A Glimpse of Theatre History
Quem Quaeritis
Troping: Beginning around the 8th Century, interpolations of additional words into the authorized texts of various Gregorian chants began to appear in the West. One credible theory for the appearance of the phenomenon is that words were added to some of the existing melismatic embellishments of the chants. Usually set to existing music, these tropes were occasionally given new music written especially for them. We have early examples of tropes from St. Martial at Limoges, and a significant number from the Swiss monastery at St. Gall. Tuotilo (d. 915) and Notker Balbulus ("the stammerer") (d. 912), two monks at the latter monastery, are thought to be the authors of a great many tropes. Here is the Latin version of a Christmas trope attributed to Tuotilo:
| Hodie cantandus est nobis puer, quem gignebat ineffabiliter ante tempora
pater, et eundem sub tempore generavit inclyta mater. |
The earliest tropes were probably those taken from the already existing dialogue at the tomb between the three Maries and the Angel in Mark and Matthew, and sung at Easter. This one is from St. Gall:
| Int[errogatio]: Quem quaeritis in sepulchro, o Christicolae? Resp[onsio]: Jesum Nazarenum crucifixum, o caelicolae. Angeli: Non est hic; surrexit, sicut praedixerat. Ite, nuntiate quia surrexit de sepulchro. Question: Whom do ye seek in the sepulcher, O followers of Christ? Answer: Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, O heavenly ones. Angels: He is not here: he is risen, just as he foretold. Go, announce that he is risen from the sepulcher. |
Nearly the same words were used at Christmas:
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In Natale Domini ad Missam sint parati duo diaconi induti dalmaticis, retro
altare dicente |
The leap from trope to drama seems to have been made by the tenth Century. The rubrics are transformed into stage directions. (The bold face emphases are my own:) This famous example is from the Regularis Concordia (965-975), of Ethelwold, the Bishop of Winchester, England:
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"When the third lesson of the matins is chanted, let four brethren
dress themselves; of whom let one, wearing an alb, enter as if to take
part in the service; and let him without being observed approach the place of
the sepulcher, where, holding a palm in his hand, let him sit quietly. While the
third responsory is being sung, let the remaining three brethren follow, all of
them wearing copes and carrying censors filled with incense. Then slowly, in
the manner of seeking something, let them move toward the place of the sepulcher.
When he has sung this to the end, let the three respond in unison:
To whom that one:
At the word of this command, let the three turn to the choir, and say:
This said, let the Angel, again seating himself, as if recalling them, sing the anthem:
And saying this, let him rise, and let him lift the veil and show them the place bare of the cross, but only the cloths lying there with which the cross was wrapped. Seeing this, let the women set down the censers they carried into the sepulcher, and let them pick up the cloth and spread it out before the eyes of the clergy; and, as if making known that the Lord had risen and was not now wrapped in this linen, let them sing this anthem:
And let them place the cloth upon the altar. The anthem being ended, let the Prior, rejoicing with them at the triumph of our king, in that having conquered death, he arose, begin the hymn:
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