Rhythmical office
Encyclopedia
In the liturgy
of the Roman Catholic Church
, rhythmical office is a section of or a whole religious service, in which not only the hymn
s are regulated by a certain rhythm
, but where, with the exception of the psalms
and lesson
s, practically all the other parts show metre
, rhythm, or rhyme
.
The usual examples are liturgical horary prayer, the canonical hours
of the priest, or an office of the Breviary
. The rhythmical parts will be, for instance: the antiphon
s to each psalm; to the Magnificat
, Invitatorium, and Benedictus
; likewise the responses
and versicle
s to the prayers, and after each of the nine lessons; quite often also the benedictions before the lessons; and the antiphons to the minor Horœ (Prime
, Terce
, Sext
, and None
).
Gradually this name was transferred to offices in which no word was said about a "history", and thus we find the expression "Historia ss. Trinitatis". The structure of the ordinary office of the Breviary in which antiphons, psalms, hymns, lessons, and responses followed one another in fixed order, was the natural form for the rhythmical office. It was not a question of inventing something new, as with the hymns, sequences, or other kinds of poetry, but of creating a text in poetic form in the place of a text in prose form, where the scheme existed, definitely arranged in all its parts. A development that could eventually be a basis for division of the rhythmical offices into distinct classes is limited to a narrow field, namely the external form of the parts of the office as they appear in poetic garb. Here we find in historical order the following characters:
Consequently one may distinguish three classes of rhythmical offices:
The second class represents a state of transition, wherefore the groups may be called those of the first epoch, the groups of the transition period, and those of the third epoch, in the same way as with the sequences, although with the latter the characteristic difference is much more pronounced. If one desires a general name for all three groups, the expression "Rhymed Office", as suggested by "Historia rimata"" would be quite appropriate for the pars major et potior, which includes the best and most artistic offices; this designation: "gereimtes Officium" (Reimofficium) has been adopted in Germany through the "Analecta Hymnica". Reslly, though, the first and oldest offices are without rhyme, and cannot very well be called rhymed offices.
In the Middle Ages the word "rhythmical" was used as the general term for any kind of poetry to be distinguished from prose, no matter whether there was regular rhythm in those poems or not. And for that reason it is practical to comprise in the name "rhythmical offices" all those other than pure prose, a designation that corresponds to the Historia rhytmata.
Apart from the predilection of the Middle Ages for the poetic form, the Vitœ metricœ of the saints were the point of departure and motive for the rhythmical offices. Those Vitœ were frequently composed in hexameters or distichs. From them various couples of hexameters or a distich were taken to be used as antiphon or response respectively. In case the hexameters of the Vitœ metricœ did not prove suitable enough, the lacking parts of the office were supplemented by simple prose or by means of verses in rhymed prose, i. e., by text lines of different length in which there was very little of rhythm, but simply assonance. Such offices are often a motley mixture of hexameters, rhythmical stanzas, stanzas in pure prose, and again in rhymed prose.
about the end of the ninth century:
Antiphona I:
Antiphona II:
A mixing of hexameters, of rhythmical stanzas, and of stanzas formed by unequal lines in rhymed prose is shown in the old Office of Rictrudis, composed by Hucbald about 907 (Anal. Hymn., XIII, no. 87). By the side of regular hexameters, as in the Invitatorium:
we find rhythmical stanzas, like the first antiphon to Lauds
:
or stanzas in very free rhythm, as e. g., the second response to the first nocturn:
From the metrical offices, from the pure as well as from those mixed with rhymed prose, the transition was soon made to such as consisted of rhymed prose merely. An example of this kind is in the Offices of Ulrich, composed by Abbot Berno of Reichenau
(d. 1048); the antiphon to the Magnificat of the first Vespers begins thus:
Much more perfectly developed on the other hand, is the rhythm in the Office, which Leo IX composed in honour of Gregory the Great (Anal. Hymn., V, no. 64). This office, the work of a pope, appeared in the eleventh century in the Roman breviaries, and soon enjoyed widespread circulation; all its verses are iambic dimeters, but the rhythm does not as yet coincide with the natural accent of the word, and many a verse has a syllable in excess or a syllable wanting. For example, the first antiphon of the first nocturn:
This transitional author does not make use of pure rhyme, only of assonance
, the precursor of rhyme.
