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Showing posts with label pentecost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pentecost. Show all posts

Saturday, May 18, 2013

For Pentecost, "O fire of the Spirit, the Comforter," by Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179); this is among my favorite texts.   The original Latin, with an English translation, is below the video.  


O ignis spiritus paracliti,
vita vite omnis creature,
sanctus es vivificando formas.

Sanctus es unguendo
periculose fractos,
sanctus es tergendo
fetida vulnera.

O spiraculum sanctitatis,
o ignis caritatis,
o dulcis gustus in pectoribus
et infusio cordium
in bono odore virtutum.

O fons purissime,
in quo consideratur
quod Deus alienos colligit
et perditos requirit.

O lorica vite
et spes compaginis membrorum omnium
et o cingulum honestatis:
salva beatos.

Custodi eos qui carcerati sunt
ab inimico,
et solve ligatos
quos divina vis salvare vult.

O iter fortissimum
quo penetravit omnia
in altissimis et in terrenis
et in omnibus abyssis
tu omnes componis et colligis.

De te nubes fluunt, ether volat,
lapides humorem habent,
aque rivulos educunt,
et terra viriditatem sudat.

Tu etiam semper educis doctos
per inspirationem sapiente
letificos.

Unde laus tibi sit,
qui es sonus laudis
et gaudium vite,
spes et honor fortissimus
dans premia lucis.



O fire of the Spirit, the Comforter,
Life of the life of all creation,
Holy are you, giving life to the Forms.

Holy are you, anointing
The dangerously broken;
Holy are you, cleansing
The fetid wounds.

O breath of sanctity,
O fire of charity,
O sweet savor in the breast
And balm flooding hearts
With the fragrance of virtues.

O limpid fountain,
In which it is seen
How God gathers the strays
And seeks out the lost:

O breastplate of life
And hope of the bodily frame,
O sword-belt of honor:
Save the blessed!

Guard those imprisoned
By the foe,
Free those in fetters
Whom divine force wishes to save.

O mighty course
That penetrated all,
In the heights, upon the earth,
And in all abysses:
You bind and gather all people together.

From you clouds overflow, winds take wing,
Stones store up moisture,
Waters well forth in streams --
And earth swells with living green.

You are ever teaching the learned,
Made joyful by the breath
Of Wisdom.

Praise then be yours!
You are the song of praise,
The delight of life,
A hope and a potent of honor,
Granting rewards of light.

 Note: The English version is adapted from Barbara Newman's literal English translation, in Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Symphonia: A Critical Edition of the Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum, 2nd ed. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998), 151.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus (Dufay)

Here's a wonderful recording of Guilliaume Dufay's (ca. 1400-1474) setting of the exquisite Pentecost Sequence hymn,  Veni, Sancte Spiritus.  It's sung here, I believe, by La Capella Reial de Catalunya; M. Figueras, M.C.Kiehr (sopranos); K. Wessel (contre-ténor):



The original hymn is one of the most beautiful in the entire Gregorian repertoire, especially in its text (Latin and English below the video):




Veni, Sancte Spiritus,
et emitte caelitus
lucis tuae radium.

Veni, pater pauperum,
veni, dator munerum,
veni, lumen cordium.

Consolator optime,
dulcis hospes animae,
dulce refrigerium.

In labore requies,
in aestu temperies,
in fletu solatium.

O lux beatissima,
reple cordis intima
tuorum fidelium.

Sine tuo numine,
nihil est in homine,
nihil est innoxium.

Lava quod est sordidum,
riga quod est aridum,
sana quod est saucium.

Flecte quod est rigidum,
fove quod est frigidum,
rege quod est devium.

Da tuis fidelibus,
in te confidentibus,
sacrum septenarium.

Da virtutis meritum,
da salutis exitum,
da perenne gaudium.


Holy Spirit, Lord of light,
From the clear celestial height
Thy pure beaming radiance give.

Come, thou Father of the poor,
Come with treasures which endure;
Come, thou light of all that live!

Thou, of all consolers best,
Thou, the soul's delightful guest,
Dost refreshing peace bestow.

Thou in toil art comfort sweet,
Pleasant coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

Light immortal, light divine,
Visit thou these hearts of thine,
And our inmost being fill.

If thou take thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turned to ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour thy dew,
Wash the stains of guilt away.

Bend the stubborn heart and will,
Melt the frozen, warm the chill,
Guide the steps that go astray.

Thou, on us who evermore
Thee confess and thee adore,
With thy sevenfold gifts descend.

