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Martinskirche _ Martinskirchplatz 4, 4051 BaselFree admission / collection

Information Birgit Knab _ fon +41 _ 61 _ 264 57 46 _ birgit.knab@fhnw.ch

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis

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Ensemble Cantus FiguratusSchola Cantorum Basiliensis

Dominique Vellard _ conductor

Friday, 20:15 _ Martinskirche

Programme

1. Loyset Compère, from the cycle Hodie nobis de Virgine (source: I-Mfd, Librone 1, 84v-93r)- Hodie nobis de Virgine (loco introitus)- Genuit puerpera regem (loco offertorii)- Sanctus / Verbum caro (loco sanctus)- O admirabile commertium (loco Deo gratias)

2. Franchino Gaffurio, from the cycle Salve Mater Salvatoris (source: I-Mfd, Librone 1, 84v-93r)- Salve Mater Salvatoris / Salve Verbi sacra parens- Salve decus virginum / Tu convallis humilis

3. Anonymous, Gaude flore virginali (source: D-Mbs, Mus. ms. 3154, 38v-43r)- Gaude flore virginali- Gaude sponsa cara Dei- Gaude splendens vas virtutum- Gaude nexu voluntatis (loco offertorii)- Gaude mater miserorum (loco sanctus)- Gaude virgo mater pura (loco agnus)

[intermission]

4. Anonymous, from the cycle Gaudeamus omnes (source: Motetti C, Venice: O. Petrucci, 1504)- Gaude quia tui Nati- Gaude que post ipsum

5. Anonymous, from the cycle Natus sapientia (source: D-Mbs, Mus. ms. 3154, 43v-48r)- Natus sapientia (loco introitus)- Hora prima ductus est (loco patrem [scil. credo])- Ihesus Dominus exspiravit (post elevationem)

6. Gaspar van Weerbeke, Ave mondi domina (source: I-Mfd, Librone 1, 126v-134r)- Ave mondi domina- Ave mater gloriosa- Salve virgo virginum- Anima mea liquefacta est- Ave regina caelorum / O salutaris hostia- Quem terra pontus ethera- O virginum preclara- Fit porta Christi pervia

I-Mfd = Milan, Archivio della Veneranda Fabbrica del DuomoD-Mbs = Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

Gaude flore virginaliRenaissance Motet Cycles

between Devotion and Liturgy

Renaissance Motet Cycles

As contemporary chronicler Bernardino Corioremarked, duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza (whoreigned in Milan from 1466 until he was murderedin December 1476) “took great delight in song”.For his love of music, and undoubtedly also inorder to parade his magnificence in competitionwith rival rulers, Galeazzo spared no effort inbuilding a musical chapel of unprecedented sizeand quality. He recruited the best singers andcomposers he could find in Italy and abroad, send-ing his agents to scout out talents as far as Flandersand the Kingdom of Naples. In the mid 1470s hischapel counted more than thirty singers, mostlyNortherners, who often followed their master dur-ing his frequent movements between Milan andvarious castles in the duchy (Galeazzo’s astoundingtravelling court included, among many others, sixcooks, a jester, ten professional hand-ball players,forty dog-handlers and thirty staff in charge of thehunts and the hawks).

As a result of Galeazzo’s extravagant patronage,the ducal chapel became an unparalleled composi-tional workshop, where such musicians as LoysetCompère (c.1445–1518) and Gaspar van Weer-beke (c.1445–1516) could experiment with newstylistic solutions. After Galeazzo’s tragic death in1476, the activity of the Sforza chapel continuedon a more modest scale, to resume its splendourwhen Galeazzo’s younger brother Ludovico il Mo-ro seized the power. In the 1490s Ludovico, thepatron of Leonardo da Vinci and Donato Braman-te, promoted, together with his wife Beatrice

d’Este, an exuberant court-life and embarked onambitious politico-diplomatic plans (which even-tually led to disaster). It was in Ludovico’s timethat Franchino Gaffurio (1451–1522), a distin-guished music theorist and chapel master at theMilanese Duomo, began supervising the prepara-tion of the large format manuscripts, commonlyknown as “Libroni” (big books), which partiallypreserve this repertoire. It is thanks to Gaffuriothat the music of the Sforza chapel was not lost forhistory, and for our enjoyment.

