Thursday, February 28, 2008

Omnes sancti Patriárchæ et Prophétæ.... (The Litany of the Saints)

Here's The Litany of the Saints, the version sung at John Paul II's funeral:



Follow along here, at Breviary.net. It's a beautiful chant, isn't it? It's 10 full minutes - the YouTube limit, I believe - and you don't get a bit tired of it. The cantor has a beautiful voice; I remember thinking so as I watched it live. (Even though I have no particular fondness for John Paul II - he said and did some very harmful things while he was Pope, when it comes to the lives of gay people - I do like the still image on the YouTube video link. Very dramatic and quite beautiful; in fact, I suspect I would have liked him a lot - except for the virulent homophobia he seemed always compelled to express.)

Note, too: the Litany from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer looks to be very similar to the later sections of the Litany of the Saints. The English Reformers dropped the prayers to the saints, but retained the Supplications. I'm actually not sure how far back this chant goes, or how long it's been in its present form; I'll do a little research on that and post again.

EDIT: Here's New Advent on the Litany of the Saints, which it says is "of great antiquity":
It was used in the "Litania Septiformis" of St. Gregory the Great, and in the procession of St. Mamertus. In the Eastern Church, litanies with the invocation of saints were employed in the days of St. Basil (d. 379) and of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus (d. about 270) (Basil, Ep. lxiii; Socrates, VI, viii, Sozomen, VIII, vii). It is not known when or by whom the litany was composed, but the order in which the Apostles are given, corresponding with that of the Canon of the Mass, proves its antiquity (Walafr. Strabo, "De Reb. Eccl.", xxiii).


Much more at the link.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Lauds, Mattins, and Vespers Hymns, Lent 3 - Lent 4

From Hymn melodies for the whole year from the Sarum service-books:
On the 2nd Sunday in Lent, & daily (when the Service is of the Season) until Passion Sunday :-
Evensong:   Ecce tempus idoneum ... ... ... 33
MattinsClarum decus ieiunii ... ... ... 31
Lauds: Jesu, quadragenarie ... ... ... 44 or 74


This period of Lent is known as Oculi; that's the first word of the Latin Introit for Lent 3 - in English, "Mine eyes."   (If you'd like to listen to the Introits for which the Sundays of Lent are named (Invocavit, Oculi, Judica, etc.), you can do it here, at Christusrex.org, from St. Benedict's Monastery in São Paulo (Brazil).)

Follow along with the Offices for this period at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston) (published in 1885). You'll find  all the Psalms, the collect, Chapter, antiphons, etc. at that link, although no music is provided; also check the iFrame look-in at the bottom of this post.
 

Here's the chant score for the Evensong hymn,  Ecce tempus idoneum:


Here's an mp3 of Ecce tempus idoneum ("Now is the healing time decreed"), sung to melody #33, from the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood's "Seasonal Propers Sung" page.

Oremus Hymnal has this one; they list it as "Latin, before the twelfth century," with English translation by Thomas Alexander Lacey, 1906:
Now is the healing time decreed
for sins of heart, of word or deed,
when we in humble fear record
the wrong that we have done the Lord;

Who, alway merciful and good,
has borne so long our wayward mood,
nor cut us off unsparingly
in our so great iniquity.

Therefore with fasting and with prayer,
our secret sorrow we declare;
with all good striving seek his face,
and lowly-hearted plead for grace.

Cleanse us, O Lord, from every stain,
help us the meed of praise to gain,
till with the angels linked in love
joyful we tread thy courts above.

Father and Son and Spirit blest,
to thee be every prayer addressed,
who art in threefold Name adored,
from age to age, the only Lord.

Another translation of the hymn is "Lo, now is our accepted day," translation by J.M. Neale, and is at Cyberhymnal here

The chant score I have matches the tune sung by the LLPB, given above, but the words are different.





Here's melody #31, used for Clarum decus ieiunii at Matins:


LLPB, though, uses Clarum decus ieiunii for Lauds - and you can, too; here's the mp3 of the English translation, "The Glory of These Forty Days," sung to melody #31.   Cyberhymnal says these words are from the English Hymnal 1906:

The glory of these forty days
We celebrate with songs of praise;
For Christ, by Whom all things were made,
Himself has fasted and has prayed.

