M043 Ave regina caelorum mater : Ave corpus domini

Standardised text incipit: 
Ave regina caelorum mater : Ave corpus domini
Standardised composer: 
Weerbeke, Gaspar van
Attribution notes: 
"Gaspar" (I-Mfd 1, index; as part of C13a)
In cycle(s): 
C13a Quam pulchra es (8 motets)
C13b Quam pulchra es (3 motets)
Reference source: 
I-Mfd 1, ff. 138v-139r
Number of voices: 
4
Mensuration: 

Length: 
84
Signature: 
b
Clefs: 
g2c2c3c4
Final: 
G / D
Music incipit: 
...gabce
.defgfdc
..gabcde
defgabgc
Pre-existing melodies (Cantus prius facti): 

The passage "Ave corpus domini ... mundo dixit vale" possibly quotes pre-existing material, but it can not be linked to any Cantus prius factus with a corresponding text.

Modern editions: 
AMMM 11, 58-63; CMM 106.3; MCE 6.5
GCO Catalogue: 
[I.102]
[II.14]
Literature: 
CROLL 1954
, 194
GASSER 2001
, 285-286; 289-290
DIERGARTEN 2017
, 78-79
Discography: 
Further notes: 

Elevation motet (2a pars).

“Verte folium” (I-Mfd 1) or “verte folium” and “custodes” (I-Mfd 2) to next motet (O Maria clausus hortus); consequently GASSER 2001, 285-286 considers them as one long motet consisting of three partes.

See also the Gaspar van Weerbeke Project.

Text details

Tags: 
Verse
Composite text
To/about Jesus
To/about Mary
About the Blessed Sacrament
Standardised text incipit: 
Ave regina caelorum / Mater
Liturgical/devotional association: 
Marian feasts and observances
Corpus Christi
Full text: 

Ave regina caelorum
Mater regis angelorum.

O Maria flos virginum
Velut rosa vel lilium,
Funde preces ad filium
Pro salute fidelium.

Ave corpus domini
Munus et finale,
Corpus iunctum homini
In memoriale
Cum finalis termini
Mundo dixit: “Vale”.

 

English translation: 

Hail, heaven's queen, mother of the king of angels.

O Mary flower of virgins, like a rose or lily, lay our prayer before your son, for the welfare of the faithful people.

Hail, body of the Lord and final gift, body tied to a man in remembrance of the final end when he said to the world: “Farewell”.

 

Correspondences in standard ref works: 

Ave regina ... fidelium = Rhymed antiphon for the BVM, RH 1, No. 2072, p. 122 and Cantus ID 200464 (see also the Communio, Cantus ID 503003); MONE 2, p. 202 presents it as companion responsory to the Marian Compline antiphon Ave regina caelorum
vel] velut
filium] dominum 

Ave corpus ... Vale = Hymn for the Eucharist Ave, vivens hostia, AH 31, No. 105, pp. 111-114, st. 4
Munus et] Et munus
homini] numini / Nobile iocale / Quod reliquit homini
finalis termini] finali termino

Related texts in polyphonic sources: 

I-Mfd 3, ff. 167v-168r, Ave regina caelorum mater : Funde preces (Anon.) (= M084, T084)

Further notes: 

The Marian antiphon that constitutes the first part of this text is inscribed in some fifteenth-century Flemish paintings (see J. M. Upton, Petrus Christus: His Place in Fifteenth-Century Flemish Painting, 1990).

The second part of the text was used as a devotional Elevation prayer, as shown in a late-sixteenth-century Jesuit handwritten prayerbook (see MELION 2016, 200).

Gasser’s claim that this text is included in the so-called Hours of Bona Sforza (GB-Lbl Add. MS 34294) appears to be unfounded (GASSER 2001, 289).

T043 Ave regina caelorum mater

Music incipit (MEI): 
File M043AveReginaCaelorumMater.xml