A prominent example is the Office of the Trinity by Archbishop Pecham of Canterbury.
The first Vespers begins with the antiphons:
Compare with the preceding the antiphons to the first nocturn, which have quite a different structure; the third of them is:
Again, the first response to the third nocturn:
upon which follows as second response the picture of the Trinity in the following form:
, Landévennec Abbey
or Saint-Amand Abbey
, can claim priority in composing a rhythmical office. There is no doubt however from Saint-Amand and the monasteries in Hainault, Flanders, and Brabant, came the real starting-point of this style of poetry, as long ago as the ninth century. A pioneer in music, the Monk Hucbald of Saint-Amand, composed at least two, probably four, rhythmical offices; and the larger number of the older offices were used liturgically in those monasteries and cities with a connexion with Saint-Amand. From there this new branch of hymnody very soon found its way to France, and was developed in the tenth and eleventh, and particularly in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Poets involved are:
Julian von Speyer was director of the orchestra at the Frankish royal court, afterwards Franciscan
friar and choir master in the Paris convent, where about 1240 he composed words and music for the two well-known offices in honour of Francis of Assisi
and of Anthony of Padua
(Anal. Hymn., V, nos. 61 and 42). These two productions served as a prototype for a good number of successive offices in honour of saints of the Franciscan Order as well as of others. In Germany the rhymed offices were just as popular as in France. As early as in the ninth century an office, in honour of St. Chrysantus and Daria, had its origin probably in Prüm, perhaps through Friar Wandalbert (Anal. Hymn,, XXV, no. 73); perhaps not much later through Abbot Gurdestin of Landévennec a similar poem in honour of St. Winwalœus (Anal. Hymn., XVIII, no. 100). As hailing from Germany two other composers of rhythmical offices in the earlier period have become known: Abbot Berno of Reichenau (died 1048) and Abbot Udalschalc of Maischach at Augsburg (died 1150).
The other German poets whose names can be given belong to a period as late as the fifteenth century, as e. g. Provost Lippold of Steinberg and Bishop Johann Hofmann of Meissen. England took an early part in this style of poetry, but most of the offices that originated there have been lost. Archbishop Pecham's office of the Trinity has been discussed above. Next to him are worthy of mention Cardinal Adam Easton
(died 1397) and the Carmelite John Horneby of Lincoln, who about 1370 composed a rhymed office in honour of the Holy Name of Jesus
, and of the Visitation of Our Lady.
Italy seems to have a relatively small representation; Rome itself, i. e. the Roman Breviary, as we know, did not favour innovations, and consequently was reluctant to adopt rhythmical offices. Archbishop Alfons of Salerno (1058–85) is presumably the oldest Italian poet of this kind. Besides him there are Abbot Reinaldus de Colle di Mezzo (twelfth century), and the General of the Dominicans, Raymundus de Vineis from Capua (fourteenth century). In Sicily and in Spain the rhymed offices were popular and quite numerous, but with the exception of the Franciscan Fra Gil de Zamora, who about the middle of the fifteenth century composed an office in honour of the Blessed Virgin (Anal. Hymn., XVII, no. 8) it has been impossible to cite by name from those two countries any other poet who took part in composing rhythmical offices.
Towards the close of the thirteenth century, Scandinavia also comes to the fore with rhymed offices, with Bishop Brynolphus of Skara (1278–1317), Archbishop Birgerus Gregorii of Upsala (died 1383), Bishop Nicolaus of Linköping (1374–91), and Johannes Benechini of Oeland (about 1440).
The number of offices where the composer's name is known is insignificantly small. No less than seven hundred anonymous rhythmical offices were brought to light through the "Analecta Hymnica". Artistically they vary widely.
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, rhythmical office is a section of or a whole religious service, in which not only the hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s are regulated by a certain rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
, but where, with the exception of the psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
and lesson
Lesson
A lesson is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students being taught by a teacher or instructor...
s, practically all the other parts show metre
Meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...
