Kyrie: Rex immense, Pater Pie

This Kyrie trope/motet comes from the Codex Calixtinus (or, as some call it - and more accurately, too! -  the Liber Sancti Jacobi).   This video comes from the Budapest Schola Cantorum; here's the information about it that they posted at the YouTube page:

Budapesti Énekes Iskola / Schola Cantorum Budapestiensis
Művészeti vezetők / Artistic directors: János MEZEI, Tamás BUBNÓ

Kyrie "Rex immensae" for two voice, from Codex Callixtinus

From the photos I've seen, the Schola appears to be a mixed choir of male and female voices, both young and older.  Very nice! 



Here are the words they are singing; I found them in a German Google book.  Interestingly, there is a bit of Greek mixed with the Latin text.

              Kyrie.
Fulbertus episcopus de sancto Jacobo.

 Rex immense, pater pie,
        eleison,
 Kyrie, eleìson,
 Palmo cuncta qui concludis,
        eleison,
         Kyrie, eleison,
  Sother, theos athanatos,
        eleison,
         Kyrie, eleison.

 Christe, fili patris summi,
      eleison,
        Christe, eleisou,
Qui de coelis descendisti,
      eleìson,
        Christe, eleison,
Tuum plasma redemisti,
      eleìson,
        Christe, eleison.

Consolator, dulcis amor,
      eleison,
        Kyrie, eleison,
Qui Jacobum illustraSti,
      eleison,
        Kyrie, eleison,
Cujus prece nobis parce,
      eleison,
        Kyrie, eleison.


Great King, gentle father,
        have mercy,
      Lord have mercy,
 You hold all things in your hand,
        have mercy,
      Lord have mercy,
  Savior, immortal God,
        have mercy,
      Lord have mercy.


 Christ, Son of the Most High,
        have mercy,
      Christ have mercy,
He came down from heaven,     
       have mercy,
     Christ have mercy,
You have redeemed your creatures,
      have mercy,
    Christ have mercy.


Comforter, sweet love,
      have mercy,
    Lord have mercy,
You are illumined by James,
      have mercy,
    Lord have mercy,
By his prayer spare us,
      have mercy ,
    Lord have mercy.


The words are also here, at a Wikisource site about the Codex Calixtinus; there are some misspellings there, though.

This Kyrie is apparently contained in in an appendix to the Codex.   (I have not been able to find a full digital copy of this manuscript online so far, so this is just an assumption on my part.)   A note at this page says (in reference to the organum included in the Codex) that:

It is possible that the Benedictines of Cluny (France) assembled this collection from various sources and presented it to the Cathedral of Santiago.  The concluding appendix to the codex contains 20 polyphonic pieces and one more appears in the main body of the codex.

Kyrie: Rex Immense is a trope on the Mass 12 (Pater cuncta) Kyrie.  A trope is a musical composition in which something new - either music or text, or both - added to an original chant.

In most cases, the original chant - the Kyrie, in this case - became melismatic (ornate in melody) over time; that is, musical ornament was, over the course of years, added to a simple Kyrie eleison chant.    (The ornament here is in the wandering melody of the "Kyrie" and "Christe" sections.)

Later on (or at the same time), words were written to the melodic ornament on the simple chant; the words - and perhaps the melody? - for this particular Kyrie are apparently attributed to Bishop Fulbert of Chartres.  Fulbert actually lived from the middle of the tenth century until 1028, two full centuries before the era of the Liber Sancti Jacobi (12th Century), so this attribution may not be accurate - although Fulbert was a hymn-writer.  (One of his compositions was the familiar Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem.)

(Just to note:  Mass 12 may originally have been known as Mass 13; I'm finding several references that may indicate this.)

Here's the Mass 12 Kyrie itself:



Here's a score:

Here's a page at DIAMM with some information about the LSJ - although, again, no images of the manuscript itself.  (You can apparently see a few images at this Wikipedia page, though.  I'm not sure where these are coming from.)  This Kyrie is listed as piece #16, folio 189.  (Which is, perhaps, otherwise known as folio 218!  Really, I have no idea, since I can't see what's going on.)

In this video, you can see and hear the original chant, as well as the trope; listen for the complete "Kyrie eleison" and "Christe eleison" chants.  These are included in the words I cited above, but are left out in the video above.




And another, similar interpretation (to start with, anyway!), from Ensemble Nu:n, a favorite group of mine.   They mix medieval chant and jazz improvisation, always to interesting effect.  How could I not like them?

Requiem (Victoria)

In memory of those who've lost their lives in the Philippines this week. Many thanks to this good young choral group for recording and webcasting this beautiful music.




From the YouTube page:

Officium defunctorum
(sex vocibus, in obitu et obsequiis sacrae imperatricis, Madrid, 1605)
by Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548-1611)

Performed by University of North Texas Collegium Singers, directed by Richard Sparks.

Soloists: Laurissa Backlin, Julianna Emanski, Fiona Gillespie, sopranos; Holly Dalrymple (chant incipits); Fabiana Gonzalez, Rachael Hardy, Alyssa Narum, altos; Tucker Bilodeau, Aaron Harp, tenors; Christopher Jackson, bass.

00:50 - Taedet animam meam
04:15 - Introitus
09:45 - Kyrie
12:07 - Graduale
14:45 - Offertorium
18:15 - Sanctus y Benedictus
21:18 - Agnus Dei
24:00 - Communio
27:30 - Motet: Versa est in luctum
30:41 - Libera me

Performance from program "Victoria Requiem" as part of Early Music America's Young Performers Festival June 6, 2012, 2:30 PM, St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Berkeley, CA).