Alone and fasting Moses saw
The loving God Who gave the law;
And to Elijah, fasting, came
The steeds and chariots of flame.

So Daniel trained his mystic sight,
Delivered from the lions’ might;
And John, the Bridegroom’s friend, became
The herald of Messiah’s Name.

Then grant us, Lord, like them to be
Full oft in fast and prayer with Thee;
Our spirits strengthen with Thy grace,
And give us joy to see Thy face.

O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
To thee be every prayer addressed,
Who art in threefold Name adored,
From age to age, the only Lord.


Another version is called "Good it is to keep the fast," and uses a different set of lyrics, though they which contain much the same themes.    (John Stainer wrote music for this one, and the Latin-English translation was by Hen­ry W. Bak­er, 1875.  At that link the hymn is attributed to Gregory I; just for informational purposes, here's a Cyberhymnal page listing all its hymns attributed to Gregory I.)

Interestingly, TPL does not have listings at all for any of these Lent hymns!  That tells me they were all very likely a local, English, use.

The chant score below, from my sources, matches neither the tune nor the lyrics for any of the hymns above. 



The Sarum hymn assigned for Lauds, Jesu, quadragenarie is sung to the same tune used at Transfiguration Mattins for O Sator rerum  - and for O Pater sancte, sung at the Lauds Trinity Office.   If you decide not to use Clarum decus ieiunii at Lauds, you can sing this one instead.  Not as nice a tune, though!  Here's the chant score:



This an mp3 of O Pater sancte, sung to Melody #44.   There is a bit of a problem, though, since melody #44  is in the 11-11-11-5, "Sapphic and Adonic," meter - and the words from the Hymner are not:

Jesu, the Law and Pattern, whence
Our forty days of abstinence;
Who souls to save, that else had died,
This sacred fast hast ratified:

That so to Paradise once more,
Might abstinence preserv'd restore
Them that had lost its fields of light,
Through crafty wiles of appetite.

Be present now, be present here,
And mark thy Church's falling tear:
And own the grief that fills her eyes
In mourning her iniquities.

O by thy grace be pardon won
For sins that former years have done:
And let thy mercy guard us still
From crimes that threaten future ill.

That by the fast we offer here,
Our annual sacrifice sincere,
To Paschal gladness at the end,
Set free from guilt, our souls may tend.

May this, O Father, through the Son,
For thy blest Spirit's sake be done:
Adored through all eternity,
In Nature One, in Person Three. Amen. 

If there is an 11-11-11-5 version of this hymn out there, I don't know about it.  I'd say this is another good reason to use Clarum decus ieiunii at Lauds instead!   

The alternate melody, #74, is from the York hymnal.  It does not, however, appear to be in the same 11-11-11-5, the "Sapphic and Adonic" meter, and would fit the words above.  I don't have a recording of this one, though.



Here are links to all three "Lent Office" posts on Chantblog:

Here's the peek-in to the SSM Breviary for the period beginning with Lent 3:





Saturday, February 16, 2008

More Chant Manuscripts

Here are four complete manuscripts at the Latrobe University Medieval Music Database:
The Dixson Gradual

A thirteenth-century Cistercian gradual of 200 folios from the Abbey of San Stephano al Corno, Lodi, Italy. This manuscript is now in the Dixson Collection, State Library of New South Wales. It contains a Temporal Cycle, a Sanctoral Cycle, some Commons and a Hymnal.


The Poissy Antiphonal

A certified Dominican antiphonal of 428 folios from Poissy, written 1335-1345, with a complete annual cycle of chants for the Divine Office (Temporal, Sanctoral and Commons) and a hymnal. The manuscript also contains rules for copying chant and 23 historiated initials: it is in the State Libary of Victoria


The Rimini Antiphonal

A Franciscan Common of the Saints of 155 folios from Rimini, written 1328 and palimpsested on 40 folios with new texts and altered melodies sometime after 1582. The manuscript was decorated by Neri da Rimini with 8 historiated and 21 decorated letters: it is in the Richardson Collection of the State Library of New South Wales.


