Iberia sings to its saints. The hymns of the hispanic liturgy dedicated to the iberian saints

Abstract

This study shows that the hymnary was established in the official Hispanic liturgy around the Fourth Council of Toledo (633), which promoted the singing of Hymns. Authors such as Leander, Isidore, Braulio, Eugenius, and others likely composed the foundation of the hymnody repertoire, occasionally drawing from ancient poets, particularly the Hispano-Roman Prudentius, Ambrose, and others. The sources preserving this hymnody are liturgical manuscripts not earlier than the tenth century, although the Oracional de Verona indicates that these pieces were already in use around 700. Some hymns from the Hispanic Sanctoral were maintained in the Peninsular Roman rite, while others, common to both rites, may belong to a Pre-Carolingian substratum or have been transferred from the Iberian Peninsula during the migrations of Hispanic clerics to the north after 711. The study comments on the corpus of hymns dedicated to Iberian saints, including differences between those dedicated to men and women. Finally, the scarce hymns with musical notation are analyzed, and a proposal is offered for the melodies that may have been used to perform some of these pieces.