Last Rites and Matins of the Dead

The following is a guest post by Ray White, Senior Music Specialist, Music Division.

Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve) marks the beginning of a “triduum” (a Latin term for a three-day period) in which the Western Christian church has traditionally contemplated persons who have died. All Hallows’ Day (or more commonly, All Saints’ Day), with origins dating back to the eighth century and usually observed on November 1, commemorates all Christian saints and martyrs. All Souls’ Day, November 2, is wider in scope, commemorating all Christians who have died. Some Christian practices now combine All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day into a single observance (usually called All Saints’ Day, and sometimes held on the first Sunday in November). The “Día de los Muertos” (Day of the Dead), a two-day observance on November 1 and 2, has its roots in this “triduum;” it was largely developed in Mexico but has come to be commemorated elsewhere as well.

In recognition of this season, the Music Division wishes to highlight an extraordinary recent acquisition—a manuscript volume now termed “Last Rites and Matins of the Dead.” This small volume measures just over eight inches tall and slightly less than six inches wide and was created for the use of itinerant Dominican priests (hence, its small size) as they visited the mortally ill and as they prayed over the deceased. It contains the liturgy, music, readings, and instructions for priests, on 53 handwritten pages (22 of them with the appropriate chants notated on four-line staves). It shows evidence of long and steady use.

One of the most remarkable features of this volume is its sheer age. Although it is undated, the style of the manuscript notation indicates that it was produced in Southern France probably between the years 1375 and 1425, thus making it between 600 and 650 years old. It provides an excellent addition to the Music Division’s already-rich holdings of medieval chant manuscript sources but which do not include any example comparable to this one. Furthermore, France is the least-represented country of origin among the Music Division’s collection of books and fragments of liturgical chants, so this volume expands the opportunities to study the geographical differences in notation, format, and illuminations.

The first section of the manuscript relates to the Visitation of the Sick, during which the priest would bless the house with holy water, confess the individual, administer communion, and anoint the individual with holy oil. This part of the manuscript follows with the “commendation anime” (the commendation of the soul for its transition to the afterlife) which includes a lengthy litany and several prayers and blessings.

The second and longer section of the manuscript provides the liturgy performed on the eve of a funeral, consisting of antiphons, versicles and responses, nine readings from the biblical Book of Job, responsories, and alternative prayers for men, women, and bishops. In addition, there are prayers for the Absolution of the Dead, to be recited over the coffin after the funeral mass and before the entombment. The manuscript concludes with the opening of “In Paradisum” (In Paradise), which would be sung during the procession to the burial site.

And to return to the season of Halloween (or Allhallowtide), this manuscript is a significant addition to the Music Division’s resources for projects relating to music composed on the topic of death. The Music Division already holds scores for numerous Requiem mass settings as well as for many individual works relating to death, such as Franz Liszt’s “Totentanz” (or Dance of the Dead, for piano and orchestra, 1849/1859), Sergei Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem “Isle of the Dead” (1909), Frederic Chopin’s “Funeral March” (the third movement of his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat major, composed in 1837) and hundreds of shorter works from every period of music history. This one volume broadens the scope of the Music Division’s holdings on this topic back to the Middle Ages and represents some of the earliest examples of this area of music.

This manuscript has been cataloged with the call number BX2035.6 .F85 1375 Music Case, and it may be examined in the Performing Arts Reading Room of the Library of Congress.