UNT Collegium Singers
Cantus 1 -- Laurissa Backlin, Julianna Emanski, Fiona Gillespie
Cantus 2 -- Holly Dalrymple, Fabiana Gonzalez, Oneyda Padierna
Altus -- Rachael Hardy, Alyssa Narum
Tenor 1 -- Tucker Bilodeau, Aaron Harp
Tenor 2 -- Bradley King, Jonathan Sauceda
Bass -- Christopher Jackson, Nathaniel Mattingly

Performance from program "Victoria Requiem" as part of Early Music America's Young Performers Festival June 6, 2012, 2:30 PM, St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Berkeley, CA).

About this piece, from Wikipedia:

Officium Defunctorum is a musical setting of the Office of the Dead composed by the Spanish Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria in 1603. It includes settings of the movements of the Requiem Mass, accounting for about 26 minutes of the 42 minute composition, and the work is sometimes referred to as Victoria's Requiem.

History

Officium Defunctorum was composed for the funeral of the Dowager Empress Maria, sister of Philip II of Spain, daughter of Charles V, wife of Maximilian II and mother of two emperors; it was dedicated to Princess Margaret for “the obsequies of your most revered mother”.^[1] The Empress Maria died on February 26, 1603 and the great obsequies were performed on April 22 and 23. Victoria was employed as personal chaplain to the Empress Maria from 1586 to the time of her death.

Victoria published eleven volumes of his music during his lifetime, representing the majority of his compositional output. Officium Defunctorum, the only work to be published by itself, was the eleventh volume and the last work Victoria published. The date of publication, 1605, is often included with the title to differentiate the Officium Defunctorum from Victoria's other setting of the Requiem Mass (in 1583, Victoria composed and published a book of Masses (Reprinted in 1592) including a Missa pro defunctis for four-part choir).

Structure

Officium Defunctorum is scored for six-part SSATTB chorus. It includes an entire Office of the Dead: in addition to a Requiem Mass, Victoria sets an extra-liturgical funeral motet, a lesson that belongs to Matins (scored for only SATB and not always included in concert performances), and the ceremony of Absolution which follows the Mass. Polyphonic sections are separated by unaccompanied chant incipits Victoria printed himself. The Soprano II usually carries the cantus firmus, though "it very often disappears into the surrounding part-writing since the chant does not move as slowly as most cantus firmus parts and the polyphony does not generally move very fast."^[2] The sections of the work are as follows:

• Taedet animam meam

Second Lesson of Matins (Job 10:1-7)

• Missa Pro Defunctis (Mass for the Dead)

With the Council of Trent, the liturgy of the Requiem Mass was standardized. Victoria sets all of the Requiem Mass sections except the Dies Irae sequence.

• Introit
• Kyrie
• Gradual
• Offertory
• Sanctus
• Agnus Dei
• Communion
  

• Versa est in luctum cithara mea (Funeral motet)

• The Absolution: Responsory
  

  • Libera me
  • Kyrie

  
  

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Mass in G minor

Sung here by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge.   The mass was written in 1921  for unaccompanied double choir and four soloists.

Kyrie IV (Altissime, Cantus ad libitum)

This is the beautiful Kyrie (Altissime) from Mass IV, sung by the Benedictine monks of St. Martin Beuron.

 

According to the Liber Usualis (1961), Mass IV (Cunctípotens génitor Deus) is "For Feasts of the II Class."   This is a Kyrie Cantus ad libitum, an option to be used, according to a note in the L.U., "in order to add greater solemnity."

Cunctípotens génitor Deus is "Omnipotent Creator God" in English.  This nine-fold Kyrie - in common with other nine-fold Kyries - has also been used in a medieval trope.   Here's a definition of "trope," from the Episcopal Church website; it includes something about Cunctípotens génitor Deus, too:

A textual insertion into the authorized liturgical texts. Tropes varied from a few words to lengthy sentences. Used with traditional plainchant, the extra words were matched to the notes of a long melisma (a series of notes assigned to one syllable of the text). For example, the setting for the Kyrie eleison at S 356 in The Hymnal 1982 Accompaniment Edition, Vol. 1, once included the trope cunctipotens Genitor Deus inserted after the word Kyrie. The practice of including tropes was popular in the ninth to thirteenth centuries.

This site has the words to - and quite a bit more about - Cunctípotens génitor Deus.  As you can see, the words to each of the nine stanzas can be fitted to the chant, in lieu of the usual Kyrie text:

Cunctipotens genitor Deus omnicreator eleison    
Salvificet pietas tua nos bone rector eleison    
Fons et origo bone pie luxque perhennis eleison    
Christe dei splendor virtus patrisque sophia eleison    
Plasmatis humanis factor lapsis reparator eleison    
Ne tua dampnatur Jhesu factura benigne eleison    
Amborum sacrum spiramen nexus amorque eleison    
Procedens fomes vite fons purificans vis eleison    
Indultor culpe venie largitor optime offensas dele sacro nos munere reple eleison    
Spirte alme eleison    

All-powerful Father, God, Creator of all things, have mercy
May thy compassion save us, good ruler, have mercy
Font and origin of goodness, Holy one, light everlasting, have mercy
Christ, the splendor of God, strength and wisdom of the Father, have mercy
Creator of humankind, healer of those who fall, have mercy
Lest thy creation be damned, kind Jesus, have mercy
The holy breath, the fusion and the love of both, have mercy
Advancing flame, source of life, purifying power, have mercy
Forgiver of sin, bestower of pardon, erase our offenses, replenish us, give us holy grace, have mercy
Most gracious Spirit, have mercy

