Repercussa

What it means

Repercussa designates, in Gregorian chant, the repeated note — on the one hand the practice of singing the same note several times in a row, on the other the reference note of a church mode on which one recites and around which the melody circles. In modal theory this note is also called the tenor or tuba. Alongside the closing note, the finalis, it is the most important feature by which a church mode is recognized. Terminology varies by source and school.

In the notation

In square notation, repeated notes appear as several identical signs next to one another. How they are to be executed — every note attacked anew, lightly articulated, or joined into a sustained unit — is not unambiguously fixed in the notation and is handled differently in the various schools of chant.

Musical use

The reciting note gives a melody its centre of gravity: it moves out from it and returns to it, before finding its way to the finalis. In psalmody it is immediately audible, because the greatest part of the text is delivered on it. Knowledge of this note helps to assign melodies to a mode and to understand their organization; in polyphonic music built on chant melodies it remains effective as a reference point.

Performance practice

Do not sing repeated notes mechanically the same but organize them according to the text; the stress of the syllables gives the movement. Keep the reciting note stable in volume and colour, for fluctuations stand out especially there. Fix within the group how note repetitions are articulated, so that the sound remains uniform. Determine the finalis and reciting note of a chant before studying it — this eases memorization and intonation.

Bear in mind that the execution of repeated notes is taught differently in the schools of chant: some attack every note anew, others join them into a sustained unit with slight organization. Decide on one practice and keep to it, instead of mixing. In the first church mode the repercussa lies on A, in the second on F.