The Adelaide Antiphonal

A 13th century Italian antiphonal of 180 folios from Christmas to the Saturday after Epiphany held by the State Library of South Australia. This site includes a transcription, translation of the text and rubrics into English and sound recordings of selected works. The manuscript has one historiated and 13 illuminated letters and other noteworthy features




The MMDB is a wonderful thing; it lists the Annual cycle of feasts by both The Temporal Cycle and by The Sanctoral Cycle - and most entries have single or multiple instances of chant scores of introits, graduals, antiphons and etc.

Here's more about the MMDB; I believe the changes they refer to have already been included. At least, we know the manuscripts have been.
La Trobe University closed its Music Department at the end of 1999. This site has not been updated since February 2004. A new and updated version of the Medieval Music Database is currently under construction and should be available early in 2008: in the meantime we welcome your comments, corrections and additions.

The main features of the new version are a much expanded repertoire of works in addition to the melodic incipits of liturgical works. Four complete manuscripts, a gradual and three antiphonals, have been added. Browse by Liturgical Feast is entirely new. This displays the melodic incipit of each liturgical chant for each feast, analyses related melodies and displays colour images of source manuscripts. The Browse by Composers, by Genre and by Manuscripts remain the same as they were is the earlier versions.






Note to Howard
: I didn't think to tell you, but all the antiphons for all the days of Lent are listed at the Temporal Cycle page. It may not have the one you were looking for, though, which I think you said was new?

Friday, February 15, 2008

Fauxbourdons, Part I

First, a definition:
‘Fauxbourdon’ was an enigmatic French phrase attached as a tag or label to short compositions or sections of longer ones, normally sacred and written as apparently two-voice pieces with the cantus firmus in the upper part, appearing in continental musical manuscripts from about 1430 to about 1510. The words ‘faux bourdon’ were often preceded by the preposition ‘à’ or ‘per’, sometimes ‘au’ (even ‘aux’) or ‘in’; the expression might also be shortened to ‘per faulx’ or ‘per bardunum’. Although some scribes contracted the two words into one, this article follows Trumble in reserving ‘fauxbourdon’ for use as a generic term referring to the whole technique or complex of voices, or to the category of composition.

The designation ‘faux bourdon’, or one of its variants, was usually placed in either the discantus or the tenor part – more often the latter, especially in the earlier years, perhaps because the tenor directed the ensemble; it might also appear in both parts, or elsewhere on the page. It signalled the fact that the two given voices had been so composed – essentially by using a framework of 6ths and octaves – that the performer or performers could add a third and eventually a fourth part to them by following certain strictly formulaic procedures. The earliest method was to derive a contratenor altus from the written discantus by singing the same notes simultaneously at the 4th below, which produced essentially a chain of what would now be called 6-3 chords, varied and punctuated by single 8-5 chords, though with some decorative passing notes and suspensions, particularly at cadences, and on occasion more licentious dissonances. This was still regarded as the ‘classic’ manner by most music theorists of the late 15th century and has become known in musical literature as the ‘6th-chord’ or ‘fauxbourdon’ style. But around 1450, or even before, composers and performers started to use a contratenor bassus, derived not from the discantus but from the tenor, beneath which they sang alternate 3rds and 5ths, beginning and ending with a unison or octave, and with the cadential octave preceded by a 5th; to the resulting tricinium a new kind of contratenor altus might also be added, by singing alternate 3rds and 4ths above the tenor, beginning and ending with a 5th, and with the cadential 5th preceded by a 4th (see exx.3 and 4 below).

‘Faux bourdon’, though not in itself a mandatory canonic instruction, is therefore a kind of trademark that tells the performers that they may increase the sonority of the music by adding one or two canonically derived parts.