A beautiful Trinitarian text!  That same site also offers this:

Generally Kyries of the early medieval period contained long untexted portions. To compensate for this, Notker writes that he fitted Latin poetry to the untexted portions as a mnemotic device. Consequently, the Kyrie began to exist in two equally valid formats: the original Greek text and in a Latin prosula. In this case, prosula refers to the words added to the pre-existing chant. Such additions, known also as tropes were added to many chants, in both the Mass and the Office, that contained long melismatic passages. In the Mass this showed itself most clearly in the Kyrie and the Alleluia. Adding words, however, could become problematic, as tradition held that the words and music of the chants were given to the original composers by God himself. These added texts, nevertheless, served three purposes: to provide a memory aid for long melismas; to enhance and elaborate the liturgy; and (in a backhanded way) to create new liturgical texts. Tropes and Sequences (another form of medieval liturgical poetry) were severly restricted in the reforms of the 16th century Council of Trent: four Sequences were allowed to remain and all tropes were eliminated.

It is believed that a man named Tuotilo was responsible for writing this added text to Kyrie IV. Like Notker, Tuotilo was a monk at the monastery of St. Gall. Also like Notker, Tuotilo was a student of Iso annd Marcellus, unlike Notker, Tuotilo was also a sculptor and painter. Scholars believe that Notker and Tuotilo shared the work of composing prosulas; Notker was primarily responsible for adding text to the Alleluias and Tuotilo added text to other parts of the Mass. Ekkehard IV, who wrote a small biography of these early monks described Tuotilo's melodies as "strange and easily recognisable."  Of Tuotilo himself, he wrote:

"Tutilo was widely different. [from Notker] He was strong and supple in arm and limb, such a man as Fabius tells us to choose for an athlete; ready of speech, clear of voice, a delicate carver and painter; musical, with especial skill on the harp and the flute; for the Abbot gave him a cell wherein he taught the harp to the sons of noble families around. He was a crafty messenger, to run far or near; skilled in building and all the kindred arts; he had a natural gift of ready and forcible expression whether in German or in Latin, in earnest or in jest; so that the emperor Charles [the Fat] once said, "Devil take the fellow who made so gifted a man into a monk!" But with all this he had higher gifts: in choir he was mighty, and in secret prayer he had the gift of tears; a most excellent composer of poetry and melodies, yet chaste, as became the disciple of our Master Marcellus, who shut his eyes against women."

Here's something from Wikipedia about tropes, with the text for another troped Kyrie:

Tropes were a particular feature of the music and texts of the Sarum Use (the use of Salisbury, the standard liturgical use of England until the Reformation), although they occurred widely in the Latin church. Deus creator omnium, was widely used in the Sarum Use and is in the form of a troped Kyrie.

Deus creator omnium tu theos ymon nostri pie eleyson.

Tibi laudes coniubilantes regum rex Christe oramus te eleyson.

Laus virtus pax et imperium cui est semper sine fine eleyson.

Christe rex unice Patris almi nate coeterne eleyson.

Qui perditum hominem salvasti de morte reddens vite eleyson.

Ne pereant pascue oves tue Jesu pastor bone eleyson.

Consolator Spiritus supplices ymas te exoramus eleyson.

Virtus nostra Domine atque salus nostra in eternum eleyson.

Summe Deus et une vite dona nobis tribue misertus nostrique tu digneris eleyson.

O God, creator of all things, most benevolent God: have mercy upon us.

To you, Christ, King of Kings, we pray and rejoice together: have mercy.

Praise, strength, peace and power are given to him always and without end: have mercy.

Christ, king coeternal and only-begotten of the father: have mercy.

Who saved lost man from death and restored him to life: have mercy.

Jesus, good shepherd, let not your sheep perish: have mercy.

Holy Spirit, the Comforter, we implore you to pray for us: have mercy.

Lord God our strength and salvation in eternity: have mercy.

Great and ever-living God, you have had pity on us. Grant your gifts to those whom you deem worthy: have mercy.

The standard Latin-rite ninefold Kyrie is the backbone of this trope. Although the supplicatory format ('eleyson'/'have mercy') has been retained, the Kyrie in this troped format adopts a distinctly Trinitarian cast with a tercet address to the Holy Spirit which is not present in the standard Kyrie. Deus creator omnium is thus a fine example of the literary and doctrinal sophistication of some of the tropes used in the Latin rite and its derived uses in the mediæval period.

The troped material for the kyrie in the video has been dropped out, leaving just the original form of the chant, Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.

Some of the masses are actually named according to the tropes on their Kyries, as far as I can tell.  (I am in the middle of some investigation into tropes, and will confirm this when I'm sure of it!)

There's more about tropes here, at New Advent.

Sanctus XI from Mass XI

Via Antoine Daniel; Mass XI is "Orbis Factor" ("Creator of the world").



Get audio files and chant scores for all the mass ordinary settings here.)

Mass X ('Alme Pater')

Here's a playlist of the plainsong of the Mass X Ordinary (without the Credo).



The Wikipedia entry for "Kyriale" notes that this setting is used "for Marian feasts and memorials"; Alme Pater - corresponding exactly to "Alma Mater" - means "loving father." (I think the more precise translation is "nourishing father"; Google translate offers "bountiful," "nourishing," "kind," "loving," and "fostering" as alternatives to "loving".)

You can find scores and music for all XVIII plainsong mass settings (along with some other standalone ordinary chants, and seven Credos), in Latin, at CCWatershed.  Get English versions - not all come with sound files - at MusicaSacra.

