A Sequence for the Annunciation

One of the most widely used sequences for the feast of the Annunciation in the Middle Ages is known from its opening words as Mittit ad Virginem. It is often attributed to the famous (or infamous) scholar Peter Abelard (1079-1142), but it should be noted that the Analecta hymnica, the massive collection of medieval hymns and scholarly notes about them, makes no mention of him in its entry on this particular text. (vol. 54, pp. 296-98) In some uses, such as that of Sarum, it was not sung on the feast, since the Annunciation usually occurs in Lent (three years out of four), and it was a common custom to omit sequences altogether in Lent; at Sarum, it was used at the Advent votive Mass of the Virgin instead, which shares many of its texts, including the Gospel, with today’s feast. The Latin text with English translation is taken from Sequences from the Sarum Missal, with English Translations, by Charles Buchanan Pearson (Bell and Daldy; London, 1871. Click images to enlarge.) This recording was made by the monks of Clear Creek Abbey.

A polyphonic setting by the mighty Josquin des Prez, in two parts; the second begins at the words “Accede, nuntia.”

The Annunciation, depicted on the doors of a triptych by an anonymous French artist known as the Master of Moulins, within the last two decades of the 15th century. Many altarpieces were designed to be kept closed during Lent, and then opened back up at the Easter vigil. The outsides of the wings were very often painted with images of the Annunciation in shades of black and grey, a technique known as grisaille, since the feast usually occurs in Lent; the absence of color in the image thus did not compromise the austerity of the church’s appearance, but marked the solemnity of the feast in an appropriate manner.