- Composer: Gregorian Chant
- Period: Medieval (1-1449)
Review
The Catholic Mass for Easter day resounds with "Alleluias" and joyful pronouncements of the resurrection of Christ. The Introit of the Easter Mass, for instance, speaks of the miracle of the resurrection itself, and the Gradual rejoices in "the Day the Lord has made." Yet this rejoicing is also tempered with knowledge of Christ's necessary sacrifice. Both the Sequence and the Communion Proper to Easter sing of Christ as the paschal victim, sacrificed for us. And the Offertory Terra tremuit interrupts the victorious liturgy to remind the faithful that "The earth shall shake and tremble when the Lord returns in judgment." (The "Alleluia" that concludes this Offertory thus seems out of place!) The Bible often associates earthquakes with great changes and judgments. The Psalms sing of the earth quaking at the name of the Lord, and the Old Testament prophets envision the earth shaking before His anger. An earthquake attended the moment of the crucifixion. John's Revelation twice speaks of a mighty earthquake at the End Times, and Jesus himself predicted earthquakes and other tribulations as signs of the Last Judgment. The chant Terra tremuit thus tempers the Easter joy by placing the resurrection in the larger context of an ongoing salvation history. The final act, with its terrors, is still to come.Musically as well, Terra tremuit somewhat darkens the Easter liturgy. The plainchant melody to this text at first emphasizes intervals and pitches of the proper and solemn D mode; the phrase in judicio even begins with a rising melodic fifth D-A. Yet in this very phrase, with its text of impending judgment, the melody turns toward the somber Phrygian mode. And despite an explicit B flat and several more D-F-A motives in the concluding "Alleluia," the chant ends with an irrevocable and affective Phrygian half-step, falling from F to E. The very withholding of the mode's most characteristic interval until the end of the chant perfectly evokes the sense of the text: in the midst of a solemn feast day there is a reminder that we must stay vigilant and prepare for the more climactic and fearful day to come. ~ Timothy Dickey, All Music Guide
