Abstract

In the history of Gregorian melody, the interweaving between oral tradition and written transmission of the repertory is reflected in the elaboration of new stylistic and formal canons. In a first series of reflections, some critical points such as the melodic significance and the execution of the "tristropha", the cultural context as determining factor in the elaboration of new repertoires or the passage from one stratum to another of the liturgical musical culture are recalled. In order to clarify some aspects of the problem, various situations tied to the production of the prolix responses sung in the nocturnal liturgy and, in some particular conditions, during vespers, are enucleated. Certain psalmodic formulas are present that form part of what became canonic rule, but which indeed appear to be a secondary elaboration. Various examples of variants of the same psalmodic formulas and a selection of free melodies are moreover drawn from Italic codes.