Besides such pieces as Masses, Magnificats, andlamentations, Gaffurio included in the Libroni aseries of special compositions that he labelledmotetti missales. According to current hypotheses,these cycles of motets, composed during the1470s–1490s by Compère, Weerbeke and Gaffu-rio himself, were performed during the celebrationof a low Mass (messa bassa, stille Messe), as a sort ofdevotional soundtrack to the rite, which coveredthe words whispered by the priest and de factosubstituted items such as the introit (the beginningantiphon), the Gloria in excelsis, and so on. Theapex of the cycle corresponded to the Elevation ofthe consecrated Host: words of adoration andsupplication addressed to the Real Presence ofChrist were set in long-held chords (embellishedin tonight’s performance according to reconstruct-ed historical practice), which dramatically inter-rupted the flow of polyphony.

It is a matter of debate among scholars whetherthe presumed taste of Duke Galeazzo Sforza for

Ensemble Cantus FiguratusSchola Cantorum BasiliensisPerrine Devillers, Grace Newcombe, Yukie Sato_sopranosRoman Melish, Florencia Menconi_altosOzan Karagöz, Akinobu Ôno, Giacomo Schiavo_tenorsRui Stähelin, Valerio Zanolli_bassesFélix Verry_renaissance violinRandall Cook, Anna Danilevskaia, Sophia Danilevskaia, Filipa Meneses_renaissance violsAki Noda_organDominique Vellard_conductor

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tuneful melodies and dancelike rhythms exerted adirect influence, or the ultramontane musicianswere inspired by local musical idioms. In fact, mostof the motet cycles we will hear tonight speak adifferent language from the contrapuntal linguafranca used by contemporary Franco-Flemishcomposers: musical phrases are short, the text isclearly articulated, and lively rhythmic and texturalcontrasts are prominent.

For all their originality, the motetti missales are,however, part of a larger contemporary tendency togather motets in cycles and copy them in manu-scripts (or print them) as such. Cycles such as theanonymous Gaudeamus omnes in our programmemight have been conceived for performance incontexts other than the Mass, such as during dif-ferent offices or confraternal devotions, or forsome form of pious entertainment. A project start-ed in 2014 at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensisaims to explore this repertoire and to study itscompositional design, the circumstances for itsperformance, and the cultural context in which itwas produced. The present concert, organized onthe occasion of the international conference“Motet Cycles between Devotion and Liturgy”,will offer the audience the opportunity of listeningto some of these cycles. A rare opportunity indeed,as, in spite of their interest and sheer beauty, thesecompositions are infrequently performed, andmost of them have never been recorded.

The Programme

Loyset Compère’s Hodie nobis de Virgine cyclewas composed in all likelihood for Christmas time:its text, compiled, like those of other Milanesecycles, from different sources, insists on the subjectof the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Many well-known passages from the liturgy of Christmastideare included, from the responsory Quem vidistispastores to the antiphon O admirabile commercium.The recurring word hodie (today) in the first andthird motets invites to an immersive meditation,whereas other parts of the text highlight the role ofthe Virgin Mary. Compère’s texture changes con-tinuously from transparent duets to more intricatetutti sections; now subtle, now sharp metric con-trasts confer the piece a unique animation. The

Sanctus deserves special attention: forerun by theremarkably compelling finale of the previousmotet, it starts with a more spacious and melis-matic polyphony, which progressively leads to adense tutti texture; the following section for theElevation (“Verbum caro factum est”, the Wordbecame flesh) consists of an extratemporal series ofmajestic chords; heaven and earth are united for amoment—then the pulse resumes and the motetconcludes with an imposing cadence.

Franchino Gaffurio’s Salve Mater Salvatoris isone of various motet cycles dedicated to the bless-ed Virgin: Gaffurio sets, with few litanic interpo-lations, the texts of two rhymed prayers dedicatedto the Mother of Christ. Devotion to the Madonnawas a key element in fifteenth-century Milanesepiety, and the Sforza were no exception (manymembers of the family, including dukes Galeazzo,Gian Galeazzo and Ludovico, bore “Maria” as asecond name). In the selection from the cycle wewill hear, characteristic traits of Gaffurio’s stylebecome apparent: a melody is often clearly perceiv-able, as if floating in the top voice above thecontrapuntal fabric of the lower parts; brief imita-tive points alternate with insistent sequences, in amosaic of motivic permutations; and at times thetexture suddenly congeals into passages of urgenthomorhythmic declamation.