, rhythm, or rhyme
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
.
The usual examples are liturgical horary prayer, the canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
of the priest, or an office of the Breviary
Breviary
A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...
. The rhythmical parts will be, for instance: the antiphon
Antiphon
An antiphon in Christian music and ritual, is a "responsory" by a choir or congregation, usually in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or other text in a religious service or musical work....
s to each psalm; to the Magnificat
Magnificat
The Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
, Invitatorium, and Benedictus
Benedictus
-Music:* Benedictus , the canticle sung at Lauds, also called the Canticle of Zachary.* The second part of the Sanctus, part of the eucharistic prayer* Benedictus , a song by Simon and Garfunkel...
; likewise the responses
Response (liturgy)
A response is the second half of one of a set of preces, the said or sung answer by the congregation or choir to a versicle said or sung by an officiant or cantor...
and versicle
Versicle
A versicle is the first half of one of a set of preces, said or sung by an officiant or cantor and answered with a said or sung response by the congregation or choir...
s to the prayers, and after each of the nine lessons; quite often also the benedictions before the lessons; and the antiphons to the minor Horœ (Prime
Prime (liturgy)
Prime, or the First Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the traditional Divine Office , said at the first hour of daylight , between the morning Hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. Hour of Terce. It is part of the Christian liturgies of Eastern Christianity, but in the Latin Rite it was suppressed by the...
, Terce
Terce
Terce, or Third Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn....
, Sext
Sext
Sext, or Sixth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at noon...
, and None
None (liturgy)
None , or the Ninth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said around 3 p.m...
).
Terminology
The old technical term for such an office was Historia, with or without an additional "rhytmata" or rimata, an expression that frequently caused misunderstanding on the part of later writers. The reason for the name lay in the fact that originally the antiphons or the responses, and sometimes the two together, served to amplify or comment upon the history of a saint, of which there was a brief sketch in the readings of the second nocturn.Gradually this name was transferred to offices in which no word was said about a "history", and thus we find the expression "Historia ss. Trinitatis". The structure of the ordinary office of the Breviary in which antiphons, psalms, hymns, lessons, and responses followed one another in fixed order, was the natural form for the rhythmical office. It was not a question of inventing something new, as with the hymns, sequences, or other kinds of poetry, but of creating a text in poetic form in the place of a text in prose form, where the scheme existed, definitely arranged in all its parts. A development that could eventually be a basis for division of the rhythmical offices into distinct classes is limited to a narrow field, namely the external form of the parts of the office as they appear in poetic garb. Here we find in historical order the following characters:
- (1) a metrical, of hexameterHexameterHexameter is a metrical line of verse consisting of six feet. It was the standard epic metre in classical Greek and Latin literature, such as in the Iliad and Aeneid. Its use in other genres of composition include Horace's satires, and Ovid's Metamorphoses. According to Greek mythology, hexameter...
s intermixed with prose or rhymed proseRhymed proseRhymed prose is a literary form and literary genre, written in unmetrical rhymes. This form has been known in many different cultures. In some cases the rhymed prose is a distinctive, well-defined style of writing...
; - (2) a rhythmical, in the broadest sense, which will be explained below;
- (3) a form embellished by strict rhythm and rhyme.
Consequently one may distinguish three classes of rhythmical offices:
- (1) metrical offices, in hexameters or distichs;
- (2) offices in rhymed prose, i. e., offices with very free and irregular rhythm, or with dissimilar assonant long lines;
- (3) rhymed offices with regular rhythm and harmonious artistic structure.
The second class represents a state of transition, wherefore the groups may be called those of the first epoch, the groups of the transition period, and those of the third epoch, in the same way as with the sequences, although with the latter the characteristic difference is much more pronounced. If one desires a general name for all three groups, the expression "Rhymed Office", as suggested by "Historia rimata"" would be quite appropriate for the pars major et potior, which includes the best and most artistic offices; this designation: "gereimtes Officium" (Reimofficium) has been adopted in Germany through the "Analecta Hymnica". Reslly, though, the first and oldest offices are without rhyme, and cannot very well be called rhymed offices.
