic veneration of saints, see Flieger 1993, 17–122.
[23] See Wegman 1994, 179–183.
[1] See Dunning 1970.
[2] Basic principles regarding the symbolic relationship between Cantus firmus material and mass composition can be found in Kirkman 2010. Reinhard Strohm can plausibly connect the creation of two Obrecht masses with foundations in Bruges (Strohm 1985, 40 f., 146 f.). For Obrecht’s Missa Sub tuum presidium, see » J. Körper und Seele.
[3] Roth 1998, especially 46 f., 52 f., 55. From Rome, the Mass likely found its way into the extensive choirbook » I-VEcap 761 in the mid-1490s. For the creation time and circumstances of this manuscript, see Rifkin 2009.
[4] The documents regarding the suspected trip to Rome were compiled by Rob C. Wegman (Wegman 1994, 139–144), although he assumes that the Mass was already present in Rome by that time.
[5] The mass repertoire of the Burgundian court chapel from the 1460s and 1470s can be found in the choirbook » B-Br Ms. 5557 (facsimile: Wegman 1989). The six anonymously transmitted L’homme armé masses in the choirbook » I-Nn Ms. VI E 40 are also likely associated to the Burgundian chapel. The “Alamire Manuscripts,” closely associated with the court, were created during or after the reign of Philip the Handsome (» A-Wn Mus. Hs. 15495).
[6] See Strohm 2009.
[7] A detailed account with names of singers, their positions, and musical qualities can be found in Molinet 1935–1937, vol. 1, 469 f.
[8] The date commonly given is 17 November 1492 (see Fiala 2015, 434); Honey Meconi (Meconi 2003, 20–23) interprets the surviving payment records differently and assumes the transfer took place on September 30, 1495; see also Gasch 2015, especially 363 f.
[9] See the descriptions in Molinet 1935–1937, vol. 1, 469–471; see also Cuyler 1973, 32–35.
[10] Molinet 1935–1937, vol. 1, 474.
[12] The song is preserved in two contemporary sources that both reflect the repertoire from Maximilian’s court (» B. Lieder 1450–1520, Kap. Aufschwung der Liedkunst unter Maximilian I.; » B. Lieder 1450–1520, Kap. Liederdrucke): in » D-As Cod. 2° 142a (fol. 69v–70r; the tenor incipit of the otherwise textless notation reads „hilff fraw von Ach“) and in the songbook » Aus sonderer künstlicher art… (Augsburg: Erhard Oeglin 1512), where the song appears second after the Marian hymn Dich mütter gottes rüff wir an.
[13] Wolf 2005, 98–102. Friedrich moved the Reichstag, originally scheduled for December 1485 in Würzburg, to January in Frankfurt am Main.
[14] For the election of Maximilian as king, see in detail Wolf 2005, 100–122, especially 115 f. During the altar installation ceremony, the newly elected king was indeed placed on the altar, the throne of Christ; see in detail Bojcov 2007, 243–314: „Die Altarsetzung […] war Teil der Wahlprozedur und war am besten dazu geeignet, einen aus dem Kreis der mehr oder weniger Gleichen auszusondern und über sie [zu] erheben.“ (Bojcov 2007, 292).
[15] See Schenk 2003, 307–313, 336–338; see also » D. Fürsten und Diplomaten auf Reisen.
[16] Molinet 1935–1937, vol. 1, 474 und 511. – The Aachen pilgrimage usually took place every seven years.
[17] Custis 1765, 68 f.; see also Wolf 2005, 191–200.
[19] The reconstruction of the Latin text according to Staehelin 1975, 20–23.
[20] The underlying text, a type of hymn strophe, could represent a humanistic expansion of the Marian hymn O quam glorifica luce coruscas (attributed tp Hucbald of Saint-Amand, 840–930), in the same rare meter (catalectic Asclepiadeus minor), especially since the cantus firmus of the mass, notoriously resistant to reconstruction, seems to show similarities with that in Févin’s Missa O quam glorifica (Strohm 1985, 148).
[21] “Rector” does not appear in the New Testament, but frequently in Ovid, especially concerning Augustus and Jupiter; see Flieger 1993, 67–69.