Not to be confused, of course, with Faburden:
The term ‘faburden’ originally designated the lowest voice in an English technique of polyphonic vocal improvisation that enabled a group of soloists or a choir to sing at sight a three-part harmonization of plainchant, derived from the notes of the chant itself. It flourished from about 1430 or earlier until the time of the Reformation. The highly schematic formula used led to chains of what would now be called 6-3 chords, punctuated by occasional 8-5 chords (particularly at the beginnings and ends of phrases and words). The plainchant was thought of as the mean or middle voice, from which the other two parts were derived, although of course the chant was also present in the treble, which doubled it at the upper 4th while the bottom part sang 5ths or 3rds beneath it. The singers apparently declaimed the words simultaneously in the normal rhythm of plainchant. Ends of phrases were slightly ornamented, probably from quite early on, to provide satisfactory cadential suspensions; it is unlikely, at least in choral performance, that general ornamentation was introduced.


So, Fauxbourdons have to do with expanding plainchant into polyphonic chant, and with a technique of intervals. It has been described to me as a kind of forerunner of Anglican Chant - but of course, Fauxbourdons actually began in France, and came to England, somehow, as Faburden.

The Compline Choir of St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas has several examples of Fauxbourdons available at its "Music Files for Downloading" page.

Here's one example: a Nunc Dimittis by Ludovico Grossi da Viadana, Tone 5 Fauxbourdons/Antiphon Resurrexit Dominus.

Here's another: another Nunc Dimittis, by Richard Runciman Terry, Tone 5 Fauxbourdons/Antiphon Resurrexit Dominus.

(An aside: What's really interesting to me is that the "Alleluia" in the Antiphons above is the same one used by the French group Discantus in their version of the hymn to St. James the Apostle ("Alleluia, O Iacobe Sanctissime"), sung on the Pilgrimage to Compostela. Go here to listen to it; press the little red triangle under the CD image. Was this a common music theme used in that era, I wonder?)

And here, much to my delight, is The Advent Prose, (with Vaughan Williams Fauxbourdon), sung just this past December 9th. The words of this text (with refrain: "Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour forth righteousness: let the earth be fruitful, and bring forth a Saviour") come from Isaiah; you can see the full set of lyrics, in Latin and in English, here. (The English words used on this recording are a bit different than the ones at that link; you can find them here.)

February 14's Choral Evensong at St. Thomas Church featured a wonderful Evening Service - the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis - listed as "Tones VI and II in Fauxbourdon - Dearnley." Christopher Dearnley was the Organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London from 1968-1990. It's a beautiful and dramatic piece - I'm thinking it's probably a technician's delight - but the link will be gone in another week or so. So act now!

More later.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Lauda Syon

Another Google Books find: "Lauda Syon: Ancient Latin Hymns of the English and Other Churches, Translated into Corresponding Metres". By John David Chambers, published in 1866.

Thanks to StPetric.

The Latin hymns of the Anglo-Saxon church: with an interlinear Anglo-Saxon gloss

Amazingly, Google Books has now made available The Latin hymns of the Anglo-Saxon church: with an interlinear Anglo-Saxon gloss. From 1850 or so, apparently published by the "Council of Surtees Society." This "Anglo-Saxon Hymnarium" is derived from a "Manuscript in the library of the Dean and Chapter, Durham," along with such other hymns from various sources "as may seem expedient."

I just cannot believe some of the things that are now on the web. Actually, this one is really pretty good, I bet; it has a hundred or so hymns, and many are the ones we've been talking and writing about. And of course, if you need that "interlinear Anglo-Saxon gloss" - and I know some of you do - you've got it, baby!

Here's a page from the Anglo-Saxon Hymnarium:

Saturday, February 09, 2008

More Byzantine Catholic Chants

On this page, from the website Gréckokatolíci na Slovensku - the Byzantine Catholics in Slovakia. That last link goes to the main page in the Slovak language (I assume?), BTW; the first link goes to a page of mp3 files and is in English, though.

Here's a beautiful one, with a title we in the West know: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent. It's described as a:
[R]eplacement for the Cherubic hymn at the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great on the Holy Saturday. Carpathian chant - Prostopinie (Cantus firmus).
(4:45; 44,1 kHz 128 kbit joint stereo; 4466 kb) in Church Slavonic


A similar feel, actually, to the Western tune, Picardy. Makes sense, given the theme.

