Hymns to the Virgin Mary, or Marian hymnology, as I will call it, constitute a substantial part of sacred music. Moreover, Marian art is abundant. Mary’s main feasts are the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception, three of which are related to the Nativity Cycle. The exception would be the Assumption. Mary did not die. She ascended into heaven.

1. The Annunciation

The Feast of the Annunciation commemorates the day on which the Archangel Gabriel visited Mary to announce that she would bear and give birth to the son of God. The Feast of the Annunciation (see Rubens, below) is celebrated on 25th March, exactly nine months before Christmas Day, when Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. The above image is by Paolo de’ Matteis (9 February 1662 – 26 January 1728). 

2. The Nativity

The central Marian feast is the Nativity. The Nativity is in fact a celebration of the birth of Christ, but Marian feasts are rooted in the Nativity cycle. Where Marian art is concerned, the Nativity includes portrayals of the Shepherds in adoration, of the visit by the Kings of Orient, as well as portrayals of the Presentation of Jesus as the firstborn son, and the Purification of Mary. Just below, I have inserted a visit by the Shepherds, by Gerard van Honthorst (4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656), a Dutch Golden Age artist who is also called Gerrit van Honthorst.

3. The Assumption

Mary did not die. She ascended into heaven and her Assumption is celebrated on 15th August. In the Eastern Church, Byzantine Emperor Maurice selected the15th August as the date of the feast of Dormition and Assumption. The 15th of August is also the Feast Day of Acadians. Acadians are the French-speaking inhabitants of Canada’s Atlantic provinces. Their national anthem is the Ave Maris Stella. 

4. The Immaculate Conception

According to Roman Catholicism, Jesus was conceived without stain or macula. This dogma is disputed as it is linked with the notion of an inherent fault, the original sin, the sin committed by Adam and Eve. Newborns or infants who die before Baptism do not go to heaven. They are sent to Limbo.

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THE FOUR ANTIPHONS (Antiennes)

Marian hymnology

As for Marian hymnology, it originally consisted of four antiphons (antiennes, in French) sung in Gregorian Chant. Two, the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the Salve Regina were composed by Hermann of Reichenau, and would have been Gregorian chants. The four Marian antiphons are in fact linked to the Liturgy of the Hours, the Canonical Hours, and commemorate the four seasons.

• Alma Redemptoris (Advent through February 2)
• Ave Regina Cælorum (Presentation of the Temple through Good Friday)
• Regina Cœli (Easter season)
• Salve Regina (from first Vespers of Trinity Sunday until None of the Saturday before Advent)

Antiphons are “responsories” or the response by the choir or the congregation to a psalm or hymn. But they may involve responsorial singing by alternating choirs. More simply expressed, antiphons resemble a refrain. “The refrain was called an antiphon (A). The resulting musical form was A V₁ A V₂…”[1] As a form, antiphons are not restricted to Marian hymnology. We should also note that Marian feasts are associated with the seasons, as are other Christian feasts.

The Marian liturgical calendar is divided as follows:

• first, of Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Pre-Lent, Lent, Easter Triduum, Eastertide, Ascensiontide
• second, of some 32 feast days

DETAILS ON THE ANTIPHONS

The Alma Redemptoris Mater

Traditionally, the Alma Redemptoris Mater is sung at the end of Compline, one of the Canonical Hours. It is said to have been composed by Hermannus Contractus (Herman the Cripple) (1013–1054).

The Ave Regina Cœlorum

Traditionally, the Ave Regina Cœlorum has been sung at the end of each Canonical Hours, but mainly Compline, between 2 February (Candlemas or Chandeleur in French) until the Holy Week. Candlemas is the day commemorating the Presentation of the Jesus at the Temple and the Purification of the Virgin Mary.

The Regina Cœli 

The Regina Cœli or Cæli (Queen of Heaven), is a night prayer (Compline or Vespers).  Its authorship has not been determined but it was sung by Franciscans in the 12th century.  It was sung in place of the Angelus from Holy Saturday through Pentecost.  It is therefore associated with the celebration of Easter.

The Salve Regina

The Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) is sung at Compline from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent (Wikipedia).  It was composed by German monk Hermann of Reichenau, the above-mentioned Hermannus Contractus (Herman the Cripple) (1013–1054), the composer of the Alma Redemptoris Mater.

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However, to the four antiphons, we may add the above-mentioned Ave Maris Stella, Mozart’s breathtaking , various Ave Maria‘s, the most famous of which are Schubert’s Ave Maria, and the Ave Maria Charles Gounod composed on the first prelude of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Wohltemperierte Klavier (BWV 846-893).

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(Please click on the title to hear the music.)

• Alma Redemptoris Mater, Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548 – 27 August 1611)
• Alma Redemptoris Mater, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 – 1594)
• Alma Redemptoris Mater, Antifona gregoriana, t. simplex, Studio di Giovanni Vianini, Milano, Italia
• Alma Redemptoris Mater Gregorian, monophonic
• Ave Regina Cælorum, Andrea Mattioli, Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor
• Salve Regina, Monteverdi, Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor
• Salve Regina in C minor (RV 616) – Part I, by Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
• Salve Regina in G minor HWV 241, by Handel (1685 -1759)
• Salve Regina, Tomás Luis de Victoria
• Regina Cæli Lætare, Antifona gregoriana, Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis, direttore Giovanni
• Regina Cæli Lætare, Tomás Luis de Victoria
• Regina Cœli, Marco Frisina (b. 1954)
• Regina Cœli, Mozart  (1756 – 1791)

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[1]“antiphon.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 23 Dec. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/28480/antiphon>

Giovanni Legrenzi‘s Ave Maria Cælorum (motet)
Marie-Nicole Lemieux & Philippe Jaroussky

© Micheline Walker
24 December 2011
Reposted 3 February 2017
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