The first part of the concert ends with theperformance of Gaude flore virginali, an anony-mous cycle copied in a manuscript from Munich.The structure of the cycle reflects that of the motet-ti missales. The connection between the Munichmanuscript and the Milanese environment, how-ever, is still obscure, and the style of this composi-tion has very few parallels in the extant music fromthe period. Textures are denser than in the cyclesby Compère, Weerbeke and Gaffurio, and there isessentially no space for the compositional devicesusually associated with the so-called “Milanesestyle” (duets, brief imitations, metrically andrhythmically contrasting sections, clear text decla-mation). Free counterpoint predominates, and thevocal lines are imbued with an inexplicably deeppathos.

A selection from another anonymous cycle,Gaudeamus omnes, opens the second part of to-night’s performance. The cycle was published in2

“Having for some timebefore now taken greaterdelight in musicand in singing than inany other pleasure, we haveput effort into havingsingers to make a chapel,and up to now we havebrought a good numberof singers, from beyondthe Alps and from variouscountries, and have beguna distinguished and worthychapel.”

Galeazzo Maria SforzaJanuary 1473

Venice by Ottaviano Petrucci, the pioneer of mod-ern music printing, in his collection Motetti C of1504. The text, which comprises the introit Gaud-eamus and a Marian prayer often copied in fif-teenth-century Books of Hours, complements thatof Gaude flore virginali in extolling the joys ofMary. Particularly noteworthy are the prolongedsequences, combined with scalar movements, inthe second half of the motet Gaude que post ipsum:their jubilant melismas and abstract geometry maybe interpreted as a sonic depiction of the musicthat resounds in the “celestial palace” of heaven(“in celesti palatio”).

The motets from the cycle Natus sapientia in-troduce us to a completely different spiritual at-mosphere, that of the meditation on Christ’sPassion. The text is taken from the Short Hours ofthe Cross, a devotional office which was per-formed individually or collectively, for instance bythe members of a confraternity. The sombre andintricate polyphony of this cycle has its emotionalclimax in the motet Ihesus Dominus exspiravit,destined to be sung after the Elevation. The deathof Jesus after his last cry, the lance piercing hisside, the ensuing earthquake, and the darknesswhich shrouds the Calvary form the object of thispensive polyvocal meditation.

The last piece of our programme, Weerbeke’scycle of motetti missales Ave mondi domina, fullydisplays the superb talents of this composer. Thehyper-composite text includes stanzas from vari-ous hymns and sequences, as well as passionatepassages from the Song of Songs (Anima mealiquefacta est). Weerbeke sets it combining exem-plary syntactic clarity with forward-looking ex-pressive strength. The prevailingly homorhythmictexture, with its syllabic declamation, is occasion-ally interrupted by elegant contrapuntal segments,and Weerbeke demonstrates a special gift for cre-ating luminous moments of musical transcend-ence. The rich palette of techniques used here byDuke Galeazzo’s cherished “Gaspar” epitomizesall that makes this repertoire unique, and mostaptly concludes tonight’s musical journey.

Daniele V. Filippi

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Today for us Christ deigned to be born of aVirgin. This present day bears witness, runningthrough the cycle of the year, that the world’sunique salvation has come to us from the seatof the Father.Christ is born for us: come let us adore him.A little boy is born for us today: and he will becalled Mighty God, and his name will be calledEmmanuel.Come, people, and adore the Lord, for throughhim everything was made.

In giving birth she bore the King, whom Angels,Thrones and Dominations praise.

O Christ the redeemer of all, uniquely fromand of the Father, alone born ineffablybefore the beginning.

You, light, you, splendour of the Father,you eternal hope of all: receive the prayersoffered by your servants throughout the globe.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.Heavens and earth are full of your glory.The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us:and we saw His glory.

O wonderful exchange!The creator of the human race today deignedto be born of a Virgin.Christ was born for us, through whom eternalsalvation appeared to the world.The blessed originator of the ages assumed ourservile body, so that freeing flesh by his flesh,he might not lose those whom he founded.

Texts and translations

HODIE nobis de virgineChristus nasci dignatus est.Hic presens testatur dies currens

per anni circulumquod solus a sede Patris mundi salus advenerit.Christus natus est nobis,venite adoremus!Parvulus filius hodie natus est nobiset vocabitur Deus fortiset vocabitur nomen eius Emanuel.Venite gentes et adorate Dominumquia per ipsum omnia facta sunt.