Here's a pretty Phos Hilaron:
Gladsome Light: [Fós hilaron] - hymn from Vespers celebrating Christ, Light for everyone and source of life fot the whole world. Kievan chant.
(1:55; 44,1 kHz 128 kbit joint stereo; 1824 kb) in Church Slavonic


And here's a chant that would have been used quite recently, God is with us, described as the:
[S]olemn chant at the Great Compline of Christmas and Epihany. (Taken from Isaisah chapter 8-9). Carpathian chant - Prostopinie (Cantus firmus).
(5:32; 44,1 kHz 128 kbit/s joint stereo; 5192 kb) in Slovak - smaller file (56 kbit/s joint stereo; 2272 kb)


I think, actually, you can listen to all the sung parts of the Liturgy of John Crysostom, in order; I could be wrong about this, though, because I really don't know much about the Eastern Rites. That section is in the second half of the page.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Lauds, Mattins, and Vespers Hymns, Ash Wednesday - Lent 3

From Hymn melodies for the whole year from the Sarum service-books:
On the 1st Sunday in Lent, & daily until the 3rd Sunday (when the Service is of the Season) :-
Evensong: Ex more docti mystico ... ... ... 30
Mattins: Summi Largitor premii ... ... ... 31
Lauds: Audi, benigne Conditor ... ... ... 32

This 2-week period is known as Invocavit; that's the Latin first word of the Introit for Lent 1 - in English, "He shall call upon Me."   Follow along with the Offices for this period, beginning with Ash Wednesday itself, at Breviary Offices, from Lauds to Compline Inclusive (Society of St. Margaret, Boston) (published in 1885). You'll find  all the Psalms, the collect, Chapter, antiphons, etc. at that link, although no music is provided; also check the iFrame look-in at the bottom of this post.


Here's melody #30, used for Ex more docti mystico at Evensong:



Here's an mp3 of Ex more docti mystico, sung to melody #30, from the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood's "Seasonal Propers Sung."  They call it "The Fast, as taught by holy lore."

Here are J.M. Neal's English words, which are those used on the mp3:
The fast, as taught by holy lore,
we keep in solemn course once more;
the fast to all men known, and bound
in forty days of yearly round.

The law and seers that were of old
in diverse ways this Lent foretold,
which Christ, all seasons' King and Guide,
in after ages sanctified.

More sparing therefore let us make
the words we speak, the food we take,
our sleep and mirth,-- and closer barred
be every sense in holy guard.

In prayer together let us fall,
and cry for mercy, one and all,
and weep before the Judge's feet,
and his avenging wrath entreat.

Thy grace have we offended sore,
by sins, O God, which we deplore;
but pour upon us from on high,
O pardoning One, thy clemency.

Remember thou, though frail we be,
that yet thine handiwork are we;
nor let the honor of thy name
be by another put to shame.

Forgive the sin that we have wrought;
increase the good that we have sought;
that we at length, our wanderings o'er,
may please thee here and evermore.

We pray thee, Holy Trinity,
One God, unchanging Unity,
that we from this our abstinence
may reap the fruits of penitence. 


TPL says this, about Ex more docti mystico; note that it refers to "the first half" of the hymn.  This is another longer hymn broken up into parts for use at various office.  I believe that the Evensong hymn Ex more docti mystico itself, then, would only consist of the first 3 or 4 verses, plus the doxology; the rest is sung at Matins, as noted below.
Attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604). In the Roman Breviary this hymn is used in its entirety for Matins from the first Sunday in Lent until the Saturday before Passion Sunday. Today the hymn is still used, but from Ash Wednesday until the Fifth Sunday of Lent and it is broken into two hymns. The first half, Ex more docti mystico, is used for the Sunday Office of the Readings. The second half, Precemur omnes cernui is used for Sunday Lauds. Both those hymns conclude with the final verse as found below.


Here is a chant score from my sources of the same tune, with a (slightly) different set of words:





Here's melody #31, used for Summi Largitor premii at Mattins:



Here's an mp3 of this melody; what you're hearing on the audio file is LLPB's Mattins hymn tune for Lent 3 - Lent 4,  Clarum decus ieiunii.   (It's sung here in English as "The Glory of These Forty Days.")

These seem to be the Latin words to Summi Largitor premii:
Summi largitor praemii,
spes qui es unica mundi,
preces intende seruorum
ad te deuote clamantum.

