Zach Rose

History of Western Music

11/27/16
Victimae Paschali Laudes

Victimae paschali laudes is a sequence that is traditionally performed during the week of
Easter. A sequence is a piece of music performed on important religious occasions that contains
paired lines of rhyming poetry.1 Victimae was originally written as a monophonic plainchant and
is generally attributed to Wipo of Burgundy due to a single note in the Fragmenta Sequentiarum
or Einsiedeln manuscript from the 11th century, though this is easily disputable. 2 Wipo of
Burgundy was a priest, poet, and chronicler around the turn of the 11th century and served under
German Emperor Conrad II as chaplain. 3 Victimae paschali laudes is particularly interesting
because it was specifically influential in the creation of the liturgical drama and is one of only
four sequences that was allowed to remain in use after the Council of Trent in 1545. 4,5 There is an
a verse that was removed by the Council of Trent which refers to the deceipt of the jewry and

1 New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, vol 13 (Detroit: Gale 2003), Web, s.v. Sequence,
accessed Nov 30, 2016, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
tabID=T003&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R1&searchType=BasicSearchForm&curr
entPosition=1&userGroupName=lacc_main&inPS=true&sort=RELEVANCE&contentSegment=&
prodId=GVRL&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3407710250&&docId=GALE|
CX3407710250&docType=GALE.

2 Victimae paschali laudes, manuscript, c 11th century, p. 17, Codex 366(472), Fragmenta
Sequentiarum, Stiftsbibliothek, Einsiedeln, http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/sbe/0366.

3 Richard L. Crocker, Oxford Companion to Music, Oxford Music Online, Web, s.v. Wipo,
accessed Nov 28, 2016,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/30429?
q=wipo&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit.

4 M. I. J. Rousseau, New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd edition (Detroit: Gale 2003), Web, s.v.
Victimae Paschali Laudes, accessed Nov. 29, 2016, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
tabID=T003&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R3&searchType=BasicSearchForm&curr
entPosition=10&userGroupName=lacc_main&inPS=true&sort=RELEVANCE&contentSegment=
&prodId=GVRL&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3407711535&&docId=GALE|
CX3407711535&docType=GALE#.

5 Oxford Music Online, Oxford Companion to Music, Web, s.v. Victimae paschali laudes,
accessed Nov 30, 2016, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e7132?
q=Victimae+paschali+laudes&search=quick&pos=2&_start=1#firsthit.
 Zach Rose
History of Western Music
11/27/16
was removed due to its antisemitism. This did break the original paired rhyme scheme of the
sequence. Thanks to its popularity, the sequence has been set by many composers throughout
history including William Byrd, Heinrich Isaac, Josquin des Prez, and Philippe Verdelot. 6
The text of Victimae paschali laudes praises Jesus Christ and then depicts a dialogue with Mary
Magdalene in which she describes the events of the resurrection on Easter morning. 7 This piece
was particularly important to Marian devotion during Eastertide because the text focuses on
Marys depiction of the resurrection. The piece is also traditionally performed at a very important
time in the Easter mass, directly in between the Gloria and the Kyrie which puts a lot of focus
on its performance. It is also interesting to note that the text of the sequence does not distinguish
whether the Mary that is referenced is the Virgin Mary or Mary Magdalene. The text of the bible
would indicate that it is Mary Magdalene, but it was certainly interpreted as the Virgin Mary,
especially in the 15th century when the Marian cult was very popular.8
The text of Victimae is particularly relevant to my video because it too depicts a sort of
resurrection, the main character recovers from near death after being attacked with a bazooka.
However, rather than turning the other cheek in a Christ-like manner, my main character seeks
revenge. I used two versions of the song, both from Devices & Desires by New York Polyphony,
one a recording of the original plainchant and the other a remix by David Minnick. The
plainchant is a very traditional performance of plainchant, it is monophonic with mostly scalar,
stepwise motion and stays largely in the key in which it was written. An interesting fact about the
remix is that all of the sounds are manipulated samples of the New York Polyphony vocals,
including the drum beats.9 This is relevant to my video because it is a sequel to Walker Kellys
final project from 2014 and I only used the people originally involved in its production.

6 Victimae paschali laudes, Choral Wiki, Web, accessed Nov. 29, 2016,
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Victimae_paschali_laudes. a collection of scores and
basic information about the piece

7 Chris White, Preparing a Performance of Victorias Victimae paschal laudes, The Choral
Journal 35, No. 9 (1995): 10, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23551049.

8 David J Rothenberg, The Flower of Paradise: Marian Devotion and Secular Song in Medieval
and Renaissance Music, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 190-192.

9 Gregorian Chant Remixed, Devices & Desires, New York Polyphony, Web, accessed Nov.
28, 2016, http://www.newyorkpolyphony.com/gregorian-chant-remixed-2/. The website
describing the album, since it is a digital release there were no liner notes to reference
 Zach Rose
History of Western Music
11/27/16
Bibliography

New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, vol 13. Detroit: Gale 2003. Web, s.v. Sequence.
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
tabID=T003&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R1&searchType=BasicSearchForm&curr
entPosition=1&userGroupName=lacc_main&inPS=true&sort=RELEVANCE&contentSegment=&
prodId=GVRL&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3407710250&&docId=GALE|
CX3407710250&docType=GALE.

Victimae paschali laudes. Manuscript, c 11th century. Codex 366(472), Fragmenta

Sequentiarum. Stiftsbibliothek, Einsiedeln. http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/sbe/0366.

Crocker, Richard L. Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford Music Online. Web, s.v. Wipo.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/30429?
q=wipo&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit.

Rousseau, M. I. J. New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Detroit: Gale 2003. Web, s.v.
Victimae Paschali Laudes. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?
tabID=T003&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R3&searchType=BasicSearchForm&curr
entPosition=10&userGroupName=lacc_main&inPS=true&sort=RELEVANCE&contentSegment=
&prodId=GVRL&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3407711535&&docId=GALE|
CX3407711535&docType=GALE#.

Oxford Music Online. Oxford Companion to Music. Web, s.v. Victimae paschali laudes.
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e7132?
q=Victimae+paschali+laudes&search=quick&pos=2&_start=1#firsthit.

Victimae paschali laudes. Choral Wiki. Web.

http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Victimae_paschali_laudes.

White, Chris. Preparing a Performance of Victorias Victimae paschal laudes. The Choral
Journal 35, No. 9 (1995): 9-15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23551049.

Rothenberg, David J. The Flower of Paradise: Marian Devotion and Secular Song in Medieval
and Renaissance Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Gregorian Chant Remixed. Devices & Desires. New York Polyphony. Web.
http://www.newyorkpolyphony.com/gregorian-chant-remixed-2/.