In the Middle Ages the word "rhythmical" was used as the general term for any kind of poetry to be distinguished from prose, no matter whether there was regular rhythm in those poems or not. And for that reason it is practical to comprise in the name "rhythmical offices" all those other than pure prose, a designation that corresponds to the Historia rhytmata.
Apart from the predilection of the Middle Ages for the poetic form, the Vitœ metricœ of the saints were the point of departure and motive for the rhythmical offices. Those Vitœ were frequently composed in hexameters or distichs. From them various couples of hexameters or a distich were taken to be used as antiphon or response respectively. In case the hexameters of the Vitœ metricœ did not prove suitable enough, the lacking parts of the office were supplemented by simple prose or by means of verses in rhymed prose, i. e., by text lines of different length in which there was very little of rhythm, but simply assonance. Such offices are often a motley mixture of hexameters, rhythmical stanzas, stanzas in pure prose, and again in rhymed prose.
Examples
An example of an old metrical office, intermixed with Prose Responses, is that of St. Lambert (Anal. Hymn., XXVII, no. 79), where all the antiphons are borrowed from that saint's Vitœ metricœ, presumably the work of Hucbald of St. Amand; the office itself was composed by Bishop Stephen of LiègeStephen of Liège
Stephen of Liège was bishop of Liège from 901 to 920. He was a hagiographer and composer of church music.He was an abbot of Lobbes and canon of Metz Cathedral. His In Festi Sanctisissimae Trinitatis, an office for the feast of the Trinity, is available as a recording...
about the end of the ninth century:
Antiphona I:
- Orbita solaris præsentia gaudia confert Præsulis eximii Lantberti gesta revolvens.
Antiphona II:
- Hic fuit ad tempus Hildrici regis in aula,
- Dilectus cunctis et vocis famine dulcis.
A mixing of hexameters, of rhythmical stanzas, and of stanzas formed by unequal lines in rhymed prose is shown in the old Office of Rictrudis, composed by Hucbald about 907 (Anal. Hymn., XIII, no. 87). By the side of regular hexameters, as in the Invitatorium:
- Rictrudis sponso sit laus et gloria, Christo,
- Pro cuius merito iubilemus ei vigilando.
we find rhythmical stanzas, like the first antiphon to Lauds
Lauds
Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins...
:
- Beata Dei famula
- Rictrudis, adhuc posita
- In terris, mente devota
- Christo hærebat in æhra;
or stanzas in very free rhythm, as e. g., the second response to the first nocturn:
- Hæc femina laudabilis
- Meritisque honorabilis
- Rictrudis egregia
- Divina providentia
- Pervenit in Galliam,
- Præclaris orta natalibus,
- Honestis alta et instituta moribus.
From the metrical offices, from the pure as well as from those mixed with rhymed prose, the transition was soon made to such as consisted of rhymed prose merely. An example of this kind is in the Offices of Ulrich, composed by Abbot Berno of Reichenau
Berno of Reichenau
Berno was the Abbot of Reichenau from his appointment by Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1008. He reformed the Gregorian chant...
(d. 1048); the antiphon to the Magnificat of the first Vespers begins thus:
- Venerandi patris Wodalrici sollemnia
- Magnæ jucunditatis repræsentant gaudia,
- Quæ merito cleri suscipiuntur voto
- Ac populi celebrantur tripudio.
- Lætetur tellus tali compta præsule,
- Exsultet polus tanto ditatus compare;
- Solus dæmon ingemat, qui ad eius sepulcrum
- Suum assidue perdit dominium ... etc.
Much more perfectly developed on the other hand, is the rhythm in the Office, which Leo IX composed in honour of Gregory the Great (Anal. Hymn., V, no. 64). This office, the work of a pope, appeared in the eleventh century in the Roman breviaries, and soon enjoyed widespread circulation; all its verses are iambic dimeters, but the rhythm does not as yet coincide with the natural accent of the word, and many a verse has a syllable in excess or a syllable wanting. For example, the first antiphon of the first nocturn:
- Gregorius ortus Romæ
- E senatorum sanguine
- Fulsit mundo velut gemma
- Auro superaddita,
- Dum præclarior præclaris
- Hic accessit atavis.