Nostra te conscientia
graue offendisse se monstrat,
quam emundes supplicamus
ab omnibus piaculis.

Si rennuis, quis tribuet?
Indulge, quia poetns es:
si corde rogamus mundo,
certe debes ex promisio.

Erog acceptare nostrum
quie sacrati ieiunium,
quo mystice paschalia
capiamus sacramenta.

Summa nobis hoc conferat
in Deitate Trinitas,
in qua gloriatur unus
per cuncta saecula Deus.


Here is an English translation of this text, in the meter used by the Latin text; this was provided by a reader of this blog, Rob Stoltz of Portland, Oregon.  Many thanks to him! 

I just found this translation in George Herbert Palmer's Hymner, but it may have come from the Dominican Breviary (PDF) originally.
Thou only hope of all below,
Who dost the full reward bestow :
Regard thy servants one and all,
Who unto thee devoutly call.

Our guilty conscience tells that we
Have grievously offended thee:
We pray thee, cleanse it by thy grace,
And every stain of sin efface.

If thou wiltnot, who shall condone?
Send pardon, for 'tis thine alone:
And grant, O Lord, our pray'rs may be
By clean hearts offer'd unto thee.

Thus may our fast thy favour gain,
Who didst this Lenten-tide ordain :
That meetly we the mystick fare
Of Paschal Sacraments may share.

This grant us, Blessed Trinity,
Supreme and wondrous Deity:
Who, through all ages glorified,
Dost still one God unchanged abide. Amen.

Derek points to this hymn translation at Oremus as another English text for Summi Largitor premiiHowever, these words do not fit the meter of the hymn score above.
O thou who dost accord us
the highest prize and guerdon,
thou hope of all our race,
Jesus, do thou afford us
the gift we ask of pardon
for all who humbly seek thy face.

With whispered accusation
our conscience tells of sinning
in thought and word and deed;
thine is our restoration,
the work of grace beginning
for souls from every burden freed.

For who, if thou reject us,
shall raise the fainting spirit?
'Tis thine alone to spare:
if thou to life elect us,
with cleansèd hearts to near it,
shall be our task, our lowly prayer.

O Trinity most glorious,
thy pardon free bestowing,
defend us evermore;
that in thy courts victorious,
thy love more truly knowing,
we may with all thy saints adore.



This is melody #32, used for Audi, benigne Conditor at Lauds:

Here is an mp3 of Audi, benigne Conditor sung to melody #32, from the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood's "Seasonal Propers Sung."  They call it "O Kind Creator."   Here's Oremus Hymnal's entry for this hymn; they attribute the hymn to Gregory the Great, sixth century.  English words here - same as the ones used on the audio file - are by Thomas Alexander Lacey, 1906.
O Kind Creator, bow thine ear
to mark the cry, to know the tear
before thy throne of mercy spent
in this thy holy fast of Lent.

Our hearts are open, Lord, to thee:
thou knowest our infirmity;
pour out on all who seek thy face
abundance of thy pardoning grace.

Our sins are many, this we know;
spare us, good Lord, thy mercy show;
and for the honor of thy name
our fainting souls to life reclaim.

Give us the self-control that springs
from discipline of outward things,
that fasting inward secretly
the soul may purely dwell with thee.

We pray thee, Holy Trinity,
one God, unchanging Unity,
that we from this our abstinence
may reap the fruits of penitence.

This hymn is called Audi, benigne Conditor (O Merciful Creator, Hear!) at TPL, and there is a different set of words there. Here's their description of the hymn:
Attributed to Pope St. Gregory the Great (540-604). In the Roman Breviary this hymn is used at Vespers during Lent for both Sundays and the ferial Office from the first Sunday in Lent until the Friday before Passion Sunday. In the Liturgia Horarum it is used at Vespers for the Sunday Office from the first Sunday until the Saturday before Holy Week.