Genuit puerpera regemquem laudant angeli throni et dominationes.

Christe redemptor omniumex Patre Patris unicesolus ante principiumnatus ineffabiliter

tu lumen tu splendor Patristu spes perennis omniumintende quas fundunt precestui per orbem famuli.

Sanctus sanctus sanctusDominus Deus sabaoth.Pleni sunt celi et terra gloria tua.Verbum caro factum est et habitavitin nobis et vidimus gloriam eius.

O admirabile commertium!Humani generis creator ex virgine nascidignatus est.Christus natus est nobis, per quemsalus eterna mundo apparuit.Beatus auctor seculiservile corpus induitut carne carnem liberansne perderet quos condidit.

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Hail, mother of the Savior, chosen vessel, vesselof honor, vessel of celestial grace.

Vessel prepared from eternity, vessel distiguishedand shaped by the hand of Wisdom.

Hail, sacred parent of the Word, flower amongthorns but free from thorns, glory of the thicket.

We are the thicket, we are made bloody by thethorn of sin, but you did not know this thorn.

Hail, splendor of virgins, Mediatrix of men,Bearer of salvation.

Myrtle of temperance, Rose of patience,Fragrant spikenard.

Closed gate, source of the gardens, chamberand preserver of unguents, chamber of healingointments,

surpassing in fragrance the branch of cinnamon,myrrh, frankincense, and balsam.

O humble valley, soil not to be ploughed thatnevertheless bore fruit; flower of the field,

singular lily of the valleys, Christ was bornfrom you.

You are a heavenly paradise and uncut frankin-cense, fuming forth sweetness.

You possess a plenitude of radiance and beauty,of sweetness and fragrance.

SALVE Mater Salvatoris,vas electum, vas honoris,vas celestis gratie,

ab eterno vas provisum,vas insigne, vas excisummanu sapientie.

Salve Verbi sacra parens,flos de spina spina carens,flos spineti gloria.

Nos spinetum, nos peccatispina sumus cruentati,sed tu spine nescia.

Salve decus virginum,mediatrix hominum,salutis puerpera,

myrtus temperantie,rosa patientie,nardus odorifera,

porta clausa fons hortorum,cella custos unguentorum,cella pigmentaria,

cinnamomi calamum,mirram thus et balsamumsuperans fragrantia.

Tu convallis humilis,terra non arabilis,que fructum parturiit,

flos campi convalliumsingulare lilium,Christus ex te prodiit.

Tu celestis paradisus,liganusque non incisus,vaporans dulcedinem.

Tu candoris et decoristu dulcoris et odorishabens plenitudinem.

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Rejoice! In the virginal flower and special honoryou surpass the magnificent host of the angelsand the multitude of saints adorned with wor-thiness.

Rejoice, dear bride of God, for as the bright lightof day is given by the lamp of the sun, so youtruly make the world shine in the full light ofyour peace.

Rejoice, splendid vessel of virtue: the whole courtof heaven is at your command and venerates youin glory, you, kind and blessed, worthy motherof Jesus.

Rejoice, for you are joined to the Most High bythe conjunction of will and the embrace of love,to such an extent that you obtain from sweetestJesus whatever you, o Virgin, are asked.

Rejoice, mother of the poor, for the Fatherof graces will give those who worship youappropriate reward here and a seatin the blessed heaven up high in the heavens.

Lord Jesus, be merciful to me a sinner.

Rejoice, humble fortunate, glorified in yourbody, you earned to become the greatest,with such dignity that you sit closest tothe Holy Trinity.

Rejoice, pure virgin Mother, remaining certainand secure that these joys of yours will neither

GAUDE flore virginalihonoreque specialitranscendis splendiferum

angelorum principatumet sanctorum decoratumdignitate numerum.

Gaude sponsa cara Deinam ut lux clara dieisolis datur luminesic tu facis orbem veretue pacis resplenderelucis plenitudine.

Gaude splendens vas virtutumcuius sedes est ad nutumtota celi curia,te benignam, te felicem,Ihesu dignam genitricemveneratur in gloria.

Gaude nexu voluntatiset amplexu caritatisiuncta sis altissimout ad votum consequarisquidquid virgo postularisa Ihesu dulcissimo.

Gaude mater miserorumquia Pater primiorumdabit te colentibuscongruentem hic mercedemet felici poli sedemsursum in celestibus.