Bach: Mass in B minor (Proms 2012)

Here's a live recording of the whole Mass in B Minor, sung this past August at the BBC Proms. Stupendous.

Prom 26: Bach -- Mass in B minor
Johann Sebastian Bach - Mass in B minor

Joélle Harvey soprano
Carolyn Sampson soprano
Iestyn Davies counter-tenor
Ed Lyon tenor
Matthew Rose bass

Choir of the English Concert
The English Concert
Harry Bicket conductor

Royal Albert Hall
2 August 2012

More about the piece, from Wikipedia:

Structure of the work

Main article: Mass in B minor structure

The work consists of 27 sections.

I. Kyrie

1. Kyrie eleison (1st). 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Adagio, Largo, common time.^[22]
2. Christe eleison. Duet (soprano I,II) in D major with obbligato violins, marked Andante, common time.
3. Kyrie eleison (2nd). 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in F# minor, marked Allegro moderato, cut-common time ("alla breve").

Note the 9 (trinitarian, 3 x 3) movements with the largely symmetrical structure, and Domine Deus in the centre.

1. Gloria in excelsis. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace, 3/8 time. The music appears also as the opening chorus of Bach's cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191.
2. Et in terra pax. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Andante, common time. Again the music also appears in the opening chorus of BWV 191.
3. Laudamus te. Aria (soprano II) in A major with violin obbligato, marked Andante, common time.
4. Gratias agimus tibi. 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro moderato, cut-common time. The music is a reworking of the second movement of Bach's Ratswechsel cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29.
5. Domine Deus. Duet (soprano I, tenor) in G major, marked Andante common time. The music appears as a duet in BWV 191.
6. Qui tollis peccata mundi. 4-part chorus (Soprano II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Lento, 3/4 time. The chorus is a reworking of the first half of the opening movement of cantata Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei, BWV 46.
7. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris. Aria (alto) in B minor with oboe d'amore obbligato, marked Andante commodo, 6/8 time.
8. Quoniam tu solus sanctus. Aria (bass) in D major with corno da caccia obbligato, marked Andante lento, 3/4 time.
9. Cum Sancto Spiritu. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace, 3/4 time. The music appears also in modified form as the closing chorus of BWV 191.

II. Symbolum Nicenum, or Credo

Note the 9 movements with the symmetrical structure, and the crucifixion at the centre.

1. Credo in unum Deum. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in A mixolydian, marked Moderato, cut-common time.
2. Patrem omnipotentem. 4-part chorus (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro, cut-common time. The music is a reworking of the opening chorus of cantata Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171.
3. Et in unum Dominum. Duet (soprano I, alto) in G major, marked Andante, common time.
4. Et incarnatus est. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in B minor, marked Andante maestoso, 3/4 time.
5. Crucifixus. 4-part chorus (Soprano II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in E minor, marked Grave, 3/2 time. The music is a reworking of the first section of the first chorus of the cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12.
6. Et resurrexit. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Allegro, 3/4 time.
7. Et in Spiritum Sanctum. Aria (Bass) in A major with oboi d'amore obbligati, marked Andantino, 6/8 time.
8. Confiteor. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in F# minor, marked Moderato, Adagio, cut-common time.
9. Et expecto. 5-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Vivace ed allegro, cut-common time. The music is a reworking of the second movement of Bach's Ratswechsel cantata Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120 on the words Jauchzet, ihr erfreute Stimmen.

III. Sanctus

1. Sanctus. 6-part chorus (Soprano I, II, Alto I, II, Tenor, Bass) in D major, marked Largo, common time; Vivace, 3/8 time. Derived from an earlier, now lost, 3 soprano, 1 alto work written in 1724.

IV. Osanna, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei

1. Osanna. double chorus (both four parts) in D major, marked Allegro, 3/8 time. A reworking of the opening chorus of BWV 215 — although they may share a common lost model.
2. Benedictus. Aria for tenor with flute obbligato (some later editions use violin obbligato) in B minor, marked Andante, 3/4 time.
3. Osanna (da capo). as above.
4. Agnus Dei. Aria for alto in G minor with violin obbligato, marked Adagio, common time. Derives from an aria of a lost wedding cantata (1725) which Bach also re-used as the alto aria of his Ascension Oratorio Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11 but as the two different surviving versions are markedly different, it is thought they share a common model.
5. Dona nobis pacem. 4-part chorus in D major, marked Moderato, cut-common time. The music is almost identical to "Gratias agimus tibi" from the Gloria.

And I've always liked this article, "Bach's Mass in B Minor as Musical Icon."

Gloria: Mozart's Coronation Mass in C major - the Salisbury Cathedral Choir

A short video of a lovely song sung by a great choir - but watch it especially for a fantastic look at the inside of the Cathedral!



HT Saturday Chorale.

Bach: Mass in B minor, BWV232

The whole thing.   If you have a couple of hours, why not spend it listening to the most wonderfully thrilling piece of music you'll ever hear?