This transitional author does not make use of pure rhyme, only of assonance
Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or sentences, and together with alliteration and consonance serves as one of the building blocks of verse. For example, in the phrase "Do you like blue?", the is repeated within the sentence and is...
, the precursor of rhyme.
A prominent example is the Office of the Trinity by Archbishop Pecham of Canterbury.
The first Vespers begins with the antiphons:
- Sedenti super solium
- Congratulans trishagium
- Seraphici clamoris
- Cum patre laudat filium
- Indifferens principium
- Reciproci amoris.
- Sequamur per suspirium,
- Quod geritur et gaudium
- In sanctis cæli choris;
- Levemus cordis studium
- In trinum lucis radium
- Splendoris et amoris.
Compare with the preceding the antiphons to the first nocturn, which have quite a different structure; the third of them is:
- Leventur cordis ostia:
- Memoria Giguenti
- Nato intelligentia,
- Voluntas Procedenti.
Again, the first response to the third nocturn:
- Candor lucis, perpurum speculum
- Patris splendor, perlustrans sæculum,
- Nubis levis intrans umbraculum
- In Ægypti venit ergastulum.
- Virgo circumdedit virum
- Mel mandentem et butyrum.
upon which follows as second response the picture of the Trinity in the following form:
- A Veterani facie manavit ardens fiuvius:
- Antiquus est ingenitus, et facies est Filius,
- Ardoris fluxus Spiritus, duorum amor medius.
- Sic olim multifarie
- Prophetis luxit Trinitas,
- Quam post pandit ecclesiæ
- In carne fulgens veritas.
History
It is unclear which of the three old abbeys, Prüm AbbeyPrüm Abbey
Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm/Lorraine, now in the diocese of Trier , founded by a Frankish widow Bertrada, and her son Charibert, count of Laon, on 23 June 720. The first abbot was Angloardus....
, Landévennec Abbey
Landévennec Abbey
Landévennec Abbey was a monastery in Brittany, now in Finistère, France. It existed from its foundation at Landévennec, traditionally by Winwaloe in the late fifth century, to 1793, when the monastery was abandoned and sold. In 1950 it was bought and rebuilt by the Benedictines of Kerbénéat.It...
or Saint-Amand Abbey
Saint-Amand Abbey
Saint-Amand Abbey , once known as Elnon or Elnone Abbey, is a former Benedictine abbey in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, Nord, France.-History:...
, can claim priority in composing a rhythmical office. There is no doubt however from Saint-Amand and the monasteries in Hainault, Flanders, and Brabant, came the real starting-point of this style of poetry, as long ago as the ninth century. A pioneer in music, the Monk Hucbald of Saint-Amand, composed at least two, probably four, rhythmical offices; and the larger number of the older offices were used liturgically in those monasteries and cities with a connexion with Saint-Amand. From there this new branch of hymnody very soon found its way to France, and was developed in the tenth and eleventh, and particularly in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Poets involved are:
- the Abbots Odo of ClunyOdo of ClunySaint Odo of Cluny , a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, was the second abbot of Cluny. He enacted various reforms in the Cluniac monastery system of France and Italy....
(927-42) and Odilo of Cluny (994-1049); - Bishop Fulbert of ChartresFulbert of ChartresFulbert of Chartres –10 April 1028) was the bishop of the Cathedral of Chartres from 1006 till 1028. He was a teacher at the Cathedral school there, he was responsible for the advancement of the celebration of the Feast day of “Nativity of the Virgin”, and he was responsible for one of the...
(1017–28); - the Benedictine Monk Odorannus of Sens (died 1045);
- Pope Leo IXPope Leo IXPope Saint Leo IX , born Bruno of Eguisheim-Dagsburg, was Pope from February 12, 1049 to his death. He was a German aristocrat and as well as being Pope was a powerful secular ruler of central Italy. He is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, with the feast day of April 19...
(died 1054); - Bishop Stephen of TournaiStephen of TournaiStephen of Tournai, born in 1128 and died in 1203, was a Canon regular of Sainte-Geneviève , and Roman Catholic canonist who became bishop of Tournai in 1192.-Biography:He was born at Orléans in 1128; died at Tournai in September 1203...