Domine Ihesu, propitius esto mihi peccatori.

Gaude humilis beatacorpore glorificatameruisti maximafore tante dignitatisut sis sancte Trinitatissessione proxima.

Gaude virgo mater puracerta manens et securaper hec tua gaudia6

end nor decrease, but will last and flourishthrough eternal ages.

You, holy mother of God, are exalted abovethe choirs of angels to the heavenly kingdoms:intercede for us!

Rejoice, for the resurrection of thy Son nowshines, whose death thou mourned.

Rejoice, as Christ ascends, and, in thy sight, iscarried into heaven by his own strength.

Rejoice, thou who riseth after him; to thee greathonor is due in the palace of heaven,

where may it be granted us, through thee, to en-joy the fruit of thy womb in eternal rejoicing.Amen.

The wisdom of the Son, and truth divine beside,God and man surprised was even at the morning

tide:His known disciples left Him […]

They our Lord to Pilate led at the hour of prime,And by witnesses full false accused much of crime,His hands tied they beat Him with fists in great

dispite,They upon his face do spit the heaven’s grateful

light.

Jesus Lord His spirit forth did send:Crying Eli and His soul to Father did commend:With a lance a soldier did pierce through

His tender side:The earth trembled and the sun His shining light

did hide.

non cessabunt nec decrescentsed durabunt et florescentper eterna secula.

Exaltata es, sancta Dei genitrix, super chorosangelorum ad celestia regna:intercede pro nobis.

GAUDE quia tui Natiquem dolebas mortem patifulget resurrectio.

Gaude Christo ascendenteet in celum te videntemotu fertur proprio.

Gaude que post ipsum scandiset est honor tibi grandisin celi palatio

ubi fructus ventris tuiper te detur nobis fruiin perhenni gaudio.Amen.

NATUS sapientia veritas divinaDeus homo captus est hora matutinaa suis discipulis.

Hora prima ductus est ad Pilatumfalsis testimoniis multum accusatumin collo percuciunt manibus ligatumvultum eius conspuunt, lumen celi gratum.

Ihesus Dominus expiravitHeli clamans animam Patri commendavitlatus eius lancea miles perforavitterra contremuit et sol obscuravit.

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AVE mondi dominaet celi reginaMater Dei integra

roxa sine spina.

Tua sit conceptionostra medicinaet tua nativitasvia matutina.

Tua presentationostra sit oblatioet annuntiatioet purificationostra sit purgatio.

Tua sit assumptionostra salutis via,tu nos tecum astruein vera sophia,

que regnas cum Filio,o clemens, o pia,fac nos tecum vivere,o dulcis Maria.

Ave mater gloriosavirga Jese spetiosaex regali stirpe natavirgo semper illibata

stella maris appellatagaude pia et decoranos exaudi sine moraet pro nobis semper ora.

Salve virgo virginumsalve lumen luminumave salus hominum.

Mater Christipeperistiregem regum hominum.

Gaude puraspes futurasperantium.

Mortis hora / dominum exorane damnemur in eternum.

Hail, mistress of the world and queen of heaven,Mother of God unspoilt, rose without thorn

May your conception be our medicineand your birth our path of dawn.

May your presentation to the Templebe the offering of our own; the annunciationof your motherhood and your purificationafterward be our cleansing;

your ascent to heaven, the path of our salvation.Uphold us with you in true wisdom.

Reigning with your son, compassionateand kind, let us live with you, sweet Mary.

Hail, glorious mother, splendid shoot of Jesse,born of royal stock, Virgin ever intact;

You who are called the star of the sea rejoice,you good one full of grace hear us nowwithout delay and ever pray for us.

Hail, virgin of virgins and light of lights.Hail, humankind’s salvation.

Mother of Christ, you bore the king of kingsof humankind.

Be glad, o pure, hope of the hopeful.

In the hour of death entreat the Lordthat we be not damned in eternity.8

Speciosa dux errantiumgloriosa vox letantiumin hac valle sis te laudantiumconsolatrix apud Patrem et Filium.

Anima mea liquefacta est ut dilectus meuslocutus est; quesivi illum et non inveni, vocavi etnon respondit mihi. Invenerunt me custodescivitatis et percusserunt me et vulneraverunt me;tulerunt pallium meum custodes murorum.Filie Hierusalem, nuntiate dilecto meo quiaamore langueo.

Ave regina celorumave domina angelorumsalve radix sanctaex qua mundo lux est orta.