Give us comfort when we die,
Give us life with thee on high,
Give us joys that never end.

Amen.


TPL says this about the hymn:
Veni, Sancte Spiritus, known as the Golden Sequence, is the sequence for the Mass for Pentecost. It is commonly regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of sacred Latin poetry ever written. Its beauty and depth have been praised by many. The hymn has been attributed to three different authors, King Robert II the Pious of France (970-1031), Pope Innocent III (1161-1216), and Stephen Langton (d 1228), Archbishop of Canterbury, of which the last is most likely the author.


Thursday, May 16, 2013

Alleluia, Emitte Spiritum Tuum is the first Alleluia for the Day of Pentecost; here it's sung by the monks of Prinknash Abbey.



The text is from the wonderful Psalm 104, v. 30; here are the words and a translation from a William Byrd page at CPDL (the text of the second Alleluia is in brackets, following that of this, the first):
Alleluia. Emitte Spiritum tuum, et creabuntur et renovabis faciem terrae.
[Alleluia. Veni Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium: et tui amoris in ei ignem accende. Alleluia.]
Alleluia. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
[Alleluia. Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful: and kindle in them the fire of Thy love. Alleluia.] 
(See also this older post on Alleluia 2.)

Here is the full chant score for Alleluia, Emitte Spiritum Tuum:



Here's Byrd's setting of this text; beautiful!


Recorded LIVE June 2012 as part of the Pentecost Concert "A Musical Festival of Joy and Thanksgiving".
Location: Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Annandale, VA

Singers:
Sopranos: Allison Mondel & Emily Noel
Altos: Chris Dudley (Director) & Kristen Dubenion-Smith
Tenors: Joe Regan & Jerry Kavinski
Basses: Doug Yocum & Karl Hempel
Classical Concert

Don't forget to read Full Homely Divinity's Pentecost entry!

Here are links to all the propers on the day, from the Benedictines of Brazil:
Dominica Pentecostes ad Missam in die

Introitus:  Spiritus Domini (cum Gloria Patri)(5m07.0s - 4798 kb)  view score
Alleluia: Emitte Spiritum tuum (1m55.4s - 1806 kb)  view score

Alleluia: Veni, Sancte Spiritus (2m02.9s - 1922 kb)  view score

Sequentia: Veni, Sancte Spiritus (2m29.7s - 2341 kb)  view score

Offertorium: Confirma hoc, Deus (1m35.3s - 1491 kb)  view score

Communio: Factus est repente (1m16.3s - 1195 kb)  view score

Ad dimittendum populum: Ite missa est (28.7s - 451 kb)  view score

And here are some other Chantblog posts on the Pentecost propers:

For some reason, I always really like Pentecost icons; here are three. The first is described as 18th Century Russian, "egg tempera on a wood panel":


There's no information at all on this one (although it's clearly Russian):


This one comes from the website of St. Mark's Coptic Church in Toronto; it's described as "above the South Altar Door by Bedour Latif and Youssef":


And wow!  How great is this 1534 painting by  "Vasco Fernandes, aka. 'Grão Vasco'"?  It's "da capela da portaria do mosteiro de Santa Cruz de Coimbra" - "over the door of the Santa Cruz de Coimbra monastery," that is.


Sunday, May 27, 2012

"Come Down, O Love Divine"

Listen to the best hymn ever written*, sung by the King's College Choir.

Text via Bianco da Siena (14th C.) and translated by Anglo-Irish clergyman, Richard Frederick Littledale ; music by R.V. Williams (20th C.). And another example of the fantastic music that Pentecost has inspired.  (See more about this beautiful hymn, and the complete Bianco da Siena poem, at Discendi, amor santo.)



Come down, O love divine, seek Thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with Thine own ardor glowing.
O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear,
And kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn, till earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
And let Thy glorious light shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity mine outward vesture be,
And lowliness become mine inner clothing;
True lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part,
And o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long,
Shall far out pass the power of human telling;
For none can guess its grace, till he become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit makes His dwelling.

* Well, one of, anyway.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Loquebantur variis linguis is the Responsory after the second lesson at Matins of the Feast of Pentecost. This video gives, I think, the chant for that Responsory, and then a piece called Paraclitus egrediens; I'm not sure exactly what the second piece is, or what its liturgical function might have been, but it's another of those interesting medieval chants from Hungary.  I really have to look into that at some point!

