Description
The Introit holds a prominent place in the liturgy of the Mass, as it is the introductory chant and establishes from the beginning the context of the feast. It is well known that the Hieronymite order granted special importance to plainchant, as evidenced by its regulation in various liturgical and musical sources, both printed and manuscript, as well as in documents regulating its practice (constitutions, ordinaries, and ceremonials).
Alongside this omnipresence of plainchant, in Hieronymite liturgy other musical practices can be found in which plainchant serves as a foundation. It was emphasized that, when singing in multiple voices, “other voices should be added over the plainchant, so that all may sing” [...] “but in such a way that the integrity of the plainchant remains unaltered.” This use of plainchant in polyphony—understood in its broadest sense—was highly valued in certain religious centers, as evidenced by the musical practices of two of the most important Hieronymite monasteries of the period. On one hand, the Monastery of El Escorial, where, alongside this practice, other well-known polyphonic techniques based on plainchant were developed. On the other hand, the Monastery of Guadalupe, which preserves the codex E-GU 1, containing a rare and complete repertoire of polyphonic introits for the most important festivities of the year, composed in the 17th century. These introits are analogous to repertoires found in other manuscript or printed sources of the time, such as the Liber Introitus by Miguel de Fonseca (1540-1544), preserved in the Arquivo Distrital de Braga (P-BRad 967), or the collection Contrapunctus seu musica figurata, published in Lyon in 1528: in these sources, polyphony is developed over plainchant, which is presented in its entirety with equal note values. Codex E-GU 1 must have been of great importance to the Monastery of Guadalupe and its liturgical and musical practice, as most of its repertoire resulted from a special commission to some of the most prominent cathedral chapel masters of the time.
As several scholars have pointed out, this repertoire of polyphony based on plainchant may reflect the practice of improvised counterpoint frequently used in cathedrals and monasteries of the period. This contribution will examine the function of plainchant, particularly in the repertoire of polyphonic introits, understood as a cantus firmus ornamented through polyphony -a technique that may have influenced its performance-, its use as a source for composition, and its relationship with the practice of improvised counterpoint. Ultimately, the aim is to determine to what extent this repertoire reflects improvisational practices and their presence in written repertories, both in cathedrals and in certain Hieronymite centers of the Iberian Peninsula.
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