1.8 — Ante saecula et mundi principio

NotazioneDatazionesec. X ineunte
TipoSankt Gallen
NoteBoth text and neumes were copied by a single St Gall scribe writing well within the first half of the tenth century. All the notated verses on fol. 207r/v appear to have been copied by the same scribe. A full range of liquescent, orsicus, quilisma and modified neume forms are used. A further striking feature of the neume script is the abundance of significative letters employed, including 'a', 'c', 'e', 'i', 'l', 'm', 'st', and 't'. The extra space above the upper text line of the folio seems to have been used to signal relative pitch height through disposition to a degree unusual in St Gall scripts.
TrascrizioneTrascrizioni
diplomatiche
 Ante-saeculaNapoli
Trascrizione
alfanumerica
''2b'', 1a, 2a, 1a, 1b, 1b, 1a, 2a, ''2b'', 1a, 2b, 2b | 1a, 1a, ''2b'', ''3V'', 1b, 1a, 1a, 1a, 2b, 1a, 2b, 2b | 2a, 2b, ''2b'', 2a, 2b, 2a, 1a, ''2b'', 2b, 2a, 1a, ''2a'', 1b | 2b, 2a, 1a, 2V, 1b, ''3c'', 1a, 2a, ''2b'', 2b, 2a, 1b | 2b, 1b, 2a, 1a, 2b, 1a, 1a, 1b, ''2a'', 2b, 2b, 1b || 2b, 1a, 2a, 2V, 1b, 1a, 1a, 1a, 2b, 1a, 2b, 2b | 1b, 1a, 2a, 2V, 1b, 1a, 1a, 1a, ''2b'', 1a, 2b, 2b | 2a, 1a, 2b, 1a, 1a, 2b, 2a, ''2b'', 2a, ''2b'', 2b, 2a, 1a | 2b, 1b, 1a, 2V, 1b, 3c, 1a, ''3c'', 2b, 2b, 2a, 1a
MelodiaThe melodies indicated for the two strophes are almost identical; in particular, the neumes for the first and second lines are similar in form and profile. The neumes for lines three and four are likewise similar, but in both strophes melodic adjustments are made to incorporate extra syllables. In the first strophe, the extra syllable in the second half of line three is accommodated by condensing the melodic line to cadence on spiritu and then adding two extra notes for sancto. In the second strophe, the extra syllable in the first half of line three is accommodated by splitting the pes (2a) on the fourth syllable into two virgae (1a, 1a). The first half of the refrain shows similarities to the first halves of lines 1 and 2. In the first strophe, lengthening is indicated at the caesuras of all lines except the second. Lengthening is also indicated at the end of lines one and two in strophes one and two, and at the end of line three in the first strophe only. The virga strata (2A) is repeatedly found at the accented fourth syllable of the line.