Portuguese Early Music Database (PEM)

The fragment served as a cover of the Tombo de S. Mateus de Ribeira de Ome (Terra de Bouro, ca 30 km north of Braga), year 1539. The origin of the fragment is revealed by the presence of Saints Vincentii, Victor et Orontii, typical of the Cluniac calendar and normally absent from the Iberian sanctorale. The music of this fragment shows evidence of a local melodic tradition. The melodic lines of the eleven chants included in the fragment were compared with other manuscripts by Ferreira (Cluny at Fynystere), including the Braga Gradual. Of the eleven melodies, nine belong to the basic, widespread layer of Gregorian chant, however the versions of the alleluia, Diffusa est and the introit Salus autem are of greater interest. The text-setting of ‘labiis tis’, in the alleluia Diffusa est, differs from the usual syllabic articulation, and implies the loss of two notes; it coincides with the graduals of St. Yrieix and (to some extent) Sauxillanges, both in Aquitanian notation. The introit Salus autem has a passage, ‘et protector eorum est in tempore’, where the melody in the fragment diverges, slightly but distinctly, from all the sources consulted, including Braga. Although the melodic line remains substantially the same; differences in detail point to an independent transmission of the melody. The most uncommon pieces of this fragment are two alleluias, Amavit and Justum deduxit. The alleluia Amavit is rarely found and potentially revealing, but what remains of it in the fragment does not allow a significant comparison with other sources. The alleluia, Justum deduxit … gloriam suam appears almost exclusively in manuscripts with Aquitanian notation, the exception being the Cluny gradual. The melodic version of the fragment does not coincide exactly with any of the sources consulted. In spite of these differences, one can easily see that it belongs to the St.-Yrieix-Moissac-Toulouse sub-group, and is especially close to the Toulouse version. Thus, notwithstanding the fragment’s independence from the local tradition of Braga, it has its roots in the same geographical area: southwestern France.