Alternatim refers to a technique of liturgical musical performance, especially in relationship to the Organ Mass, but also to the
Hymns,
Magnificat and ''
Salve regina'' traditionally incorporated into the
Vespers and other liturgies of the
Catholic Church. A specific part of the
ordinary of the Mass (such as the
Kyrie and the
Gloria
Gloria may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music
* Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise
* Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise
** Gloria (Handel)
** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
) would be divided into ''versets''. Each verset would be performed
antiphonally by two groups of singers, giving rise to polyphonic settings of half of the text. One of these groups may alternatively have consisted of a soloist, a group of instruments, or
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
. The missing even- or odd-numbered verses were supplied by plainchant or, perhaps more commonly (to judge by the
organ masses of
Hans Buchner), by
improvisation
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
s on the organ.
[. See also Arnaldo Morelli,]
The role of the organ in the performance practices of Italian sacred polyphony during the Cinquecento
, ''Musica Disciplina
The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a musicological organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on early music. Founded in 1944 by Armen Carapetyan, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern editions ...
'', 50 (1996), pp. 239-270. The
verso became a particularly prevalent genre in
Renaissance and
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
organ music, both Italian and Iberian, and most of the
French classical organ literature consists of alternatim versets.
A large amount of musical repertoire was specifically written for alternatim performance, with
Heinrich Isaac and Charles Justin (1830–1873) as notable composers. Alternatim performance of the Mass was common throughout Europe in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. A similar tradition of alternatim performance existed for example also for
Magnificat compositions.
Documentation in England is rather slight. The organ involved seems to have been a man-portable instrument, of 1 or so speaking ranks. There is no evidence for the use, in alternatim, of the larger "standing" (on a loft or platform) organ of the English Cathedral.
In the Catholic church, the practice was banned by Pope Pius X in his 1903 Motu proprio ''Tra le Sollecitudini''.
[Tra le Sollecitudini – Instruction on Sacred Music]
/ref> The practice did, however, inform the works of Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...
, who wrote pseudo-versets for his many liturgical organ works, especially his '' Messe de la Pentecôte'' (1950).
References
Christian liturgical music
Music performance
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