Regina Coeli - Settings

Settings

There are plainsong melodies (a simple and an ornate form) associated with Regina Caeli, the official or "typical" melody being found in the Vatican Antiphonary, 1911, p. 126. The antiphonal strophes of Regina Caeli were often set by polyphonic composers of the 16th century. Lully's motet “Regina coeli, laetare” was written in 1684. There are three settings by the young Mozart (K.108, K.127, and K.276), and one by Brahms (Op. 37 #3).

The Marian anthems run the gamut of mediaeval literary styles, from the classical hexameters of the Alma Redemptoris Mater through the richly-rhymed accentual rhythm and regular strophes of the Ave Regina Caelorum, the irregular syntonic strophe of the Regina Caeli, to the sonorous prose rhythms with rhyming closes of the Salve Regina. "In the 16th century, the antiphons of our Lady were employed to replace the little office at all the hours" (Baudot, The Roman Breviary, 1909, p. 71).

In Anglican churches, the alternate translation (see below) is in 7.7.7.7 metre, and is usually sung to the hymn tune known as Easter Hymn, "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" or the hymn tune "Ave Virgo Virginum".