Here is the chant score from my sources of the same tune, with yet a different set of words. This one's called "O Maker of the Human Race," and is sung, too, at Lauds from Ash Wednesday to Lent 3:




Here's the peek-in to the SSM Breviary:




Here are links to all three "Lent Office" posts on Chantblog:

Friday, February 01, 2008

Attende, Domine (The Lent Prose)

Attende, Domine, or the "Lent Prose," is a Gregorian chant responsory sung at Divine Service during Lent. It had been very difficult, until recently, to find audio online for this sublimely beautiful music - which I first heard sung in procession at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue.

Here's the English version, "Hear Us O Lord"; it's led by George Curnow, Senior Cantor at the Church of St. Martin in Roath:



Hear us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we have sinned against thee.

To thee, Redeemer, on thy throne of glory:
lift we our weeping eyes in holy pleadings:
listen, O Jesu, to our supplications.

Hear us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we have sinned against thee.

O thou chief cornerstone, right hand of the Father:
way of salvation, gate of life celestial:
cleanse thou our sinful souls from all defilement.

Hear us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we have sinned against thee.

God, we implore thee, in thy glory seated:
bow down and hearken to thy weeping children:
pity and pardon all our grievous trespasses.

Hear us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we have sinned against thee.

Sins oft committed, now we lay before thee:
with true contrition, now no more we veil them:
grant us, Redeemer, loving absolution.

Hear us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we have sinned against thee.

Innocent captive, taken unresisting:
falsely accused, and for us sinners sentenced,
save us, we pray thee, Jesu, our Redeemer.

Hear us, O Lord, have mercy upon us: for we have sinned against thee.

The St. David's Compline Choir of Austin, TX, offers this mp3 of "Hear Us, O Lord" (the English translation of Attende Domine), with harmonized fauxbourdons refrain.

And here's the Latin version, sung a "First Sunday in Lent" mass, offered by St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church in Edinburgh.



Here's the original Latin:
Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.
Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.

Ad te Rex summe,
omnium Redemptor,
oculos nostros
sublevamus flentes:
exaudi, Christe,
supplicantum preces.

Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.

Dextera Patris,
lapis angularis,
via salutis,
ianua caelestis,
ablue nostri
maculas delicti.

Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.

Rogamus, Deus,
tuam maiestatem:
auribus sacris
gemitus exaudi:
crimina nostra
placidus indulge.

Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.

Tibi fatemur
crimina admissa:
contrito corde
pandimus occulta:
tua, Redemptor,
pietas ignoscat.

Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.

Innocens captus,
nec repugnans ductus;
testibus falsis
pro impiis damnatus
quos redemisti,
tu conserva, Christe.

Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.


And yes, I do agree that this particular English version is a bit Victorian and overwrought, and needs a rewrite. Let's get right on it.

TPL has a version described as "Mozarabic Hymn from the 10th century."

Here is a chant score, a PDF from the St. Cecelia Schola Cantorum. Here is an mp3 of Attende, Domine, sung in Latin by I'm not sure who; it comes from this page, that seems to have something to do with Fisheaters.org, labeled "Free High Quality Gregorian Chant MP3s (For You!)." And there are indeed quite a few audio files there.

Chant Propers for Candlemas (The Feast of the Presentation)

I've copied and pasted below the full complement of the Candlemas Chant Propers - including those from the Procession - from this In Presentatione Domini page; the chants were recorded live at St. Benedict's Monastery in São Paulo (Brazil). 

The links on the named propers are mp3s; click "score" to get the chant scores.
In Presentatione Domini

Ad processionem


Antiphona: Is. 35, 4.5 Ecce Dominus noster (20.4s - 322 kb) score
Procedamus in pace (8.3s - 133 kb) score
Antiphona: Lumen ad revelationem gentium (1m27.3s - 1367 kb) score
Antiphona: Adorna thalamum (2m30.6s - 2367 kb) score

Ad Missam

Introitus: Ps. 47, 10.11 et 2 Suscepimus (2m57.0s - 2767 kb) score
Graduale: Ps. 47, 10.11. V. 9 Suscepimus (2m30.5s - 2355 kb) score
Alleluia: Senex puerum portabat (3m02.2s - 2849 kb) score
Offertorium: Ps. 44, 3 Diffusa est gratia (1m45.2s - 1647 kb) score
Communio: Lc. 2, 26 Responsum (34.8s - 547 kb) score


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