Missa pro defunctis: In Paradisum

In Paradisum is the final chant of the Requiem mass, an antiphon sung as the body is being carried out of the church to be buried.  Here it's sung by the Alfred Deller Consort.



Here's the text:

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.

May angels lead you into paradise; upon your arrival, may the martyrs receive you and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. May the ranks of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, once a poor man, may you have eternal rest.

Here's the full  chant score:

More about In Paradisum:

The Gregorian melody for In paradisum is in the Mixolydian mode. The special nature of this mode — with its lowered seventh degree, which makes it different from the modern major mode — is heard twice in this melody at cadences on the words Chorus Angelorum and quondam paupere. The melodic highpoint of In paradisum comes on the name of Lazarus, the poor beggar in the Bible who went to heaven while a rich man went to hell.

Here's the In Paradisum from Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, sung on All Souls' Day 2011 at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Times Sq. NY:




Here are links to posts on this blog, for all the movements of the Requiem mass:

• Missa pro Defunctis: Requiem aeternam (Introitus)
• Missa pro Defunctis: Requiem aeternam (Introitus) and Kyrie Eleison
• Missa pro Defunctis: Requiem aeternam (Graduale)
• Missa pro Defunctis: Absolve, Domine (Tractus)
• Missa pro Defunctis: Sicut Cervus (An alternate Tract)
• Missa pro Defunctis: Dies irae (Sequentia)
• Missa pro Defunctis: Domine Jesu Christe (Offertorium)
• Missa pro Defunctis: Sanctus and Agnus Dei
• Missa pro Defunctis: Communio
• Missa pro Defunctis: Libera Me
• Missa pro defunctis: In Paradisum