MELISMA. — A term generally reserved for ancient liturgical music, whether Eastern (Byzantine, Syriac, etc.) or Western (Gregorian, Ambrosian, Gallican, Visigothic); it consists of a vocalization by which the syllable of a text is enriched with a purely musical commentary. In Gregorian chant, melismas preferably adorn the final syllable, and then the accented syllable.
Depending on the absence or presence and the importance of melismas, a melody written with a single note per syllable is said to be in syllabic style, while neumes of a few notes on some or all syllables characterize the neumatic style (Introits and Communions, generally); the melismatic or florid style includes many Graduals and Offertories and, as a rule, the Alleluias. The melisma of the Alleluia, or *jubilus*, gave rise to that poetic-musical form which appeared in the 9th century or even at the end of the 8th, called the "Sequence," where each note of the melisma, initially sung on the "a" at the end of the Alleluia, is then sung syllabically to a poetic text of more or less free structure.
The verses of the Offertory, composed in the 8th–9th centuries and now lost, abounded in melismas. In the Kyriale, the chants most easily treated in neumatic style are the Kyrie; more rarely the Gloria. The Credo is always syllabic with a few simple neumes. The Sanctus and Agnus Dei are generally neumatic. The Gloria "in the Ambrosian manner" represents a characteristic melismatic form of ancient composition: it is found in the ornate verses of the Office and perhaps in some ancient hymn; the text is almost entirely declaimed without melodic ornamentation, and the final syllable of this recitative is embellished with a well-crafted flourish.
From a historical standpoint, the opinion that melismatic chants are later in the Gregorian repertory than syllabic chants, and only appear at the end of the 7th century, has not found credence (F. A. Gevaert, *La mélodie antique dans le chant de l'Eglise latine*, Ghent 1895). The singing of the Alleluia certainly existed in the time of St. Augustine, and although the singing of the Gradual was almost syllabic in the 4th century, it was no longer so in the 6th, when a Schola Cantorum was necessary for the training of skilled singers. On the other hand, Eastern influence is undeniable in the early stages of Western liturgy and chant, and, among other things, this influence is manifested by the introduction of
(From G. Algranati, *Basilica e Calabria*, Turin 1921, p. 131)
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MELFI AND RAPOLLA, DIOCESE OF
Cathedral (17th century).
Notable features include: the portal with *sguarci* of Santa Maria la Nuova; two medallions depicting the Annunciation, works of a late 14th-century artist in the church of Sant'Agostino, and the ogival portal of the church of Santa Lucia. Also of interest is the church of Sant'Antonio (1523), situated on the hill to the east of the city, where two Renaissance tombs and a rare 15th-century painting, perhaps of Tuscan school, are preserved. The provenance of the latter is unknown. In the vicinity, the 13th-century Basilian chapel of Santa Margherita is of singular interest; on its walls and vault remain depictions of the enthroned Redeemer, the Virgin with Child, Apostles and saints, and a remarkable representation of Death in a scene full of vigor, most unusual in Byzantine eremitic iconography.
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Ughelli, I, 920; VII, 608; Hefele-Leclercq, V, passim; Eubel, I, p. 334; II, pp. 189; III, p. 241; G. Araneo, *Notizie storiche della città di M.*, Florence 1866, pp. 107–132; F. Lorenzanti, *M. e Venosa*, Venice 1883, pp. 26–27; G. B. Guarini, *S. Margherita, cappella vulturna del Duecento*, in *Napoli nobilissima*, 8 (1899), pp. 113–18 and 138–42; id., *Curiosità d'arte medioevale nel Melfese*, ibid., 9 (1900), pp. 132–36 and 152–58; L. Rubino, *Due medaglioni con l'Annunciazione della chiesa di S. Agostino*, in *Bull. d’arte del Ministero educazione nazionale*, 6 (1935), pp. 295–96; D. Vendola, *Rationes decimarum Italiae nei secc. XII e XIV*, in *Tesi di testi*, 84, Vatican City 1939, p. 152.