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 † 1750)

Work: Mass in B minor, for soloist, chorus, orchestra & continuo, BWV232

01. Coro: Kyrie eleison
02. Aria (Duetto): Christe eleison
03. Coro: Kyrie eleison
04. Coro: Gloria in excelsis Deo
05. Coro: Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis
06. Aria: Laudamus te
07. Coro: Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam
08. Aria (Duetto): Domine Deus, Rex coelestis
09. Coro: Qui tollis peccata mundi
10. Aria: Qui sedes ad dextram Patris, miserere nobis.
11. Aria: Quoniam tu solus sanctus
12. Coro: Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris, Amen.
13. Coro: Credo in unum Deum
14. Coro: Patrem omnipotentem
15. Aria (Duetto) Et in unum Dominum
16. Coro: Et incarnatus est
17. Coro: Crucifixus etiam pro nobis
18. Coro: Et resurrexit tertia die
19. Aria: Et in spiritum sanctum dominum
20. Coro: Confiteor tibi
21. Coro: Et exspecto
22. Coro: Sanctus
23. Coro: Osanna in excelsis I
24. Aria: Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
25. Coro: Osanna in excelsis II
26. Aria: Agnus Dei
27. Coro: Dona nobis pacem

Missa Albanus - Robert Fayrfax (1464-1521):

This is the Gloria from a beautiful 15th Century mass by Robert Fayrfax (a name new to me).  The other movements are in separate videos at YouTube.




Saturday Chorale  wrote about this mass, and about Fayrfax, in September 2012:

I've picked Fayrfax's Missa Albanus for this week's "Sunday Playlist" to serve as a further introduction to Fayrax and his work. It's a lovely piece of music with soaring ethereal polyphony that is very restrained and spare and all the more beautiful for that, it's a piece of music I listen to often. During his life Fayrfax was recognised as a leading composer by King Henry VIII who acknowledged his status as a  leading composer of his generation and rewarded him handsomely. A Lincolnshire man, Fayrfax was born in Deeping Gate on April 23, 1464. There's no surviving record of his schooling or of his earliest musical training but he's known to have had Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443–1509), Countess of Richmond and Derby and King Henry VII's mother as a patron. Her patronage would have led to Fayrfax being established at court and by 1497 he was sufficiently well thought of both as a musician and as a courtier to be appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. He studied music in both Cambridge and Oxford receiving the degrees of MusB (1501) and MusD (1504) from Cambridge and was awarded Oxford University's first ever doctorate in music in 1511. He's known to have been present at such important state occasions as Henry VII's funeral, Henry VIII's coronation, the burial of Prince Henry, and the meeting of the kings of England and France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in June 1520. He died in 1521.

His "Missa Albanus" Mass setting was most likely written for choir of St Alban's Abbey, like his Marian antiphon "Maria plena virtute"  it's based on a nine note theme found in a plainsong antiphon "Primus in Anglorum", in the rhyming Office of St Alban "O Albane Deo grate". It's a fairly traditional English festal Mass which omits the Kyrie which would have been troped under the Sarum rite usage his setting also truncates the Credo. The four movements – Gloria, Credo, Sanctus & Benedictus, and Agnus Dei are of approximately equal length and are each introduced by a head motif which looks forward to the cantus firmus. His treatment of the cantus firmus was very original he presents his theme backwards – both inverted and in retrograde inversion, this supplements his use of contrasting freely composed three part sections and cantus firmus based sections for the full choir.  It's sung below by The Cardinall's Musick conducted by Andrew Carwood.

"A Mass For Recusants With Propers for Corpus Christi"

There's an interesting post at Saturday Chorale (a great site new to me) about this William Byrd mass.  It includes a setting of the mass ordinary - and polyphonic settings of the propers for Corpus Christi. Here's the video itself (45 minutes long):



Here's the opening of the post at Saturday Chorale, explaining the circumstances in which Byrd lived and wrote this mass:

William Byrd was a brave and stubborn man, a devout Catholic in a country whose government and people were becoming more and more Protestant he was able to use his position as a favourite of Elizabeth I to mitigate the worst of the punishments meted out to him and his family as recusants. Notwithstanding Elizabeth I's protection Byrd's home was often subjected to raids during which it and its inhabitants were searched for compromising Catholic materials, had such been found Byrd would at the very least have faced crippling fines and could well have faced imprisonment or even being put to death. Given these circumstances it took courage to set any Latin texts whatsoever. Byrd however went well beyond merely setting Latin religious texts. With the stubborn heroism that seems to have been one of his defining characteristics Byrd not only set but published three settings of the Mass between 1593 and 1595.

Here's a note at the YouTube page, listing all the music on the video:

The music in this video consists of Byrd's five part Mass and (some of) the Propers for Corpus Christi. The music in the video consists of:

1 Cibavit eos
2 Kyrie
3 Gloria
4 Oculi omnium
5 Lauda Sion salvatorem
6 Credo
7 Sacerdotes Domini
8a Sanctus
8b Benedictus
9 Quotiescunque manducabitis
10 Agnus Dei
11 Processional Hymn, Pange lingua gloriosi

The blogger provides a PDF at the post, too, with texts for all the above. A wonderful post! And there's much more to read there - so, go.

Sanctus XVII, for Sundays in Advent

Sanctus XVII, for Sundays in Advent & Lent, Vocals by Matthew J Curtis on Vimeo

Here's a lovely audio/video recording of this Sanctus from Mass XVII, apparently used for Advent in the Roman Catholic Church.



Sanctus XVII, for Sundays in Advent & Lent, Vocals by Matthew J Curtis from St Antoine Daniel on Vimeo.

All of the music - both audio/video and scores - for this Mass, and in fact for all of the Mass settings, can be found here.

The Greatness of J.S. Bach (Again!)

We're singing the Crucifixus from the Bach B Minor Mass this year, twice (once on Good Friday), so naturally I was hunting around for a video of it so I could practice at home.

At the time, I found the most lovely set of videos from the piece, via the search for the Crucifixus alone. But now there seems to be a video of the whole Mass, as one 2-hour-long version. Really gorgeous.

Ensemble Orchestral de Paris.

