Viderunt omnes is a plainchant that was used often on Christmas Day. The text is from parts of Psalm 98 , the theme of which is God's salvation being made known to all of the Earth.
This piece was performed by the Hillard ensemble and it gave a detailed description of the structure of this hymn. I listened to it several times, trying to follow along and understand the description.
This is the English translation:
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing joyfully to God, all the earth.
The Lord hath made known his salvation: he hath revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles. Alleluia.
I enjoyed this piece very much. It had joyful medieval sound and it reminded me of Christmas. This piece was based on an ancient gradual, also called Viderunt omnes.
From the description under the recording "The cantus firmus, or Tenor, "holds" the original chant, while the other parts develop complex melismas on the vowels." This was very apparent while listening to it. I was also able to find some sheet music of this exact piece where it had been transcribed into modern musical notation and the vowels were carried out for an average of 20 measures with the bottom voice being held out the entire time and the top voice moving all around very rhythmicly. It created a very interesting effect, like water flowing or birds singing.
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