Anyway, the chant - and very, very pretty it is, too:



Loquebantur variis linguis
apostoli, Alleluia.
Magnalia Dei, Alleluia.
Repleti sunt omnes Spiritu Sancto,
et coeperunt loqui:
Magnalia Dei, Alleluia.
Gloria Patri et Filio,
et Spiritui Sancto.
Alleluia.


The apostles were speaking
in different tongues, Alleluia,
of the great works of God, Alleluia.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and they began to speak of
the great works of God, Alleluia.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
Alleluia.

The blurb at the YouTube page says this, in Hungarian:

Schola Hungarica vezényel:
Dobszay László
Szendrei Janka

Részlet a Schola Hungarica Magyar Gregoriánum 2. Advent - Karácsony - Pünkösd c. hanglemezéről
Kép: Pünkösd (Bambergi Apokalipszis, XI. század)

Google Translate does pretty well with that, as far as I can tell:

Schola Hungarica conducted by:
Laszlo Dobszay
Janka Szendrei

Excerpt from the Schola Hungarica, the Hungarian second Gregoriánum Advent - Christmas - Pentecost c. sound drive

Picture: Pentecost (Bamberg Apocalypse, XI century.)

Here's the second lesson in its entirely from Breviary.net:

Lesson ii
Sed ecce, si unusquísque vestrum requirátur an díligat Deum : tota fidúcia et secúra mente respóndet, Díligo.  In ipso autem lectiónis exórdio audístis quid Véritas dicit : Si quis díligit me, sermónem meum servábit.  Probátio ergo dilectiónis, exhibítio est óperis.  Hinc in epístola sua idem Joánnes dicit : Qui dicit : Díligo Deum, et mandáta ejus non custódit, mendax est.  Vere étenim Deum dilígimus et mandáta ejus custodímus, si nos a nostris voluptátibus coarctámus.  Nam qui adhuc per illícita desidéria díffluit, profécto Deum non amat : quia ei in sua voluntáte contradícit.
But, behold now, if I shall ask any one of you whether he loveth God, he will answer will all boldness and quietness of spirit : I do love him.  But at the very beginning of this day's Lesson from the Gospel, ye have heard what the Truth saith : If a man love me, he will keep my word.  The test, then, of love, is whether it is shewed by works.  Hence the same John hath said in his Epistle : If a man say, I love God, and keepeth not his commandments, he is a liar.  Then do we indeed love God, and keep his commandments, if we deny ourselves the gratification of our appetites.  Whosoever still wandereth after unlawful desires, such an one plainly loveth not God, for he saith, Nay, to that which God willeth.
V.  Tu autem, Dómine, miserére nobis.
R.  Deo grátias.
V.  But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
R.  Thanks be to God.
R.  Repléti sunt omnes Spíritu Sancto : et cœpérunt loqui, prout Spíritus Sanctus dabat éloqui illis : * Et convénit multitúdo dicéntium, allelúja.
V.  Loquebántur váriis linguis Apóstoli magnália Dei.
R.  Et convénit multitúdo dicéntium, allelúja.
V.  Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.
R.  Et convénit multitúdo dicéntium, allelúja.
R.  They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance : * And the multitude came together, singing Alleluia.
V.  The Apostles did speak in other tongues the wonderful works of God.
R.  And the multitude came together, singing Alleluia.
V.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R.  And the multitude came together, singing Alleluia.

I'm not sure where the lesson itself comes from, but Lesson 1 is from Gregory the Great's 30th Gospel Homily, so perhaps Lesson 2 continues that reading.  I don't have the book, and it doesn't seem to be online anywhere.

Now, as for Paraclitus egrediens:  there's something in this Google Book (Music as Concept and Practice in the Late Middle Ages) about it, and a reference to Czech medieval music; perhaps Jakub will come along and let us know more.  And that book does look interesting; I'm going to have a look myself in any case.

Here's Thomas Tallis' version, sung by the Tallis Singers:



A shorter version of this text is also used as an antiphon at Lauds and at First and Second Vespers of Pentecost, and also as the Alleluia on the Feast of St. Mark.  Very beautiful, all around.

It's interesting to me that Mary figures so prominently in much of the art for Pentecost; anybody know where that tradition comes from?  It's not Biblical, at any rate - but I'm glad of it. [EDIT: Well, it is Biblical, as Grotheer Shull notes in comments: 'The description of Pentecost in Acts itself begins: "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord[a] in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind..." That doesn't identifiy who they "all" are, but in the previous chapter of Acts it talks about them getting together to meet in the upper room, and lists "Mary, mother of Jesus" among the people meeting for prayer, which would make it rather likely she was there later when they were assembled again.' Thanks, Grotheer!]