Ruth Ziesak: soprano.
Joyce DiDonato: mezzosoprano.
Daniel Taylor: countertenor.
Paul Agnew: alto.
Dietrich Henschel: bass.

Conducted by John Nelson.

(A little bit) More about Ergo Maris Stella, verbi dei cella

In re: my previous post, I did find this PDF file online, which comes from the site of The Schola Antiqua of Chicago. The PDF is titled: "LONG JOY, BRIEF LANGUOR" and subtitled "The Anonymous English Quem malignus spiritus Mass."

The relevant section is notated thusly: "Alleluia (V. Ave Maria Dominus tecum) and Sequence: Ave maria…virgo serena." Ergo Maris Stella is taken from the Sequence (and as usual, I find myself attracted to Sequence Hymns, even without knowing it!). I've put the words to Ergo Maris Stella, verbi dei cella in bold purple in both the Latin and the English:

Alleluia
Ave Maria gratia plena
Dominus tecum:
benedicta tu in mulieribus.
Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum—virgo serena.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus—
que peperpisti pacem hominibus
et angelis gloriam.
Et benedictus fructus ventris tui—
qui coheredes ut essemus sui
nos, fecit per gratiam.
Per hoc autem Ave
Mundo tam suave,
Contra carnis iura
Genuisti prolem
Novum stella solem
Nova genitura.
Tu parvi et magni,
Leonis et agni,
Salvatoris Xpisti
Templum extitisti,
Sed virgo intacta.
Tu floris et roris,
Panis et pastoris,
Virginum regina
Rosa sine spina,
Genitrix es facta.
Tu civitas regis iusticie,
Tu mater es misericordie,
De lacu faecis et miseriae
Theophilum reformans gratie.
Te collaudat celestis curia,
Tibi nostra favent obsequia,
Que es Dei mater et filia,
Per te reis donatur venia.
Ergo maris stella,
Verbi Dei cella
Et solis aurora,
Paradysi porta,
Per quam lux est orta,
Natum tuum ora,
Ut nos solvat a peccatis,
Et in regna claritatis
Quo lux lucet sedula,
Collocet per secula.
Amen.

Alleluia.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with you:
Blessed are you among women.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with you—O serene virgin.
Blessed are you among women,
you who bore peace for humankind
and glory for the angels.
And blessed is the fruit of your womb—
he who makes us his heirs through grace,
so that we might be his.
But though this “Ave” —
So pure and sweet,
Contrary to the law of the flesh—
You, O star, through a new birth
Brought forth your offspring,
The new sun.
You stand out as the temple
Of the humble and the great,
Of the lion and the lamb,
Of Christ the savior—
Yet you remain a virgin.
You have been made mother
Of the bud and the dew,
Of the bread and the shepherd
You are queen of virgins,
Rose without thorns.
You are the city of the king of justice,
You are mother of mercy,
From the pool of impurity and misery
You recast one who through grace
becomes a lover of God.
You the celestial curia
together praises in song,
To You our services are devoted,
You who are mother and daughter of God,
Through You the pardon for guilt is offered.
Therefore star of the sea,
Sanctuary of the word of God
And dawn of the sun,
Door of paradise
Through which the Light is born:
Pray to Him your Son,
That He might free us from sins,
And place us in the kingdom of clarity,
Where the sedulous light shines
Through all ages.
Amen.

Here's the video again, from Psallentes:



The notes in that PDF from the Chicago Schola say, first, that:

The Missa Quem malignus spiritus is an anonymous English setting of the cyclic mass for three voices and remains one of the earliest known masses to be unified by a single plainchant melody. This mass is based on a responsory chant found in just one mid-fifteenth-century source. This source bears the rhymed office of John (Thweng) of Bridlington, a fourteenth-century English saint canonized in 1401 (d. 1379). The mass seems to have appeared a little more than a generation after his canonization. While this saint represents an obscure figure of ostensibly local renown, the Missa Quem malignus spiritus is found well beyond the English orbit, remarkably in the famous Trent Codices—one of the largest sources of fifteenth-century polyphony—as well as in a fragment from the city of Lucca. In this mass setting, the lowest voice sings the melody of the responsory chant, while the upper voices unfold two independent lines to form the polyphony. The rhythmic texture of the upper voices is extremely subtle and complex, and rhythm itself seems to be treated as something of a dissonance which is “resolved” at cadences. Melodic imitation is clearly audible between the two upper voices.

The section about Ergo, Maris Stella has this:

We supplement the Missa Quem malignus spiritus with four plainchants, which fall into their proper place in the Mass with one exception (the Marian antiphon Ave regina caelorum). The plainchant genres of Alleluia and sequence formed a splendid prelude to the Gospel in the medieval liturgy, and many of the most highly developed musical moments created by and for the medieval cantor appear at this moment. The Alleluia. Ave Maria was sung as early as the tenth century and probably represents the work of ninth-century Frankish cantors. The sequence Ave Maria...virgo serena demonstrates the new style of both poetry and music that emerged in the late eleventh and twelfth centuries. The poetry of the sequence is rhymed without being strictly metrical, and the music is shaped by the rhythmic flow and rhymed lines of the text. While this sequence originated in the south German sphere around 1100, by the fifteenth century it was sung throughout Europe.

It seems to me that the notes above are saying that the Sequence Ave maria…virgo serena does not necessarily belong with the Quem malignus spiritus Mass, but that it could possibly have been sung with it as a chant proper to the day, as the two separate pieces were being used around the same time.

But, at least that's a bit more information about this very pretty tune.

