Alleluia, dulce carmen

"Alleluia, dulce carmen" (Alleluia, song of gladness) is a medieval Latin hymn sung during the week before Septuagesima as a preparation to the dismissal of the Alleluia.

History

The earliest form of Alleluia, dulce carmen is found in manuscripts of the 11th century kept at the British Museum.[1]

It was traditionally sung in Gallican liturgies, such as the rite of Lyon, or English liturgies, such as the use of Sarum, in "clausula Alleluia", as a farewell to the Alleluia in the week before the Sunday of Septuagesima, until the first Vespers.[2]

Translations in English language of the Alleluia, dulce carmen, were written by J. Chandler in 1837, Alleluia! Best and Sweetest, later by John Mason Neale in 1851, and many more in the second half of the 19th century with close resemblance.[3]

Melody

Various melodies are currently in use, and while the original medieval manuscripts do not give a specific written melody, English translations of the 19th century relied on the transcriptions from the Gregorian repertoire of François de La Feillée, an 18th-century priest attached to the cathedral at Chartres who had promoted and gathered neo-Gallican chant outside of the strictly Roman liturgy.[4]

Lyrics

Alleluia, dulce mater expresses mixed feelings of joy and bitterness. The setting, which refers to the Babylonian captivity[5] with elements linked to Psalm 134 and Psalm 135, is also the main theme of pre-Lenten celebrations in Eastern Orthodoxy Sundays of the Triodion. It is in contrast with the hymn Alleluia perenne used in the Mozarabic rite in the same liturgical context but which establishes the perpetuity of the alleluia in heaven, underscoring the hope of its gladsome return, and the security that the Church never ceases to sing alleluia throughout the year.[6] Here is the lyric translation by Anglican cleric John Mason Neale, composed in 1851:

References
  1. Julian, John (1892). A Dictionary of Hymnology: Setting Forth the Origin and History of Christian Hymns of All Ages and Nations. C. Scribner's Sons. p. 48.
  2. Headlam, Arthur Cayley (1884). The Church Quarterly Review. Spottiswoode. p. 241.
  3. Julian, John (1892). A Dictionary of Hymnology: Setting Forth the Origin and History of Christian Hymns of All Ages and Nations, with Special Reference to Those Contained in the Hymn Books of English-speaking Countries, and Now in Common Use, Together with Biographical and Critical Notices of Their Authors and Translators, and Historical Articles on National and Denominational Hymnody, Breviaries, Missals, Primers, Psalters, Sequences. C. Scribner's Sons. p. 48.
  4. Helmore, Thomas (1852). Accompanying Harmonies to the Hymnal Noted. J.A. Novello. p. 235.
  5. Langbroek, Erika; Roeleveld, Annelies; Quak, Arend; Vermeyden, Paula (2005). Amsterdamer Beiträge Zur Älteren Germanistik, Band 60 (2005) (in German). Rodopi. p. 78. ISBN 978-90-420-1697-2.
  6. Neale, J.M. (1863). Mediæval hymns and sequences.

Bibliography
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