About the chants

The Brigittine Order (formally the Order of the Most Holy Saviour) was one of the most prominent monastic orders of the Middle Ages. There were Brigittine convents in the Nordic and Baltic lands but also in today’s Germany, Poland, Italy, Netherlands and England. [1] The Sermo Angelicus or Angel’s Discourse, a set of lessons based on visions recorded by Saint Birgitta, specified a different theme for each day of the week, setting forth a completely new variety of chants in the Office. Additional new texts and music were created to fulfil this purpose. In the context of the musical legacy of the Middle Ages, the Brigittine Office or Cantus sororum (’Songs of the sisters’) is thus exceptionally valuable. There are parts of Cantus sororum that occur nowhere else, and this sets it apart from other settings of the Office, which on the whole draw on the common core repertory of Gregorian chant. Yet even though the Marian Office of the nuns honouring the Mother of God formed the principal order of service at Brigittine convents, the Cantus sororum is very much Christological: its Marian themes are always connected with Christ as the Son of God and as the redeemer or saviour of humanity. [2]

Research into the Brigittine Office and the chants used has been going on for a considerable time, drawing on Medieval manuscripts, fragments and later writings. The texts of the Office have been translated, and the material has been analysed, segmented and categorised along with determining which chants and texts in Cantus sororum are distinct from the common core repertory of chant in order to highlight those for further study. The poetics and symbology embedded in the texts and music are an inexhaustible treasure trove for scholarship.

As early as in the 16th century, Nikolaus Ragvaldsson, Confessor General in Vadstena, translated the Office into Swedish so that theologically uneducated nuns could understand its content. In his work titled Jomffru Maria Yrtegardher (‘Herb garden of the Virgin Mary’), he added explanatory notes to each part of the Office, his aim apparently being to clarify the meaning of the liturgy that was sung on a daily basis. [3] Also of interest is Tryggve Lundén’s introduction, with analyses of the Office for each day of the week, to his work Den heliga Birgitta och den helige Petrus av Skänninge Officium parvum beate Marie Virginis. Vår Frus tidegärd I. (‘Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Saint Birgitta and Saint Petrus of Skänninge. The Brigittine Office I.’).

In singing these ancient melodies, we may find that they seem familiar, as if we had heard or sung them before. Many chants and melodic lines do resemble one another, and indeed many of the chants in the Brigittine Office were simply borrowed from the common core repertory of Gregorian chant. In the Middle Ages, if a tune was found to be good, it was adopted and circulated. The concept of plagiarism as we know it today did not exist; rather, using a melody created by someone else was seen as a homage to that creator. [4] Materials from various sources were mixed together, and occasionally brand new material was created. Multiple texts were set to the same chant, and multiple chants could be used for the same text. Even within the Cantus sororum, entire chants and melodic lines recur. While we today understand the verb ‘compose’ to mean creating something completely new, in the Middle Ages it was understood to mean putting something together from existing elements. A dictionary from 1832 notes that the latter part of the word, the verb pono, means ‘to set’ or ‘to place’, while compono means ‘to put together’ or ‘to set in order’. Therefore, compositus means ‘something that is put together’.

Petrus of Skänninge was Birgitta’s collaborator in creating this new Office. He not only wrote new texts but also created entirely new chants. In describing this process, we may use terms such as adaption, meaning fitting an existing melody to a new text, and centonisation, meaning assembling existing melodies, texts or phrases to create a new entity. [5] The dictionary meaning of cento is ‘blanket’, ‘covering’ or ‘composite text’.

Hymns represent some of the oldest melodies known in Swedish musical history. They were always sung in unison. [6] The Gregorian chants for the canonical hours had become established as an orally transmitted repertory by the 11th century. The oldest hymn in the Swedish hymnal, Världens frälsare kom här (‘Come, Saviour of the World’), has its roots in the Gregorian hymn Veni Redemptor gentium, whose text is attributed to Saint Ambrose (c. 380). In Cantus sororum, we find an excellent example of adaption in that this melody is also used for another hymn in the Tuesday Vespers – Virgo Deum lætificans (‘Virgin delighting God’). This hymn is about the birth of the Virgin Mary rather than the birth of Christ, because the theme for Tuesday in these Office is the rejoicing of prophets and patriarchs in the former event.

A hymn melody often serves as the setting for multiple texts. An example of this is in the hymns for Matins and Prime on the first day (Sunday), O Trinitatis gloria (‘O glory of the Trinity’) and O veneranda Trinitas (‘O venerated Trinity’). The hymn for Lauds also has the same melody. The texts were newly written to suit the theme of the day and the placement of the hymns in the Office. The hymns for Matins, Lauds and Prime on Tuesday – the third day – were sung to the same melody, e.g. Ad cenam agni (‘For the supper of the lamb’), which is associated with the week after Easter or another major festival. Petrus probably selected the chants because of their association with specific festivals in the ecclesiastical year, based on the placement of each hymn in the nuns’ liturgy. [7] Many of the hymns were imported as is from the common core repertory, such as Gaude visceribus mater in intimis (‘Rejoice in your heart of hearts’), which comes from the repertory for the major Marian festivals.