Messe de Nostre Dame, Guillaume de Machaut

From this YouTube entry:

Guillaume de Machaut, sometimes spelled Machault, (c. 1300 April 1377), was an important Medieval French poet and composer. He is one of the earliest composers for whom significant biographical information is available.

Guillaume de Machaut was "the last great poet who was also a composer,". Well into the 15th century, Machaut's poetry was greatly admired and imitated by other poets including the likes of Geoffrey Chaucer.

Machaut was and is the most celebrated composer of the 14th century. He composed in a wide range of styles and forms and his output was enormous. He was also the most famous and historically significant representative of the musical movement known as the ars nova.

Machaut was especially influential in the development of the motet and the secular song (particularly the lai, and the formes fixes: rondeau, virelai and ballade). Machaut wrote the Messe de Nostre Dame, the earliest known complete setting of the Ordinary of the Mass attributable to a single composer, and influenced composers for centuries to come.

Here's the "Ensemble Organum" version of the Gloria from that page:



Interesting to read the comments on that page; apparently each recording of this mass - and most likely other music from that time and earlier - is an approximation/estimate/guess about how it originally was sung and sounded. This version seems very "Moorish" (perhaps ?), as one commenter noticed.

Here's a different version of the Machaut Messe de Nostre Dame, from "Ensemble Giles Binchois". It begins, "Gaudeamus," so I think this version must include the chant propers; Gaudeamus is the Introit for All Saints' Day - but also, I'm reading, historically for The Feast of the Assumption, which makes more sense in this circumstance, since it's the "Messe de Nostre Dame," after all. [EDIT: A commenter, Ben, helpfully notes that:

The Ensemble Giles Binchois is indeed singing Mass of the Assumption. The introit text varies according to the feast on which it is used - this version bids us rejoice 'sub honore Mariae Virginis, de cujus Assumptione gaudent angeli'.]

Thank you very much, Ben! I'll still need to look more at that and see what I find - would like to know more about "Gaudemus" and its use - but meantime, here's the piece:



Here's the Kyrie from the Ensemble Binchois:



And here's the Binchois Gloria:



Here's the Sanctus:



Here's the Agnus Dei:



There seem to be 14 videos in all of the latter version, all available if you click over there. Dominique Vellard is the guy with the curly hair; I've come across him before.

This is really beautiful music, isn't it?

Missa pro Defunctis: Communio

Here is the Communion song from the Requiem Mass, sung by Giovanni Vianini:

Lux æterna luceat eis, Domine,
cum sanctis tuis in æternum,
quia pius es.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine;
et lux perpetua luceat eis ;
cum Sanctis tuis in aeternum,
quia pius es.

May everlasting light shine upon them, O Lord,
with your saints forever,
for you are merciful.
Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,
and may everlasting light shine upon them.
with your saints forever,
for you are merciful.

Here's the chant score:




Again you can clearly hear this Gregorian melody in the Duruflé version of the song:



But actually, I really like John Rutter's version of the Lux Aeterna, here sung expertly by the Clare College Choir, Cambridge. (The section in English just prior to the Lux Aeterna proper is from the Book of Common Prayer's Rite for the Burial of the Dead.)




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: Kyrie Eleison (Kyrie from the Mass for the Dead)
• 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 

Missa pro Defunctis: Sanctus and Agnus Dei

From Giovanni Vianini:



The Sanctus and the Agnus Dei in the Requiem Mass use the same texts as in all ordinaries of the mass - except that in the Agnus Dei, the petition miserere nobis (Have mercy upon us) is changed to dona eis requiem (Grant them rest), and dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace) to dona eis requiem sempiternam (Grant them everlasting rest):

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth;
pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis. (reprise)

Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God of Hosts;
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem,
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem,
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them rest,
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them rest,
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them rest, eternal.

Here are the chant scores:





As you can hear, Maurice Duruflé uses these Gregorian melodies almost without alteration in his own Requiem, although with some lovely embellishment.  The Sanctus is sung by the choir of the Cattedrale di Bergamo; the Agnus Dei by the choir of King's College Cambridge.






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: Kyrie Eleison (Kyrie from the Mass for the Dead)
• 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 

Missa pro Defunctis: Domine Jesu Christe (Offertorium)

From Giovanni Vianini, the Offertory of the Requiem Mass:




And the words:

Domine, Jesu Christe, Rex gloriæ,
libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum
de pœnis inferni et de profundo lacu.
Libera eas de ore leonis,
ne absorbeat eas tartarus,
ne cadant in obscurum;
sed signifer sanctus Michæl
repræsentet eas in lucem sanctam,
quam olim Abrahæ promisisti et semini ejus.

Hostias et preces tibi, Domine,
laudis offerimus;
tu suscipe pro animabus illis,
quarum hodie memoriam facimus.
Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam.
Quam olim Abrahæ promisisti et semini ejus.

Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
free the souls of all the faithful departed
from infernal punishment and the deep pit.
Free them from the mouth of the lion;
do not let Tartarus swallow them,
nor let them fall into darkness;
but may the sign-bearer, Saint Michael,
lead them into the holy light
which you promised to Abraham and his seed.

O Lord, we offer you
sacrifices and prayers in praise;
accept them on behalf of the souls
whom we remember today.
Make them pass over from death to life,
as you promised to Abraham and his seed.

Here's the chant score, again from SGM:





Of the composed versions, I love the Faure version best, myself. This was recorded at the Solemn Mass on All Souls' Day, 2nd November 2011 and is sung by the choir of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, New York City:



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: Kyrie Eleison (Kyrie from the Mass for the Dead)
• 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 

Missa pro Defunctis: Dies Irae (Sequentia)

Dies Irae is the old Gregorian Sequence from the Requiem Mass, here sung by the Alfred Deller Consort.



