A medieval patchwork song: poetry, prayer and music in a thirteenth-century conductus

Abstract

ABSTRACTEight times a day, the prayerDeus in adiutorium meum intendesounded from the lips of the faithful as the standard introduction to the Office Hours. Infiltrating daily life through the liturgy and popular interjections, the psalm verseDeus in adiutoriumserved a devotional function marked by versatility and popularity. Yet, despite its omnipresence, as well as its inherently vocalic identity, the verse was only rarely troped musically or poetically. A collection of thirteenth-century monophonic and polyphonic tropes of the verse circulating in France in motet collections and festive offices represents one of the few moments of heightened musical interest in the prayer. This article draws attention, for the first time, to the musical and textual connection between these tropes andPater creator omnium, a thirteenth-century refrain song. This monophonic song from France also belongs firmly to the medieval cento genre, with both its musical and textual construction based on the piecing together of borrowed text and music – includingDeus in adiutorium. This article argues thatPater creator omniumstands at the intersection of two important yet understudied histories: the musical and textual troping ofDeus in adiutoriumand the medieval cento. Analysis of this song ultimately illustrates the creative processes behind the making of a pre-modern song.