[22] See Stieglecker 2001, 388–391 et passim; for general information on humanistic veneration of saints, see Flieger 1993, 17–122.
[23] See Wegman 1994, 179–183.
[24] Current historical events have their counterparts in the New Testament, which in turn represent the fulfilment of events from the Old Testament in salvation history. “Thus, a legitimization of the Christian ruler from the Old Covenant takes place, which as already appears as the Carolingian-Franconian period, aappears to have been placed alongside the legitimation from the ancient empire as equally important.” (Cremer 1995, 88 f.).
[25] Maximilian I.: Weißkunig 1888, 47–49.
[26] Müller 1982, 147 f.; Dietl 2009, 37–40.
[27] Ca. 1513/14;Maximilian dictated the book in part and corrected it by hand.
[28] » A-Whh Hs. Blau 9 Cod. 24, fol. 38r; see also Silver 2008, 136 f., including the illustration.
[29] Cremer 1995, especially 88–99; Wiesflecker 1971, 65–67.
[30] Silver 2008, 137.
[31] See also Müller 1982, 147 f., 333; Wiesflecker 1971, 121, 131 f.; Molinet 1935–1937, vol. 1, 338.
[32] Molinet 1935–1937, vol. 1, 535 (in free translation).
[33] “I have revealed Your name to the people whom You gave Me from the world.” With these words, Christ Himself (here impersonated by Maximilian) declares whose true Son He is, according to the Gospel of John.
[34] Molinet 1935–1937, vol. 1, 529–539; see also Frieden 2013; Thiry 1990, 268–270.
[35] Molinet 1935–1937, vol. 1, 533–539; see also Müller 1982, 147.
[36] Ode 1,1 Caesar magnificis; see also Mertens 2000, 74 f.; foundational works on this topic: Tanner 1993; Seznec 1953.
[37] Wiesflecker 1991, 355 f.
[38] In the so-called Apel Codex (» D-LEu Ms. 1494), it seems that repertoire from Maximilian’s court was repeatedly included, mediated through the repertoire of the court chapel of Frederick the Wise of Electoral Saxony, who was in close contact with Maximilian from at least 1490; see Lodes 2002, 256–258.
[39] The text might also have been included in the manuscript » A-LIb Hs. 529 (“Linzer Fragments”), but only a small amount of music is preserved there.
[40] Regarding the “multiple meaning” in late medieval poetry, see Wehrli 1984, especially 236–270; Müller 1982, 146–148, also 124–129.
[41] The only other contemporary musical manuscript I know that begins with the words “[O Mater dei] memento mei” is the splendid manuscript B-Br 228, also produced in Petrus Alamire’s workshop. There, the words are attributed to the praying Archduchess Margaret, Maximilian’s daughter; see the illustration Blackburn 1997, 596 f., and Blackburn 1999, 188.
[42] See, among others, Borghetti 2015; Borghetti 2008, especially 208–214.
[43] “[…] lesquelz, ensamble unis, estoffoyent une très bonne chapelle dont il fut grandement honouré et prisiet des princes d’Alemaigne.” (Molinet 1935–1937, vol. 1, 470).
[44] Edition in Maas 1996, 43–47.
[45] In the text sections, first, forgiveness is requested from the Lord and thanks are given to the almighty King. Then, a prayer is made for “our (worldly) King” (“Pro rege nostro”) that the Lord may preserve him and that he may not fall into the hands of the enemies, and that the souls of the faithful may rest in peace. After a spoken “Our Father,” a final prayer to the Virgin Mary is sung, who carried the Son of the eternal Father. The musical petitions to God, for the king, and for Mary are concluded with a four-part “Amen” in each case. The music follows the rhythmic structure (in both the two- and four-part sections) exactly as per the text declamation (see Edwards 2011, 62 f.), and the largely homorhythmic, simple setting does not change throughout the piece, remaining the same for all three thematic areas.
Empfohlene Zitierweise:
Birgit Lodes: “„Mehrfacher Sinn“: Jacob Obrechts Missa Salve diva parens und die Königskrönung Maximilians”, in: Musikleben des Spätmittelalters in der Region Österreich <https://musical-life.net/essays/mehrfacher-sinn-jacob-obrechts-missa-salve-diva-parens-und-die-konigskronung-maximilians> (2017).