Tract
Tractus is the oldest psalmody chant of the mass and part of the pieces, the proprium, which change according to the church year .
It is a "psalm chant without refrain" and was "probably in the 6th century" replaced by the more joyful hallelujah chant on all suitable days , so that the tract chants with a corresponding more serious character only remained on the remaining days. The chorale melodies of Tractusgesänge are in the second or eighth church mode , ie in hypodorischen or hypomixolydischen tone.
The tract is sung in place of the Alleluia during Lent . The texts of the Tractūs include motifs of repentance and mourning, but also those of hope, confidence and joy. The name “Tractus” ( Greek eirmós ), from trahere (“to pull”, “to drag”), has been interpreted as “drawn song” ( Latin : cantus tractus ) since the Middle Ages . Others lead the word back to the way of singing tractim (Latin: in one go ), because it is sung without a repentance.
During the tract, in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, the missal is carried from the epistle page to the gospel page ( Latin trahere, "to carry")
literature
- Josef Andreas Jungmann : Missarum Sollemnia. A genetic explanation of the Roman mass. Volume 1: Mass through the centuries, mass and ecclesiastical community, preliminary mass. 5th improved edition. Reprographic reprint of the Freiburg Herder 1962 edition. Nova and Vetera publishing house, Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-936741-13-1 .