Medieval chant for Swedish saints

© Ann-Marie Nilsson(2011), Uppsala University, Sweden

The Nordic office for St. Joseph, Joseph exortus regie

Chant melodies from notated sources containing the Nordic (Franciscan/Birgittine) historia
Ioseph exortus regia (Analecta hymnica 26, nr 61). Not all chants in this office are preserved
with notation. Only three notated sources are known:
three fragments from the group Br 410,
Ant 516, one fragment containing part of the office from the sixth responsory till the ninth
antiphon of Matins,
Ant 58, one folio containing the responsories in the second nocturn.

The chant melodies for St. Joseph seem to have been modeled on those of the Nordic
Saturday office for the Virgin, Stella maria (/hystorie/stella.php), of
which some are given below for comparison, especially when the melodies for Joseph are
fragmentary.
The melodies transmitted in Ant 516 (R6, MA7-9) differ from those of the other two sources,
modeled, like some other historie from medieval Sweden, on those of the historia for St.
Dominic. Alternative melodies are, however, not quite unique: occurring in a few
responsories on the historia for St. Eskil and in the two offices for St. Birgitta, Rosa rorans
bonitatem and Birgitte matris inclite. See Ann-Marie Nilsson, Sånger till fyra kyrkofester i Skara
stift (2011, p.67) and Två hystorie för den heliga Birgitta (2003, p. 123 and 162ff.)

Remarks to variant tables contains general remarks on the notation in the sources and
the comparative tables as well as abbreviations. Sources are listed in a separate file.

The material was prepared by Ann-Marie Nilsson during a research project (2006-2008)
”Medieval chant for Swedish saints”, financed by the Swedish Research Council.

Select bibliography.:
Schmid, Toni: ”Franziskanische Elemente im mittelalterlichen Kult Schwedens 1-3”, in Franziskanische Studien
24-25 (1937-38), p. 79 f. (1937); p. 65-87, 134-161 (1938).
Joseph Seitz, Die Verehrung des hl. Joseph in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung (1908),
Ann-Marie Nilsson, Sånger till fyra kyrkofester i Skara stift (2011)