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Tract
(Lat. tractus: drawn out). A chant replacing the alleluia of the Mass
on a limited number of occasions.
1. Definition.
The tract is distinguished from the gradual and alleluia in its manner
of performance, being sung neither responsorially nor antiphonally
but directly (in directum), that is, its verses, generally derived in order
from a psalm, were sung one after the other by a soloist without
intervening choral responses. AMALARIUS OF METZ (d c850) cites
this as the single characteristic that separates the tract from the
gradual: hoc differtur inter reponsorium, cui corus respondet, et
tractum, cui nemo (this is the difference between the responsory, to
which the chorus responds, and the tract, to which no-one
responds, Liber officialis, iii.12). A further distinguishing feature is its
great length; two tracts in particular, Qui habitat for Quadragesima
Sunday and Deus Deus meus for Palm Sunday are by far the longest
chants of the entire Mass Proper. They are among the five chants the
singing of which Bishop Angilram of Metz (76891) specified as
worthy of extra payment. The meaning of the word tract has given
rise to considerable discussion over the centuries, but the most
obvious conjecture is surely the most likely: the Latin
noun tractus derives from the past participle of the verb trahere, to
pull, draw or extend; tractus, then, meaning drawn out or
extended appears to be no more than a reference to the chant's
length.
2. Repertory.
As for melodic formulae, all 11 G-8 tracts conclude with the same G
phrase, but five different G phrases are used to begin the chants. At
least nine other G phrases are employed throughout the verses, but
one of them is used six times to open verses, thus contributing to an
impression of melodic homogeneity. The fact that there are only four
different F phrases, one of which is used 12 times, strengthens this
impression. The Roman and Gregorian versions generally cadence
at the same points in the text and on the same pitches, but on first
examination it would seem that the Gregorian melodic formulae are
maintained with more regularity than the Roman. An obvious
instance of this is the G phrase used to open five of the Gregorian
tracts. If, for example, the Gregorian Laudate Dominum and Jubilate
Dominum are compared with their Roman counterparts (ex.4), the
two Gregorian phrases appear to be melodically identical while the
Roman ones vary noticeably from each other. However, if differences
of syllabification are taken into account, it will be seen that the
melodic formulae of Roman G-8 tracts are used with remarkable
regularity (Nowacki, 1986). Thus certain portions of a melodic
formula are omitted to accommodate a lesser number of syllables in
the text and others are added to match extra syllables. The Frankish
cantors, however, appear to have forced the text into conformity with
the melodic formula. (The conclusions reached above in connection
with ex.2 suggest that Nowacki's findings for the G-8 tracts may also
apply to the D-2 chants.)
Ex.4 opening phrases
4. Historical considerations.
Perhaps the most intriguing question involves the four Easter Vigil
canticles, Cantemus Domino (Exodus xv.12), Vinea
facta (Isaiah v.12), Attende caelum (Deuteronomy xxxii.14)
and Sicut cervus (Psalm xli.24). The first three are in fact
canticles, figuring in each case as a final verse of three Old
Testament readings, while the fourth consists of three verses of
Psalm xli sung in directum during the procession to the baptismal
font. The texts of all four appear in the early unnotated Frankish
graduals, and the mode 8 tract melody appears with all four in the
earliest notated Gregorian graduals. However, in the Roman
graduals the four are not set in the Roman version of the G mode
melody, as might be expected, but in the Gregorian version. Actually,
the earliest Roman appearance of the chants is not in the Roman
graduals but in a mid-11th-century lectionary (see Boe, 1995), which
also gives the Gregorian melodic version. This, together with the fact
that neither the earliest Roman lectionaries or ordines romani make
reference to the four chants, suggests that it was the Franks who
singled out these four texts and treated them as discrete solo chants,
applying to them the mode 8 melody of the Easter Vigil tract Laudate
Dominum. The putative status of the four in 8th-century Rome calls
for somewhat more venture some speculation: perhaps the three
canticles were simply recited by the lector as conclusion to their
respective readings, and perhaps Sicut cervus (chanted in its
entirety) was a psalm associated for so long a time with the
baptismal rite of the Easter Vigil that there was no need to make
mention of it in the earliest documents. Augustine had already
cited Sicut cervus in connection with baptism (In psalmo xli, 1).
Bibliography
James W. McKinnon