Hundreds of sequences appeared during the Middle Ages, only to be pared down to four after the reforms of the Council of Trent in 1545-63. Victimae paschali laudes is one of the remaining sequences. Because of its ongoing appearance is an assortment of guises throughout the history of music, it is a good one to use to illustrate the idea of sequence to students. The animation is built around an imported .aiff file. The program allows this file to be converted into a streaming version than can be linked to exactly the desired spot in the graphic animation.
Successive screens show the score of the melody.
The bottom of the page contains a graphic outline of the form with each set of verses being assigned a different color. The notes in the score correspond to the appropriate place in the graphic outline. Controller buttons allow the animation to begin, to pause, and to rewind. As the melody unfolds a box appears over the outline graphic at the appropriate place. This animation brings to life an icon of early music, the Guidonian Hand.