(1192–1203); - Archdeacon Rainald of St. Maurice in Angers (died about 1074);
- Bishop Richard de Gerberoy of Amiens (1204–10);
- Prior Arnaud du Prè of Toulouse (died 1306);
- The General of the Dominican Order, Martialis Auribelli, who in 1456 wrote a rhymed office for the purpose of glorifying Vincent FerrerVincent FerrerSaint Vincent Ferrer was a Valencian Dominican missionary and logician.-Early life:Vincent was the fourth child of the Anglo-Scottish nobleman William Stewart Ferrer and his Spanish wife, Constantia Miguel. Legends surround his birth...
.
Julian von Speyer was director of the orchestra at the Frankish royal court, afterwards Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
friar and choir master in the Paris convent, where about 1240 he composed words and music for the two well-known offices in honour of Francis of Assisi
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
and of Anthony of Padua
Anthony of Padua
Anthony of Padua or Anthony of Lisbon, O.F.M., was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. Though he died in Padua, Italy, he was born to a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, which is where he was raised...
(Anal. Hymn., V, nos. 61 and 42). These two productions served as a prototype for a good number of successive offices in honour of saints of the Franciscan Order as well as of others. In Germany the rhymed offices were just as popular as in France. As early as in the ninth century an office, in honour of St. Chrysantus and Daria, had its origin probably in Prüm, perhaps through Friar Wandalbert (Anal. Hymn,, XXV, no. 73); perhaps not much later through Abbot Gurdestin of Landévennec a similar poem in honour of St. Winwalœus (Anal. Hymn., XVIII, no. 100). As hailing from Germany two other composers of rhythmical offices in the earlier period have become known: Abbot Berno of Reichenau (died 1048) and Abbot Udalschalc of Maischach at Augsburg (died 1150).
The other German poets whose names can be given belong to a period as late as the fifteenth century, as e. g. Provost Lippold of Steinberg and Bishop Johann Hofmann of Meissen. England took an early part in this style of poetry, but most of the offices that originated there have been lost. Archbishop Pecham's office of the Trinity has been discussed above. Next to him are worthy of mention Cardinal Adam Easton
Adam Easton
Adam Easton was an English Cardinal, born at Easton in Norfolk.He joined the Benedictines at Norwich moving on to the Benedictine Gloucester College, Oxford where he became one of the most outstanding students of his generation, being especially proficient in Hebrew...
(died 1397) and the Carmelite John Horneby of Lincoln, who about 1370 composed a rhymed office in honour of the Holy Name of Jesus
Holy Name of Jesus
In Christianity, the Holy Name of Jesus refers to the theological and devotional use of the name of Jesus. The reverence and affection with which Christians have regarded the Holy Name of Jesus goes back to the earliest days of Christianity....
, and of the Visitation of Our Lady.
Italy seems to have a relatively small representation; Rome itself, i. e. the Roman Breviary, as we know, did not favour innovations, and consequently was reluctant to adopt rhythmical offices. Archbishop Alfons of Salerno (1058–85) is presumably the oldest Italian poet of this kind. Besides him there are Abbot Reinaldus de Colle di Mezzo (twelfth century), and the General of the Dominicans, Raymundus de Vineis from Capua (fourteenth century). In Sicily and in Spain the rhymed offices were popular and quite numerous, but with the exception of the Franciscan Fra Gil de Zamora, who about the middle of the fifteenth century composed an office in honour of the Blessed Virgin (Anal. Hymn., XVII, no. 8) it has been impossible to cite by name from those two countries any other poet who took part in composing rhythmical offices.
Towards the close of the thirteenth century, Scandinavia also comes to the fore with rhymed offices, with Bishop Brynolphus of Skara (1278–1317), Archbishop Birgerus Gregorii of Upsala (died 1383), Bishop Nicolaus of Linköping (1374–91), and Johannes Benechini of Oeland (about 1440).
The number of offices where the composer's name is known is insignificantly small. No less than seven hundred anonymous rhythmical offices were brought to light through the "Analecta Hymnica". Artistically they vary widely.