A solis ortus cardine in late 15C antiphonary from Dominican Abbey of St. Katherina, St. Gallen
"A solis ortus cardine" (Latin for "From the Pivot of the Sun's Rising") is a Hiberno-Latin poem by Coelius Sedulius (died c. 450), recounting Christ's life from his birth to his resurrection. Its 23 verses each begin with a consecutive letter of the Latin alphabet, making the poem an abecedarius. It is one of the oldest parts of the Roman Catholic liturgy, with two hymns formed from the first seven and four later verses. There have been monastic translations into Anglo-Saxon and later translations into other languages, most notably into German poetry by Martin Luther during the Reformation and the rendering into the Scottish Gaelic language by Fr Allan MacDonald.[1][2] The original Latin hymn and Luther's translation have been set for chorus and organ by many composers including Dufay, di Lasso, Praetorius, Palestrina, Scheidt, de Grigny and Bach.
17th verse of A solis as charm against bleeding in prayerbook from Kingdom of Mercia, late 8C-early 9C, Royal MS 8 A XX, British Library
A solis ortus cardine... is a Latin hymn, written in the first half of the fifth century by the early Christian poet Sedulius. The abecedarius recounts in 23 quatrains of iambic dimeter the nativity, miracles and passion of Christ. With the other Latin texts of Sedulius, it enjoyed wide circulation in the church and in schools from late antiquity and medieval times until the end of the seventeenth century. The opening words are cited by Bede in his De Arte Metrica and were used without reference by medieval poets; and the seventeenth verse Rivos cruoris torridi, describing Christ's miraculous healing of the bleeding woman, was even proffered as a medieval charm against bleeding.[3][4]
Early Tudor faburden of 2nd verse of A solis ortus cardine
The first seven verses, with a doxology verse by a different writer, were used from the early Middle Ages onwards as a Christmas hymn. They write of the striking contrast between the grandeur and omnipotence of the Word of God (the second person in the Trinity) and the vulnerable humanity of the child in whom the Word became flesh. In 1589, Palestrina set the odd verses (A,C,E,G) in Hymni totius anni secundum Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae consuetudinem, necnon hymni religionum, a collection of hymns composed for the Vatican; liturgical practice was for the even verses to be sung in Gregorian plainchant.
A four-part setting of A solis ortus cardine, with the plainchant in the tenor, is annotated at the bottom of two pages from an early sixteenth century collection of madrigals and hymns in the Royal Library of Henry VIII (MS Royal Appendix 58). In early Tudor England, the Latin hymn was sung in three parts as a faburden with two voices added, one above and one below the plainchant. Polyphony of this kind became less common during the reign of Edward VI, when the English Reformation resulted in choirs being disbanded and organs dismantled.[5][6]
Verses 8, 9, 11 and 13 of Sedulius' poem were also used, with an added doxology, as "Hostis Herodes impie..." ("O Herod, you impious foe..."), a hymn for the Epiphany. These verses narrate the story of Herod the Great and the Three Kings, along with the Baptism of Christ and the miracle at the wedding at Cana. Luther's translation of this hymn into German, as "Was fürchtst du, Feind Herodes, sehr", has long fallen out of use. The German-language Book of Hours also gives a translation of the verses 1, 2, 6 and 7 by Sedulius, plus a doxology, as "Vom hellen Tor der Sonnenbahn".
In the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, the eight verse A solis ortus cardine and the five verse Hostis Herodes impie appear in the Latin original. Their early-church melody dates to the 5th century, beginning in the Dorian mode and ending in the Phrygian mode. Its numerous embellishments were later simplified, though most of them survive, even in Luther's versions. An almost syllabic version is in use in the modern Catholic liturgy.
Text
Below is the text of A solis ortus cardine with the eleven verses translated into English by John Mason Neale in the nineteenth century. Since it was written, there have been many translations of the two hymns extracted from the text, A solis ortus cardine and Hostis Herodes impie, including Anglo-Saxon translations, Martin Luther's German translation and John Dryden's versification. Complete modern translations into English can be found in Walsh & Husch (2012) and Springer (2013); the literal translation is a paraphrase of these.
↑ Dumitrescu, Theodor (2004), The Early Tudor Court and International Musical Relations, Ashgate Publishing, p.169, ISBN0754655423
↑ Williamson, Magnus (2006), "Liturgical Music in the Late-Medieval Parish: Organs and Voices, Ways and Means", in Burgess, Clive; Duffy, Eamon (eds.), The Parish in Late-Medieval England, Harlaxton Medieval Studies, vol.XIV, Shaun Tyas, pp.214–216
↑ Fram ðære sunnan upspringes anginne in Anglo-Saxon
Related Research Articles
Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th-century work Cædmon's Hymn is often considered as the oldest surviving poem in English, as it appears in an 8th-century copy of Bede's text, the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Poetry written in the mid 12th century represents some of the latest post-Norman examples of Old English. Adherence to the grammatical rules of Old English is largely inconsistent in 12th-century work, and by the 13th century the grammar and syntax of Old English had almost completely deteriorated, giving way to the much larger Middle English corpus of literature.
Cædmon is the earliest English poet whose name is known. A Northumbrian cowherd who cared for the animals at the double monastery of Streonæshalch during the abbacy of St. Hilda, he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but learned to compose one night in the course of a dream, according to the 8th-century historian Bede. He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational Christian poet.