An antiphon serves as a bookend to one or more psalms to which it is linked. In older antiphons, the text is usually also from the Bible, perhaps even from the psalm itself. Later, texts were specially written, as was the case with Cantus sororum. The purpose of an antiphon is, among other things, to illustrate the liturgical theme of the day. The antiphons that can most probably be attributed to Petrus of Skänninge differ consistently in text and music from the antiphons borrowed from the common core repertory in terms for instance of their length and vocal range but also because their melodic shaping is Late Medieval. The lovely antiphons Sis tu æterne (‘May you forever be’) and Gaude æternaliter (‘Rejoice for ever’) are the longest, and both are associated with canticles – the Canticle of Zechariah and the Magnificat, respectively. In Angeli, archangeli (‘Angels, archangels’), the first part of the antiphon comes from the common core repertory, while its continuation differs melodically and bears a closer resemblance to other Brigittine antiphons. [8] Servatius points to Iam lætaris Domina (‘Therefore rejoice, O Lady’) and Maria, Maria – both from the Vespers for Saturday – as those chants that most likely are original Brigittine compositions in terms of both text and music. On this website we feature 13 antiphons; of these, the great Marian antiphons that come from the common core repertory are provided with text in Swedish in addition to Latin: Ave Regina cœlorum, ave (‘Hail thee, Queen of Heaven’), Ave Regina cœlorum Mater (‘Hail thee, Queen of Heaven, Mother’) and O florens rosa (‘O blooming rose’). These are sung independently, not in connection with psalms. They are often sung at the end of Vespers or Compline.

The long responsories follow the lectiones (‘lessons’), readings from the Angel’s Discourse describing Birgitta’s visions. They are long and melismatic, i.e. richly ornamented. [9] Three lessons were read at Matins, the morning prayer before sunrise, followed by a long responsory. The purpose of the reading was to introduce the theme of the day, and the responsories provided a deeper dive into the textual content. [10] It is this sequence of lessons and long responsories, repeated at the same length every day and independent of the cycle of the ecclesiastical year, that sets the Brigittine liturgy apart from all others. [11]

We selected five long responsories for inclusion on this website. The first of these, Summæ Trinitati (‘To the most high Trinity’) is a classic from the common core repertory. In Speculum virginum (‘Mirror of the Virgin’, a sacred writing from the 11th century), Maria is described as existing in God’s thoughts as the most perfect being even before she was born on earth. Birgitta developed this theme further in the first lesson. [12] The next two responsories for Matins on Sunday are also included. In the second lesson for Sunday, we learn that “most of all He (God) was delighted that thy loving gentleness and goodness should grow so great that He, the Eternal God, whose greatness is immeasurable, saw fit to take up residence in thy blessed womb”. [13] The other responsories included here were most likely written by Petrus of Skänninge, according to research by Hilkka-Liisa Vuori in her dissertation I Jungfru Marie örtagård. De stora responsorierna i birgittasystrarnas matutin. (‘In the Virgin Mary’s herb garden. The long responsories for Matins of the Brigittine sisters.’)

The second long responsory for Monday, Benedicta terra (‘Blessed earth’) reflects the text on Maria in the second lesson: [14]

• [1], [2], [8] Servatius 1990, 19, 145-146, 144
• [3], [13], [14] Lundén 1976a, L-LII, 11, 69
• [4]–[7] Nilsson 1991, 95, 94, 91, 102
• [9]–[12] Vuori 2011, 20, 151, 42, 155

• Lundén, T. (1976). Den heliga Birgitta och den helige Petrus av Skänninge
  Officium parvum beate Marie Virginis. Vår Frus tidegärd I-II. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Studia Historico-Ecclesiastica Upsaliensia 27–28.
• Nilsson, A-M. (1991). On liturgical hymn melodies in Sweden during the middle ages. Göteborg: Musikvetenskapliga institutionen.
• Servatius, V. (1990). Cantus sororum. Musik- und liturgiegeschichtliche Studien zu den Antiphonen des birgittinischen Eigenrepertoires. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Studia musicologica Upsaliensia. Nova series 12.
• Vuori, Hilkka-Liisa 2011. Neitsyt Marian yrttitarhassa – Birgittalaissisarten matutinumin suuret responsoriot. Studia Musica 47, Helsinki: Sibelius-Akatemia. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-5959-13-0