Salve gloriosasuper omnes speciosavale valde decoraet pro nobis semper Christum exora.

O salutaris hostiaque celi pandis hostiumbella premunt hostilia:da robur, fer auxilium.

Quem terra pontus etheracolunt adorant predicanttrinam regentem machinamclaustrum marie baiulat(secreta que non noverat).

Cui luna sol et omniadeserviunt per temporaperfusa celi gratiagestant puelle viscera.

Beata mater munerecuius supernus Artifexmundum pugillo continensventris sub arca clausus est.

Beata celi nuntiofecunda Sancto Spiritudesideratus gentibuscuius per alvum fusus est.

Beautiful leader of the lost, glorious voiceof the joyous, with the Father and the Sonbe the solace of those who praise youin this vale of tears.

My soul failed when my beloved spake: I soughthim but I could not find him; I called him buthe gave me no answer. The watchmen that wentabout the city found me, they smote me, theywounded me; the keepers of the walls took awaymy veil from me. O daughters of Jerusalem, tellmy beloved that I am sick with love.

Hail, queen of heaven, hail, mistress of angels,holy root from whom the light for the world isborn.

Hail, glorious one, more than all magnificent,greetings, greatly graceful one, entreat Christfor us always.

O salvation’s Host who opens heaven’s gate,hostile wars oppress us: lend strength, grantassistance.

The God whom earth, and sea, and skyadore, and laud, and magnify,who o’er their threefold fabric reigns,the Virgin’s spotless womb contains.

The God whose will by moon, and sun,and all things in due course is done,is borne upon a Maiden’s breast,by fullest heavenly grace possessed.

How blest that Mother, in whose shrinethe great Artificer Divine,whose hand contains the earth and sky,vouchsafed, as in His ark, to lie.

Blest, in the message Gabriel brought;blest, by the work the Spirit wrought;from whom the great Desire of earthtook human flesh and human birth. 9

Renowned virgin, holiest Mary,[you housed] your maker [and] redeemerof the ages.

Lady glorious, excelling the stars,he who created you with providencewas suckled at your holy breast.

[What Eve in sorrow took,] You returned in agrowing shoot; and that the afflicted mortals couldenter heaven, you were made the heaven’s window.

You door of the highest king and gate of theshining light. Redeemed people, applaudethe life given by a virgin.

The house of a modest breast was suddenlymade the temple of God. Through the word,she conceived the Son, Jesus Christ.

The gate of Christ becomes accessible, sustainedby grace: the king passes and it remains closedas it had been throughout the ages.

The offspring of supernal Light, he proceededthrough the virgin’s hall; the spouse, savior,and creator, his church’s giant.

His mother’s honour and joy, great hopeof the faithful; in death’s dark cuphe dissolved our crimes.

Mary, mother of grace, mother of mercy,protect us from the enemy and raise us upin the hour of death.

Glory to you, o Lord, born from the Virgin, withthe Father and the Holy Ghost for ever-eternalages. Amen.

English translations adapted from Nicholas Robertson,Nolan Gasser, John Hetland, William Mahrt, RuskinWatts, J. M. Neale, and from The Primer, or Office ofthe Blessed Virgin Marie, in Latin and English (Ant-werp: Arnold Conings, 1599).

O virginum preclaraMaria sanctissimatuum factoremredemptorem seculi.

O gloriosa dominaexcelsa supra sideraqui te creavit providelactasti sacro ubere.

Tu redis almo germineintrent ut astra flebilesceli fenestra facta es.

Tu regis alti ianuaet porta lucis fulgida;vitam datam per virginemgentes redempte plaudite.

Domus pudici pectoristemplum repente fidei:verbo concepit filiumJesum Christum.

Fit porta Christi perviarefulta plena gratiatransitque rex et permanetclausa ut fuit per secula.

Genus superni luminisprocessit aula virginis,sponsus redemptor conditorsue gigas ecclesie.

Honor matris et gaudiumimmensa spes credentiumper atra mortis pocularesolvit nostra crimina.

Maria mater gratiemater misericordietu nos ab hoste protegeet hora mortis suscipe.

Gloria tibi Dominequi natus es de virginecum Patre, Sancto Spirituin sempiterna secula. Amen.

Cover design: www.dagmarpuzberg.de

We are grateful to the Maja Sacher Stiftungand the Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft Baselfor their support.