"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is a Christian hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn/Hymn of the Angels. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.
Sedulius was a Christian poet in Hiberno-Latin during the first half of the 5th century.
Vexilla regis prodeunt is a Latin hymn in long metre by the Christian poet and saint Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers. It takes its title from its incipit.
Marian hymns are Christian songs focused on Mary, mother of Jesus. They are used in both devotional and liturgical services, particularly by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. They are often used in the month of May devotions. Some have also been adopted as Christmas hymns. Marian hymns are not popular among some Protestants, as they see Marian veneration as idolatry. However, the practice is very common among Christians of Catholic traditions, and a key component of the Eastern Orthodox liturgy. There are many more hymns to Mary within the Eastern Orthodox yearly cycle of liturgy than in Roman Catholic liturgy.
The Orgelbüchlein BWV 599−644 is a set of 46 chorale preludes for organ — one of them is given in two versions — by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three were written between 1708 and 1717 when Bach served as organist to the ducal court in Weimar; the remainder and a short two-bar fragment came no earlier than 1726, after the composer’s appointment as cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig.
An antiphonary or antiphonal is one of the liturgical books intended for use in choro, and originally characterized, as its name implies, by the assignment to it principally of the antiphons used in various parts of the Latin liturgical rites.
The Ambrosian hymns are a collection of early hymns of the Latin liturgical rites, whose core of four hymns were by Ambrose of Milan in the 4th century.
"O come, O come, Emmanuel" is a Christian hymn for Advent, which is also often published in books of Christmas carols. The text was originally written in Latin. It is a metrical paraphrase of the O Antiphons, a series of plainchant antiphons attached to the Magnificat at Vespers over the final days before Christmas. The hymn has its origins over 1,200 years ago in monastic life in the 8th or 9th century. Seven days before Christmas Eve monasteries would sing the “O antiphons” in anticipation of Christmas Eve when the eighth antiphon, “O Virgo virginum” would be sung before and after Mary's canticle, the Magnificat. The Latin metrical form of the hymn was composed as early as the 12th century.
The Planctus (de obitu) Karoli, also known by its incipit A solis ortu, is an anonymous medieval Latin planctus eulogising Charlemagne, written in accented verse by a monk of Bobbio shortly after his subject's death in 814. It is generally considered the earliest surviving planctus, though its melody is written in tenth-century neumes, one of the earliest surviving examples of this sort of musical notation. The poem has been translated into English by Peter Godman.
Cædmon's Hymn is a short Old English poem attributed to Cædmon, a supposedly illiterate and unmusical cow-herder who was, according to the Northumbrian monk Bede, miraculously empowered to sing in honour of God the Creator. The poem is Cædmon's only known composition.
"Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" is a Lutheran chorale of 1524 with words written by Martin Luther, based on "Veni redemptor gentium" by Ambrose, and a melody, Zahn 1174, based on its plainchant. It was printed in the Erfurt Enchiridion of 1524.
Christum wir sollen loben schon, BWV121, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed this Christmas cantata in Leipzig in 1724 for the second day of Christmas and first performed it on 26 December 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the hymn by Martin Luther "Christum wir sollen loben schon".
"Christum wir sollen loben schon" is a Lutheran Christmas hymn with a text by Martin Luther, first published in 1524 in the Erfurt Enchiridion. He wrote it based on the Latin A solis ortus cardine and kept its melody.
Conditor alme siderum is a seventh-century Latin hymn used during the Christian liturgical season of Advent. It is also known in English as Creator of the Stars of Night, from a translation by J.M. Neale.
George Herbert Palmer was an English Anglo-Catholic priest, musicologist, organist, and expert on plainchant, particularly of the Sarum Use. Named after the priest and poet George Herbert, he was ordained a priest in Chester in 1871 and later was organist of St Margaret's Church in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, and St Barnabas, Pimlico, London. He helped found the Plainsong and Medieval Music Society (PMMS) in 1888. The majority of his extensive editions of liturgical music and texts were produced by the PMMS and the Community of St Mary the Virgin at Wantage in Oxfordshire. He was notable and influential for his musically sensitive translations of Latin hymns into English.
The Murbach hymns are a collection of 27 early medieval Latin hymns with interlinear Old High German translation. The hymns are intended to be sung at certain times of the day in the course of the year, being introduced with the header Incipiunt hymni canendi per circulum anni.
"Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem" or "Sing, Choirs of New Jerusalem" is an English Easter hymn by Robert Campbell. It is a 19th-century translation of the medieval Chorus novae Ierusalem, attributed to Fulbert of Chartres. The text's primary focus is the Resurrection of Jesus, taking the theme of Jesus as triumphant victor over death and deliverer of the prisoners from Hell.
"Komm, Heilger Geist, der Leben schafft" is a Christian hymn in German for Pentecost. The text is a paraphrase of the Latin hymn Veni Creator Spiritus by Friedrich Dörr, with a 1524 melody. It was first published in the Catholic German hymnal Gotteslob in 1975.
References
Walpole, Arthur S. (1922), Early Latin hymns, Cambridge University Press
Walsh, Peter G.; Husch, Christopher (2012), One Hundred Latin Hymns: Ambrose to Aquinas, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, vol.18, Harvard University Press, ISBN978-0674057739
Springer, Carl P. (2013), Sedulius, The Paschal Song and Hymns, Ancient Israel and Its Literature, vol.35, SBL Press, ISBN978-1589837447
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
