O Antiphon, My Antiphon

1st three O Antiphons

Advent begins, if you will recall, with an invitation to meditation in preparation for the coming of Christ. This invitation is reiterated in the musical form of the Matin Responsory.  Advent ends with a period of reflection and a sense of calm, for all that needed to be done in preparation has been finished. Liturgically, the last eight days of Advent invoke the coming of the Messiah with the Great O Antiphons. As with responsories, antiphons offer an enrichment of music to the liturgy, not only in the use of the language, but the style of the music itself.

An antiphon is a piece of liturgical music (usually a psalm or anthem) sung by alternating voices. It is responsorial in style, in that one voice “responds” to the other. But the difference between a true responsory and an antiphon is that the responsory alternates the verses sung by a cantor and the refrain sung by the choir or congregation.  An antiphon can take on a number of different structures using two opposing vocal parts. For instance, one voice (say, a cantor) may begin a verse phrase and the other voice completes the phrase antiphonally.  More commonly, a cantor will chant or sing one verse and the choir or congregation will sing the next. Another option that became popular during the Renaissance in Italy is for two opposing choirs to alternate phrases within the verses. I’ll write more about this a little further on when I examine the antiphonal works of composer Giovanni Gabrieli.

Today, the most commonly recognized definition of antiphon is the common, or choral, phrase spoken or sung at the beginning and/or end of a psalm or prayer.  The Gloria Patri attachment is a prime example: the psalm is completed with “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.” It is antiphonal in that the psalm or prayer is said or recited by a lector and the congregation responds with the antiphon.  In our Episcopalian worship, we use the antiphon in a number of places—the sursum corda (“Lift up your hearts.” “We left them up unto the Lord.” Etc.); the beginning and end of the Gospel reading are antiphonal; and the dismissal (“Go forth…” “Thanks be to God.”).

The liturgical significance of the antiphon is that they can be customized for the season. Probably the best known of such antiphons are the Marian Antiphons (sung on days dedicated to the glory of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and the Great O Antiphons of Advent. The former include chants that are more familiar to us as anthems, like Salve Regina, Ave Maria, and Regina Coeli.  But the Advent antiphons are best recognized in the adaptation of the hymn Veni, veni Emmanuel. Each stanza is one of the seven antiphons and are used at the beginning and end of the Magnificat during daily offices. These antiphons are over a thousand years old and are still used in regular service during the final week of Advent.   

symbols of the Great O Antiphons

The antiphons each invoke an epithet for Jesus and the first initials, working from the day closest to Christmas to the furthest back, create an acrostic that spells ero cras meaning “I will be [there] tomorrow.”

E=Emmanuel; used on December 23

R=Rex Gentium (King of all nations); used on December 22

O=Oriens (Radiant Dawn); used on December 21

C=Clavis David (Key of David); used onDecember 20

R=Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse); used on December 19

A=Adonai (Lord of Israel); used on December 18

S=Sapientia (Wisdom); used on December 17

You can hear the Gregorian chant for each one of these antiphons here. As the use of antiphonal music developed, composers created new music using the various antiphonal styles for the Advent Antiphons.  Healy Willan and Arvo Pärt (who wrote his in German) are two contemporary composers who set the antiphons to new music.

Giovanni Gabrieli

The antiphonal structure is musically captivating for both the listener and the performer. To include it in worship involves all participants in the glory of creation as prayer.  Thus, it has become a curiosity for composers who want to find new and creative ways of expressing the antiphon.  As I mentioned earlier in this article, Giovanni Gabrieli was one such composer.  A composer and organist from the Venetian School during the Renaissance, Gabrieli was one of the most influential composers of his time. In 1585, Gabrieli became the principal organist at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice and dedicated much of composition to sacred music.  He experimented with the antiphonal structures and composed his version of O Magnum Mysterium which uses two choruses in antiphon. As an experiment in sound, this work describes antiphon as more responsory, or two voices in opposing corners than antiphonal as defined by a precedent or antecedent phrase to a psalm.  As you listen to the piece on the above link, you’ll hear three distinct parts (Gabrieli was greatly influenced by questions of the Trinity). Each segment is also divided into three segments and uses the two choruses in a responsorial manner where the higher voiced choir leads the phrase. The second choir of lower tessitura replies, and in the third rendition he uses both choirs in harmonic polyphony.

For this final week of Advent, the use and structure of antiphon evokes a contemplative mood for the final period of “hurry up and wait” in anticipation of the coming Lord. As we worship together, consider the verses of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and each name attributed to the greatness of our God. Consider the power of the music as an invocation.  And wait.