, the wandering tone, or the ninth tone, is a

reciting tone In chant, a reciting tone (also called a recitation tone) can refer to either a repeated musical pitch or to the entire melodic formula for which that pitch is a structural note. In Gregorian chant, the first is also called tenor, dominant or tub ...

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

. The chant example here is not identified as the ''tonus peregrinus'' in the ''Liber usualis'' (see LU, pp. 760–761), although it is in Aeolian mode. For the ''tonus peregrinus'' in its customary usage for Psalm 113, see LU p. 160.

Characteristics

As a reciting tone the does not fit in any of the original eight

church mode A Gregorian mode (or church mode) is one of the eight systems of pitch organization used in Gregorian chant. History The name of Pope Gregory I was attached to the variety of chant that was to become the dominant variety in medieval western and ...

s, because a verse recited in this tone has a different tenor note in the first half of the verse from the second half of the verse.Lundberg 2012 pp. 7–17 It is this diversion from a single recitation note which gives the name , literally "wanders". Traditionally, the tenor note in the first half of a verse sung according to the is a tone higher than the tenor note in the second half of the verse. Also usually the last note of a

melodic formula Melody type or type-melody is a set of melodic formulas, figures, and patterns. Term and typical meanings "Melody type" is a fundamental notion for understanding a nature of Western and non-Western musical modes, according to Harold Powers' ...

is a perfect fifth below the first tenor note.

History

In Gregorian chant the existed before the modal system was expanded beyond the eighth mode. Later the ninth tone became associated with the ninth mode, or

Aeolian mode The Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale also called the natural minor scale. On the white piano keys, it is the scale that starts with A. Its ascending interval form consists of a ''key note, whole step, half ste ...

, which, in a more modern understanding of harmony, can be equalled with a standard minor mode.Lundberg 2012 p. 45 Magnificat im 9

The is an exceptional reciting tone in Gregorian chant: there it was most clearly associated with

Psalm 113 Psalm 113 is the 113th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Praise ye the Lord, O ye servants of the Lord". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian ...

(in the Vulgate numbering), traditionally sung in

vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , meanin ...

. In

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

, the is associated with the

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for " y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical servic ...

(also usually sung in vespers): the traditional setting of

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (give ...

's German translation of the Magnificat ("") is a German variant of the .

Musical settings

variants appear in: * "Suscepit Israel" from the Magnificat in D major by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

* Requiem by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

(used in the Introit)Lundberg 2012 p. 275 ff. *

Miserere Mei, Deus Psalm 51, one of the penitential psalms, is the 51st psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Have mercy upon me, O God". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vu ...

Gregorio Allegri Gregorio Allegri (17 February 1652) was a Roman Catholic priest and Italian composer of the Roman School and brother of Domenico Allegri; he was also a singer. He was born"Allegri, Gregorio" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newne ...

* Sonata No. 4, Op. 98, by

Josef Rheinberger Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (17 March 1839 – 25 November 1901) was a Liechtensteiner organist and composer, residing in Bavaria for most of his life. Life Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, whose father was the treasurer for Aloys II, Prince of Liech ...

(harmonized version is used as the second theme in the opening movement)Russakoff 2017 p. 4

References

Notes Sources * Mattias Lundberg
''Tonus Peregrinus: The History of a Psalm-tone and its use in Polyphonic Music''
Ashgate Publishing, 2012, * Mark L. Russakoff
''Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger, Works for Organ, Vol. 1''
Naxos, 2017

External links

at Musical terminology Melody types Psalm settings Magnificat settings {{classical-music-stub