Friday, December 21, 2018

It's still Advent

And so here's a more serious and contemplative piece of music: Vivaldi's setting of Et in Terra pax, hominibus bonae voluntatis.



(Peace on earth to all people is probably the best translation. Or, in the version Linus reports in "A Charlie Brown Christmas": "Lo, I bring you good tidings of great news, which shall be to all people...")

There's also a Handel version:


One of the things about a lot of those religious/Mass texts; many composers did their own versions of them (there are also a few more-modern versions, but they don't mean as much to me).

The full text, in Latin, is:

Gloria in excelsis Deo
et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Laudamus te,
benedicimus te,
adoramus te,
glorificamus te,
gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam,
Domine Deus, Rex caelestis,
Deus Pater omnípotens.
Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe,
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris,
qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis;
qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus,
Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu: in gloria Dei Patris. Amen
Or, in English, a language I actually read:

Glory to you who has shown us the light.
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill to all people.
We praise you, we bless you, we worship you, we glorify you, we give thanks to you for your great glory.
Lord, King, heavenly God, Father, almighty; Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit.
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father who take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us, you who take away the sins of the world.
Receive our prayer, you who sit at the right hand of the Father, and have mercy on us.
For you only are holy, only you are Lord
Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Each day I shall bless you, and I will praise your name forever and to the ages of ages.
(At least, that's Wikipedia's version; I have seen others that are maybe a little more poetical). 




I wish I knew more about the music/order of the Mass; given my background I have never experienced it. I am more accustomed to the "two to three hymns sung by the congregation and a choir set-piece" done by Protestants...

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/gloria-excelsis-deo-glory-god-highest.html-0

Glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth to all men of good will
we praise you
we bless you
we adore you
we glorify you
we thank you, for your great glory
Lord God, king of the heavens
God almighty Father
Lord, begotten son, Jesus Christ
Lord God, lamb of God, son of the father
take all sins from the world, have mercy on us
take all sins from the world, receive our invocation
you who are seated at the right of the father, have mercy on us
because only you are Holy, only you are Lord, only you are Highest
Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father, Amen.
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/gloria-excelsis-deo-glory-god-highest.html-0

Glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth to all men of good will
we praise you
we bless you
we adore you
we glorify you
we thank you, for your great glory
Lord God, king of the heavens
God almighty Father
Lord, begotten son, Jesus Christ
Lord God, lamb of God, son of the father
take all sins from the world, have mercy on us
take all sins from the world, receive our invocation
you who are seated at the right of the father, have mercy on us
because only you are Holy, only you are Lord, only you are Highest
Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father, Amen.

2 comments:

Lynne said...

Go to an Episcopal church. High church is better; smells (incense) and bells. We used to do that on Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, but our current priest is not from an Episcopal background, so that's too high church for her. Also if you can, pick a Rite 1 service; older, more formal language. The elements of the mass are in the liturgy, but probably not sung. And, unlike the Roman Catholic church, all baptized Christians are welcome to take communion.

Roger Owen Green said...

I've sung the Vivaldi; it makes me weep