According to this article at Wikipedia:

Those familiar with musical settings of the Requiem Mass—such as those by Mozart or Verdi—will be aware of the important place Dies Iræ held in the liturgy. Nevertheless the "Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Liturgy" - the Vatican body charged with drafting and implementing reforms to the Catholic Liturgy ordered by the Second Vatican Council - felt the funeral rite was in need of reform and eliminated the sequence from the ordinary rite. The architect of these reforms, Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, explains the mind of the members of the Consilium:

They got rid of texts that smacked of a negative spirituality inherited from the Middle Ages. Thus they removed such familiar and even beloved texts as the Libera me, Domine, the Dies Iræ, and others that overemphasized judgment, fear, and despair. These they replaced with texts urging Christian hope and arguably giving more effective expression to faith in the resurrection.[2]

It remained as the sequence for the Requiem Mass in the Roman Missal of 1962 (the last edition before the Second Vatican Council) and so is still heard in churches where the Tridentine Latin liturgy is celebrated.

The "Dies Irae" is still suggested in the Liturgy of the Hours during last week before Advent as the opening hymn for the Office of Readings, Lauds and Vespers (divided into three parts).[3]

Here are the words from that page:

Dies iræ! dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla!

Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!

Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulchra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.

Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.

Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus judicetur.

Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus?

Rex tremendæ majestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis,
salva me, fons pietatis.

Recordare, Jesu pie,
quod sum causa tuæ viæ:
ne me perdas illa die.

Quærens me, sedisti lassus:
redemisti Crucem passus:
tantus labor non sit cassus.

Juste judex ultionis,
donum fac remissionis
ante diem rationis.

Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
culpa rubet vultus meus:
supplicanti parce, Deus.

Qui Mariam absolvisti,
et latronem exaudisti,
mihi quoque spem dedisti.

Preces meæ non sunt dignæ:
sed tu bonus fac benigne,
ne perenni cremer igne.

Inter oves locum præsta,
et ab hædis me sequestra,
statuens in parte dextra.

Confutatis maledictis,
flammis acribus addictis:
voca me cum benedictis.

Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis:
gere curam mei finis.

Day of wrath! O day of mourning!
See fulfilled the prophets' warning,
Heaven and earth in ashes burning!

Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth,
when from heaven the Judge descendeth,
on whose sentence all dependeth.

Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth;
through earth's sepulchers it ringeth;
all before the throne it bringeth.

Death is struck, and nature quaking,
all creation is awaking,
to its Judge an answer making.

Lo! the book, exactly worded,
wherein all hath been recorded:
thence shall judgment be awarded.

When the Judge his seat attaineth,
and each hidden deed arraigneth,
nothing unavenged remaineth.

What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding,
when the just are mercy needing?

King of Majesty tremendous,
who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us!

Think, good Jesus, my salvation
cost thy wondrous Incarnation;
leave me not to reprobation!

Faint and weary, thou hast sought me,
on the cross of suffering bought me.
shall such grace be vainly brought me?

Righteous Judge! for sin's pollution
grant thy gift of absolution,
ere the day of retribution.

Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
all my shame with anguish owning;
spare, O God, thy suppliant groaning!

Thou the sinful woman savedst;
thou the dying thief forgavest;
and to me a hope vouchsafest.

Worthless are my prayers and sighing,
yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
rescue me from fires undying!

With thy favored sheep O place me;
nor among the goats abase me;
but to thy right hand upraise me.

While the wicked are confounded,
doomed to flames of woe unbounded
call me with thy saints surrounded.

Low I kneel, with heart submission,
see, like ashes, my contrition;
help me in my last condition.

Since this one's so long, I'll point you to the chant score in this PDF file (it begins on page 9), which comes originally from Giovanni Viannini and his Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis.


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: Kyrie Eleison (Kyrie from the Mass for the Dead)
• 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 

Missa pro Defunctis: Sicut Cervus (An alternate Tract)

From Giovanni Viannini, a recording of Sicut Cervus, which is an alternate Tract for the Mass for the Dead (although I'm actually not sure if this is the form used, or if there was another). There are several online references to this (although it is not included in the Wikimedia article on the Requiem Mass); this site says:

The text of Sicut cervus directly quotes the Psalm text in its imagery: "As the deer thirsts for the waters, so my soul longs for Thee, O God!" The Psalmist's words remain completely pertinent to the Christian adaptation, as a soul cries over its own complete emptiness and parched nature without the nourishment of water. Its very music almost embodies this thirst, as it alternates between passages of more melodically bound stasis (known within the traditions of chanted psalmody) and more passionate melismas that might attempt to represent the soul's desire. Both music and text add a level of richness to an extremely solemn moment, one of two every year when new souls may be brought into the church. Pointedly, one other use that the medieval church made of Sicut cervus was during the Requiem or funeral Mass, when the soul proceeded from earth to its Promised Land.

And several composers - Ockeghem, Josquin, and Brahms, for three - have included the Sicut Cervus in their own Requiems, so I include it here as well.



The words come from Psalm 42 (below is the Coverdale translation):

Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus.
Sitivit anima mea ad Deum, Deum vivum; quando veniam et apparebo ante faciem Dei?
Fuerunt mihi lacrimae meae panis die ac nocte, dum dicitur mihi quotidie: "Ubi est Deus tuus?"Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks :
so longeth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God :
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
My tears have been my meat day and night :
while they daily say unto me, Where is now thy God?

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: Kyrie Eleison (Kyrie from the Mass for the Dead)
• 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