CSM Cantiga 173 Lyrics: Tantas en Santa María son mercees e bondades Cantiga 173Mettmann observes that at least one stanza appears to have gone missing from this cantiga (between the third and fourth stanzas that remain) even though there are no gaps in the manuscripts. What Mettmann fails to mention, however, is the fact that in both [E] and [T] the metre changes after this omission, with all masculine rhymes (final stress) gaining a syllable and becoming feminine (penultimate stress). Indeed, his usual footnote summarising the metre is conspicuous in its absence, indicating perhaps that he saw the problem but could not decide what to do about it. Stephen Parkinson [SP2012] likens the cantiga to the welding together of the halves of two stolen cars, and presents a convincing case for the text being the result of the accidental conflation of sections from two independently composed cantigas on the same miracle story.

Performance-wise, given the gap and the change in metre, this cantiga might reasonably be reserved for a purely instrumental interpretation. However, for the sake of completeness, I suggest the following solution for singers: where there is a single perfected virga .on at the end of the musical phrase, carrying the final stressed syllable of dizer, creer, acorrer, mal, mortal etc., this can be split into a .o + .on pair with the same duration, thereby matching the rhythm of the refrain. (Referring to Elmes' edition, the dotted minim should be divided into crotchet + minim.) These two notes can then take the final two syllables of carreira, enteira, and so on, at the points indicated by double underlining in my text.

Standard spelling
Tantas en Santa María son mercees e bondades
Cantiga 173: Tantas en Santa María son mercees e bondades
Please read the notes on using the texts and the IPA transcriptions Please read the notes on using the music transcriptions
   
Standard spelling
Epigraph  

Como Santa María de Salas guareceu ũu hóme que havía a door que chaman da pédra.

Line Refrain  Metrics  
1 Tantas en Santa María | son mercees e bondades, 7' | 7' A
2 que sãar pód' os coitados | de todas enfermidades. 7' | 7' A
 
  Stanza I     
3 Dest' avẽo un miragre, | per com' éu oí dizer 7' | 7  b
4 a muitos hómẽes bõos | e que éran de creer, 7' | 7  b
5 que mostrou, Santa María | por un séu sérv' acorrer; 7' | 7  b
6 onde gran tórto faredes, | se me ben non ascuitades. 7' | 7' A
  Tantas en Santa María | son mercees e bondades...    
 
  Stanza II     
7 Est' hóme d' Aragôn éra, | e havía tan gran mal 7' | 7  b
8 de pédra, que en gran coita | éra con ela mortal; 7' | 7  b
9 que comer sól non podía | nen dormir nen fazer al 7' | 7  b
10 senôn chamar sempr' a Virgen, | a Sennor das pïadades. 7' | 7' A
  Tantas en Santa María | son mercees e bondades...    
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/173
 
  Stanza III     
11 A muitos físicos fora, | mas non lle prestaran ren; 7' | 7  b
12 porend' en Santa María | sa voontad' e séu sen 7' | 7  b
13 poséra. E lóg' a Salas | se foi rogar a que ten 7' | 7  b
14 o mund' en séu mandamento, | que non catass' as maldades [...] CSM 173:14The missing stanza(s) would follow from this point; see main footnote to this cantiga. 7' | 7' A
  Tantas en Santa María | son mercees e bondades...    
 
  Stanza IV     
15 [...] E que esto non dissésse | a outri, mas sa carreira 7' | 7' b .on
16 se foss'. E el espertou-se | entôn e achou enteira 7' | 7' b .on
17 a pédra sigo na cama, | tan grande que verdadeira- 7' | 7' b .on
18 ment' éra come castanna, | esto de cérto sabiades. 7' | 7' A
  Tantas en Santa María | son mercees e bondades...    
 
  Stanza V     
19 Entôn el a Virgen muito | loou. E nós a loemos 7' | 7' b .on
20 por este tan gran miragre, | e gran dereito faremos, 7' | 7' b .on
21 ca sempr' ela nos acórre | enas coitas que havemos, 7' | 7' b .on
22 ca a sa gran lealdade | passa todas lealdades. 7' | 7' A
  Tantas en Santa María | son mercees e bondades...    
Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers ©2013 by Andrew Casson
www.cantigasdesantamaria.com/csm/173
 

Footnotes

Mettmann observes that at least one stanza appears to have gone missing from this cantiga (between the third and fourth stanzas that remain) even though there are no gaps in the manuscripts. What Mettmann fails to mention, however, is the fact that in both [E] and [T] the metre changes after this omission, with all masculine rhymes (final stress) gaining a syllable and becoming feminine (penultimate stress). Indeed, his usual footnote summarising the metre is conspicuous in its absence, indicating perhaps that he saw the problem but could not decide what to do about it. Stephen Parkinson [SP2012] likens the cantiga to the welding together of the halves of two stolen cars, and presents a convincing case for the text being the result of the accidental conflation of sections from two independently composed cantigas on the same miracle story.

Performance-wise, given the gap and the change in metre, this cantiga might reasonably be reserved for a purely instrumental interpretation. However, for the sake of completeness, I suggest the following solution for singers: where there is a single perfected virga .on at the end of the musical phrase, carrying the final stressed syllable of dizer, creer, acorrer, mal, mortal etc., this can be split into a .o + .on pair with the same duration, thereby matching the rhythm of the refrain. (Referring to Elmes' edition, the dotted minim should be divided into crotchet + minim.) These two notes can then take the final two syllables of carreira, enteira, and so on, at the points indicated by double underlining in my text.

Line 14:

The missing stanza(s) would follow from this point; see main footnote to this cantiga.

Standard spelling  
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Footnotes

E1:

See the main note to the lyrics for discussion of the breaking of the single virga .on into a punctum .o + virga .on pair here and at E2 and E3 in stanzas IV and V.

Manuscript references

External links marked are to facsimiles on Greg Lindahl's Cantigas de Santa Maria website.

[E]173viewhttp://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cantigas/facsimiles/E/323small.htmlExternal link
[T]173 

Oxford CSM Database record

External link to poem data:  CSM 173http://csm.mml.ox.ac.uk/index.php?p=poemdata_view&rec=173

Links to the Oxford database are provided with the kind permission of the project team. When planning a concert or recording, I would recommend that you use (and credit) my more pragmatic texts and supporting materials in the preparation of your performance, but that you request permission from the Oxford database team to reproduce (and credit) their own critically edited texts in your programme or liner notes, as these adhere to stricter criteria that keep them closer to the original sources, and undoubtedly have the greater academic authority.

Metrical summary

Refrain

7' | 7'  7' | 7'

Stanzas

7' | 7  7' | 7  7' | 7  7' | 7' I II III
7' | 7'  7' | 7'  7' | 7'  7' | 7' IV V

Rhyme

AA / bbbA
 RIIIIIIIVV
Aades
b alei̯ɾaemos

Estimated performance times

Average syllables / min. Time
Very slow509:56
Slow1004:58
Medium1503:18
Fast2002:29
Very fast2501:59

These are very approximate total times for a full sung (or spoken) performance of all stanzas with all repeats of the refrain. Note that the speed is in average syllables per minute, and no particular mensural interpretation is assumed. More ornamented music will reduce the syllabic speed considerably. Remember also to add time for instrumental preludes, interludes and postludes.

Total syllables: 497