And of course, I can't put up a post for Pentecost without posting a video of the Sequence - probably my favorite of all Gregorian hymns (and Pentecost has some really great ones!):



Holy Spirit, Lord of light,
From the clear celestial height
Thy pure beaming radiance give.

Come, thou Father of the poor,
Come with treasures which endure;
Come, thou light of all that live!

Thou, of all consolers best,
Thou, the soul's delightful guest,
Dost refreshing peace bestow.

Thou in toil art comfort sweet,
Pleasant coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

Light immortal, light divine,
Visit thou these hearts of thine,
And our inmost being fill.

If thou take thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turned to ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour thy dew,
Wash the stains of guilt away.

Bend the stubborn heart and will,
Melt the frozen, warm the chill,
Guide the steps that go astray.

Thou, on us who evermore
Thee confess and thee adore,
With thy sevenfold gifts descend.

Give us comfort when we die,
Give us life with thee on high,
Give us joys that never end.

Amen.

Another Pentecost treat: some lovely Georgian chant.



From the YouTube page:
Troparion of Pentecost, sung by the choir of the convent of Sameba-Jikheti. It can be found on their CD "Chant melodies."

"Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, Who hast revealed the fishermen as most wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit - through them Thou didst draw the world into Thy net. O Lover of Man, glory to Thee!"
I just love Orthodox hymnody! The texts are always splendid. Here's a PDF of the same text (although not, I think, the same music), from the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North American.

According to OrthodoxWiki:
A Troparion (also tropar; plural troparia) is a type of hymn in Byzantine music, in the Orthodox Church and other Eastern Christian churches. It is a short hymn of one stanza, or one of a series of stanzas; this may carry the further connotation of a hymn interpolated between psalm verses.

The term most often refers to the apolytikion (or "dismissal hymn"), the thematic hymn which closes Vespers. (In Greek churches, the apolytikion troparion is known simply as the apolytikion; in most other churches, it is known simply as the troparion.) This troparion serves as a thematic hymn and is repeated at every service of the day.

Troparia are also found as the stanzas of canons. Such troparia are modeled on the irmoi of the ode.

Troparia are also sometimes used as refrains for chanted psalm verses, though stichera more often serve this function.
Another kind of hymn is the Kontakion:
A Kontakion (also kondakion, kondak, and kontak; plural kontakia, kondakia) is a type of thematic hymn in the Orthodox Church and other Eastern Christian churches. Originally, the kontakion was an extended homily in verse consisting of one or two proemia (preliminary stanzas) followed by several strophes called oikoi (also ikoi; singular oikos, ikos), usually between 18 and 24. The kontakia were so long that the text was rolled up on a pole for use in the services -- the genesis of the name kontakion, which means "from the pole" in Greek. It is typical of the form that each of the proemia and strophes end with the same refrain. Acrostics are also a hallmark of this hymnographic form.

In current practice, the kontakion has been greatly abbreviated. Only the (first) proemium and first strophe are sung or read after the sixth ode of the canon at orthros. The proemium alone is sung at the Divine Liturgy, following the troparia, and most other services of the daily cycle. The kontakion is not sung at vespers.

According to tradition, Saint Roman the Melodist wrote the first kontakion, the Kontakion for the Birth of Our Lord, by divine inspiration. Legend aside, Roman established the kontakion in the form it retained for centuries, and he is the most famous composer of kontakia.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Via New Liturgical Movement, here's a short video of a Pentecost Vigil celebration in Moscow. As you can see, the liturgical color for Pentecost is green, in the East. Springtime.



Some still photos at the link, too. Here's one:

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Here's an mp3 of this introit from JoguesChant, and this is their translation:

The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world, alleluia; and that which contains all things, knows every language spoken by men, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; and let those who hate him flee before his face.

Here's a video:



Here's the full chant score. The text comes from Wisdom 1:7 and Psalm 68:1-2.


Here's a video of the chant:



The very familiar readings for the day are here.  And there is more Pentecost chant (and other) stuff here - including audio and video of some of the great and marvelous hymnody for this day.

The tempera-on-wood Pentecost painting below is by Duccio di Buoninsegna, from about 1310. It's 37.5 x 42.5 cm, and was formerly housed in the Cathedral in Siena, Italy. It's now in the collection of the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo there.