Viderunt Omnes

"Viderunt Omnes" is a Gregorian chant based on Psalm XCVII

"Viderunt Omnes"
(98), sung as the gradual[1] at the Masses of Christmas Day and
historically on its octave, the Feast of the Circumcision. Two of the Gregorian chant
many settings of the text are famous as being among the earliest Language Latin
pieces of polyphony by known composers, Léonin and Pérotin of the
Length 2:20 (approx.)
Notre Dame school. Their music, known as organum, adds florid
counterpoint to the Gregorian melody of the intonation and verse, Composer(s) Traditional
portions normally sung by the cantors, the remainder of the chant Lyricist(s) Psalm 98;
being sung unchanged by the choir.
notable variations
composed by
Léonin, Pérotin and
Contents Adam de la Halle.

Text
Latin
English
Notre Dame school variations
Leonin
Pérotin
Evolution with the motet
Recordings
References
Sources and further reading
External links

Text
The text, from Ps. 98:3cd, 4, 2, describes God's oversight of the Earth, an especially symbolic message
given the musical unity that the composition came to represent.

Latin English
Viderunt omnes fines terræ All the ends of the earth have seen
salutare Dei nostri. the salvation of our God.
Jubilate Deo, omnis terra. Rejoice in the Lord, all lands.

Notum fecit Dominus salutare suum; The Lord has made known his salvation;
ante conspectum gentium in the sight of the nations
revelavit justitiam suam. he has revealed his righteousness.
Notre Dame school variations

Leonin

Léonin's two-part version of Viderunt Omnes was written about 1160 (the composer's dates are fl.
1150s — d. ? 1201). In his variation, the bottom voice sings the familiar chant as a drone while the
top voice echoes in rich polyphony—a symbol of religious unity; a form of communal
togetherness. As a theorist, Léonin developed complex sets of rhythmic modes and patterns that
could only be written with a certain styling of ligatures. Due in large part to the development of
mensural notation, his vision became common practice, allowing for discant and clausula.

Pérotin

Pérotin's four-part version of Viderunt, one of the few existing examples of organum quadruplum,
may have been written for the Feast of the Circumcision in 1198. We know that at this time Eudes
de Sully, Bishop of Paris, was promoting the use of polyphony.

The melismas in particular are especially diminuted, rendering the text virtually incomprehensible.
While only solo sections are polyphonic, the organum remains clear when juxtaposed with the
traditional, monophonic choir chant.

Evolution with the motet

By the thirteenth century, syllabic introductions birthed the motet, placing an organum plainchant
in the bottom voice and introducing new text in the upper registers of the vocal range. The texture,
such as that of Adam de la Halle's 'De Ma Dame Vient', quotes the Latin 'Viderunt Omnes' while
the upper voices sing a similar French passage. The divergent quality of two simultaneous texts
adapts the pieces to a more elaborate syllabic setting. To accommodate the rhythmic freedom,
Halle's use of Franconian notation allowed the textural shapes to characterize the length of a
pitch. The system allowed for shorter notes and stratified textures, allowing rapid movement of
certain lines.

Recordings
The original chant has been recorded for example by the monks of Santo Domingo de Silos (on
the album Chant Noël: Chants For The Holiday Season).

There are a number of recordings of Perotin's setting. Several versions have been compared by
Ivan Hewett, a music critic for the British newspaper The Telegraph. Hewett, who takes as his
starting-point a 2005 recording by the vocal ensemble Tonus Peregrinus,[2] does not discuss
whether it is appropriate to use instruments in this music. However, a recording by the Deller
Consort uses some instruments to accompany the singers.[3] and there is an arrangement for
string quartet by the Kronos Quartet (included on the album Early Music (Lachrymæ Antiquæ)).

References
1. The first 7 words are also used as the Communion.
 2. Hewett. "Perotin" (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classical-music-guide/9958013/Iv
an-Hewetts-Classic-50-No-15-Perotin-Viderunt-omnes.html). www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved
2017-12-25.
3. Perotin (fl.c.1200) – A discography (http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/composers/perotin.html)

Sources and further reading

Albright, Daniel (2004). Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources. University of
Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-01267-0.
Bent, Ian D. (1980). "Pérotin". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 20 vols., ed.
Stanley Sadie, 14:540–43. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
Flotzinger, Rudolf (2000). Perotinus musicus: Wegbereiter abendländischen Komponierens.
Mainz: Schott Musik International. ISBN 3-7957-0431-6.
Gross, Guillaume (2001). "La repetitio dans les organa quadruples de Pérotin: Nature
rhétorique de l'organisation du discours musical". Musurgia 8, no. 1 (Jeunes analystes, jeunes
théoriciens): 7–29.
Hoppin, Richard H. (1978). Medieval Music. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0-393-
09090-6
Jenny, Herbert J. (1942). "Perotin's Viderunt omnes". Bulletin of the American Musicological
Society, no. 6 (August): 20–21.
Page, Christopher. (1990) The Owl and the Nightingale: Musical Life and Ideas in France
1100–1300. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06944-7

External links
Text and score from Choral Wiki (http://www0.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Viderunt_omnes_(Gradu
al)_(William_Byrd))

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viderunt_Omnes&oldid=959864612"

This page was last edited on 31 May 2020, at 00:11 (UTC).

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