What is especially fascinating is the way in which Regnum tuum solidum itself became a site for
embellishment. In some sources, an impressive neuma (as Amalar would have called it) has been grafted
in to coincide with the first syllable of the word permanebit (“will endure”). This seems to be an
example of what would later be called “tone painting,” since the melisma, by stretching the word out, in
effect illustrates its meaning. And then, in other sources, the melisma is subjected in turn to syllabic
texting in the form of a prosula. Thus two types of liturgical embroidery—melodic (neuma) and textual
(prosula)—have been combined with a melodic/textual interpolation (trope) in one magnificent clump
(Ex. 2-13).
EX. 2-11 Sanctus IEX. 2-12A Agnus XVIIIEX. 2-12B Agnus II