Canzon prima toni a10 - G. Gabrieli
Antiphon
Hodie Christus natus est: hodie salvator apparuit: Hodie in terra canunt angeli, laetantur archangeli: Hodie exultant iusti, dicentes: Gloria in excelsis Deo: Alleluia. |
Today Christ is born: today the Saviour appeared: today on Earth the angels sing, archangels rejoice: today the righteous rejoice, saying Glory to God in the highest: Alleluia. |
Magnificat Anima Mea - F. Cavalli
Along with the Ordinary of the Mass, the Magnificat was the most prolifically set liturgical text, polyphonically, from the mid-fifteenth century onwards. Like the Mass, this was a result of the demand placed on composers for settings of the Magnificat created by liturgical practice, as the Magnificat was, and still is, a central part of the daily office of Vespers or Evening Prayer in the Catholic and Protestant churches of western Europe, and was sung polyphonically on Sundays and feast days. In the eastern Orthodox Church the text is found in the book of Odes, a book of the bible found only in the Orthodox Church, where it is sung at Sunday Matins. The text of the Magnificat is biblical, and is prompted by the visitation of the Angel Gabriel, and uttered by the humbled Mary as a canticle of praise and devotion, in the house of Elizabeth, mother of St John the Baptist (St Luke, Chapter 1, vv 46-55). The sentiment of the Magnificat first appears in the bible, somewhat prophetically, in the old testament as ‘the Song of Hannah’ (1. Samuel, Chapter 2, vv 1-10). This Magnificat was published in Venice in 1656, as part of a collection titled Musicae Sacrae Concernenti, messa, e salmi concertati con istromenti, imni, antifone e sonata.
Magnificat anima mea Dominum. |
My soul doth magnify the Lord. |
Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo. |
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. |
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae; ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes. |
For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. |
Quia
fecit mihi magna qui potens est; |
For
He that is mighty hath done great things to me; |
Et misericordia a progenie in
progenies |
And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation. |
Fecit
potentiam in brachio suo; |
He
hath shewed strength with His arm; |
Deposuit
potentes de sede |
He
hath put down the mighty from their seats |
Esurientes
implevit bonis; |
He
hath filled the hungry with good things; |
Suscepit
Israel puerum suum |
He
hath holpen His servant Israel |
Sicut
locutus est ad patres nostros, |
As
He spake to our fathers, |
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. |
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. |
Sicut
erat in principio, et nunc et semper. |
As
it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. |
