Psallite, Unigenito. Translation and Pronunciation. Michael Praetorius ( ) /psa-li-te u-ni-ge-ni-to/ Psallite, unigenito sing psalms, only

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1 Psallite, Unigenito Michael Praetorius ( ) Translation and Pronunciation /psa-li-te u-ni-ge-ni-to/ sing psalms, only /krˆ-sto de-i fi-li-o krˆ-sto de-i fi-li-o/ Christ, son of God, Christ, son of God /re-d m-to-ri do-mi-no pu-e-ru-lo ja-tsé n-ti in pr -se-pi-o/ Redemptori Domino, puerulo, iacenti in praesepio. Redeemer Lord, boy, lying in manger /aˆn klaˆ-n\s kˆn-d\-laˆn li:kt ˆn de:m krˆp:p\-laˆn/ Ein kleines Kindelein liegt in dem Krippelein; a little child lies in the manger /al:l\ li:b\ -\-laˆn di-n\n de:m kˆn-d\-laˆn nt zˆ -\n i:m faˆn/ Alle liebe Engelein dienen dem Kindelein, und singen ihm fein. all lovely angels serve the Child and sing to him well. /zˆ t nt klˆ t je-zu gøt:t\s kˆnt/ Singt und klingt, Jesu, Gottes Kind, sing and sound, Jesus, God s child / nt ma-ri-\n zø n\-laˆn/ Und Marien Söhnelein, And Mary s little son / n-zám li-b\n je-zu-laˆn ˆm krˆp:p\-laˆn baˆm Øç-slaˆn/ unserm lieben Jesulein im Krippelein beim Öchslein. Our dear little Jesus in (the) manger with the little ox. Sing your psalms to Christ, the only begotten Son of God,

2 Redemptori Domino, puerulo, iacenti in praesepio. Ein kleines Kindelein liegt in dem Krippelein; Alle liebe Engelein dienen dem Kindelein, und singen ihm fein. sing your psalms to the Redeemer. A small Child lies in the manger. All the blessed angels serve Him and sing to Him. Redemptori Domino, puerulo, iacenti in praesepio. Singt und klingt, Jesu, Gottes Kind, Und Marien Söhnelein, unserm lieben Jesulein im Krippelein beim Öchslein. Sing your psalms to Christ, the only begotten Son of God, sing your psalms to the Redeemer. 1 Sing and resound! Jesus, God s child and Mary s son To us dear Jesus was born in a manger with the little ox. Background and Program Notes Psallite, Unigenito comes from Michael Praetorius collection Musae Sioniae, 1609 (Musae Sioniae is a collection nearly 1,200 chorale settings. 2 ) 1 Translation from Psallite. The Choral Public Domain Library. gt)_(michael_praetorius). Last edited April 5, Web. May 21, Last German verse translated by Elizabeth Pauly. 2 Many of these chorale settings were in Venetian polychoral style, a type of choral setting used in the late Renaissance through early Baroque. This polychoral style sprang from the need to make music work in a particular acoustic setting: The style arose from the architectural peculiarities of the imposing Basilica San Marco di Venezia in Venice. Aware of the sound delay caused by the distance between opposing choir lofts, composers began to take advantage of it as a useful special effect. Since it

3 Praetorius was a German music theorist, composer and organist. The text itself is macaronic, or in other words, set in more than one language, in this case, Latin and German. Recordings King s College of Cambridge: Waverly Consort: Chanticleer: Parts These videos, provided the PNMS Choir, have single parts sung again the other parts on piano. These are really helpful and I encourage you to use them. Soprano: Alto: Tenor: Bass: was difficult to get widely separated choirs to sing the same music simultaneously (especially before modern techniques of conducting were developed), composers such as Adrian Willaert, the maestro di cappella of St. Mark's in the 1540s, solved the problem by writing antiphonal music where opposing choirs would sing successive, often contrasting phrases of the music; the stereo effect proved to be popular, and soon other composers were imitating the idea, and not only in St. Mark's but in other large cathedrals in Italy. This was a rare but interesting case of the architectural peculiarities of a single building influencing the development of a style which not only became popular all over Europe, but defined, in part, the shift from the Renaissance to the Baroque era. The idea of different groups singing in alternation gradually evolved into the concertato style, which in its different instrumental and vocal manifestations eventually led to such diverse musical ideas as the chorale cantata, the concerto grosso, and the sonata. [Wikipedia contributors. "Venetian polychoral style." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Jul Web. 24 May. 2018]

4 Analysis Key: F Major Meter: 2/2 Form: ABA Texture: Mainly homophonic/homorhythmic with the sopranos sing the melody; occasional use of motivic figures that give the effect of imitative counterpoint without fully realizing the counterpoint as distinct melodies. Figure 1 shows how these motives are used at the opening of the piece. Figure 1

5 SECTION MEASURE EVENT AND SCORING A 1-8 ms. 1-2 each voice enters on the word Psallite on a motive built on a descending, then ascending 4 th, each voice entering independently in this order: T B S A ms. 3 tutti ms. 4 S/A duet ms. 5 sopranos sing the initial motive, T/B sing in two-part harmony ms. 6-7 tutti choir in homorhythmic harmony; notice the use of melodic repetition in all parts on beat 2 of ms. 6 and beat 1 of ms. 7 B 9-17 ms S/A duet ms T/B duet ms S/A duet they repeat the musical material sung by the tenors and basses at ms A The return of the A section elides with the completion of the B section the Tenors and Basses enter at ms. 16 with the musical material that they sang at the beginning of the piece, while the sopranos and altos complete the duet they began at ms. 15. Aside from this elision, this A section is identical to the first.