Benedicamus Domino tropes in the Birgittine Order: embellishing everyday liturgy

Abstract

A remarkable feature of the Birgittine monastic Order is its daily use of tropes for the embellishment of an exclusively monophonic liturgy. Ferial tropes were sung in both Mass and Office and their purpose was to highlight the Marian devotion that was central to the Order’s spirituality. In the Birgittine sisters’ ferial Office liturgy, the so-called Cantus sororum, the Benedicamus Domino was a notable location for the provision of tropes, which were performed daily at Lauds and Vespers. These Benedicamus tropes are a complex mix of unica, as well as musical and textual patchworks of pre-existing and new and/or remodelled musical and textual material. This article explains the place and importance of Benedicamus Domino tropes in Birgittine liturgy and spirituality, illustrated by new transcriptions of the Benedicamus tropes that were consistently assigned to embellish each particular day of the week.