Jubelt und freut (Taizé)

Jubelt und freut euch über den Herrn,
er hat Großes an uns getan,
Jubelt und freut euch,
fürchtet euch nicht. Alleluja, alleluja.

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I am risen and behold (Michael Barger)

Antiphon:

I am risen and behold and am with you, Alleluia!
You have placed you hand on me, Alleluia!
O God, how wonderf'lly you know me, Alleluia!

1. O Lord, you search me and you know me.
You know when I sit down and rise up again, Alleluia! (Antiphon)

2. Behold, Lord, you know all things both ancient and new.
You have conceived me, and laid your hand upon me, Alleluia! (Antiphon)

3. Glory be to the Father of Love,
And to the Son, who is risen from the dead,
And to the Spirit giving us new life,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and every shall be, Alleluia! (Antiphon)

Composer: Michael Barger 

Michael Barger grew up in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. His work is highly influenced by Islamic and Byzantine Arabic chant and especially by the Lebanese Byzantine chanter, Sister Marie Keyrouz

Composer's Notes:

The text of I Am Risen is that of the Introit (Entrance chant) of the Roman rite celebration of the Eucharist on Easter day, Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum, which serves as the antiphon for the chanting of Psalm 139. The composition was inspired by the recording of Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum on Ensemble Organum's recording,  Chants of the Church of Roman - Byzantine Period. It is devoted to chants of the Church of Rome when most of the popes came from the churches of the Byzantine Empire ( 590-752), coinciding with the rise of the Prophet Muhammad (550-632) and the Umayyad Caliphate (660-750). Liturgies were celebrated with chants in both Greek and Latin. Musically the hymn is in the Mixolydian mode and marked by chords of the ninth.

Heruvicul lui / Cherubic Hymn (Ioan Zmeu)

Carii pe heruvimi cu taină închipuim,
Şi făcătoarei de viaţă Treimi întreit-sfântă cântare aducem,
Acum toată grija cea lumească să o lepădăm,
Ca pe Împăratul tuturor, să primim,
Pe Cel înconjurat în chip nevăzut de cetele îngereşti.

We, who in a mystic way represent the Cheubim
And sing the thrice-holy hymn to the life-giving Trinity,
Let us now lay aside all earthly care
So that we may welcome the King of All,
Who comes escorted by invisible angelic hosts.

Ioan Zmeu was a great 19th century chanter, composer, and professor of Romanian Orthodox music. He was born January 30, 1860, in Botoşani where he studied with his father Emanoil Zmeu at the School of Church Music. He completed his studies in Constantinople and Jerusalem. He served as protopsalt (head chanter) and professor of vocal music at the the School for Church Singers in Rimnicu Vilcea (1882-1886), the great monastery of Curtea de Argeş (1886-1894), and from friom 1894 to 1901 at the Metropolitanate (subsequently as of 1922, the Patriarchate) in Bucharest. He returned to Curtea de Argeş and spent the last twenty-one years of his life there dying on April 28, 1922 at the age of sixty-two.

Zmeu was one of the greatest composers of Romanian Byzantine chant in the 19th and early 20th centuries with numerous compositions and editions of books of chant to his credit. There was an explosion of interest in chant in Romania beginning in the early 19th century with the printing and composing activities of such great names as Anton Pann and Dimitrie Suceveanu, and Zmeu is one of the outstanding figures of the era.

Unlike composers in the Latin Church, Romanian composers continued to compose liturgical chants well into the 20th century. The last major plain chant masses in the Gregorian tradition in the West were composed during the French Baroque period by Henri Dumont (1610-1684) and Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657-1726) and remained in the repertorie of some French parishes into the early 20th century.

This Heruvic or Cherbuic Hymn is among the greatest of Zmeu's compositions. The Cherubic hymn accompanies the preparation of the eucharistic gifts for the Great Entrance of the Byzantine Divine Liturgy. Since the ritual and prayers invoved may be quite lengthy, Cherubic Hymns may last as long as ten minutes and more. The length of time required by the liturgical action make the Cherubic Hymn the longest piece of music by far in the Divine Liturgy allowing composers ample scope for their art.

The Heruvic is sung by the group Psalmodia under the direction of Dr. Archdeacon Sebastian Barbu-Bucur (b. Feburary 6, 1930).

Psalm 145 (Taizé)

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Psalm 72: Revêts, Seigneur, de ta justice (Taizé)

Revêts, Seigneur, de ta justice
Le Prince de la paix
Et parmi nous qu'il établisse
Son royaume à jamais.
En lui, les plus humbles du peuple
Trouvent un défenseur,
Délivrant les fils de la veuve
Et brisant l'oppresseur.
Qu'il règne sur toute la terre,
Sur tous les océans,
Tant que le soleil les éclaire
Jusqu'à la fin des temps.
Dans son royaume sans frontières
Les grands s'inclineront;
Et tous les peuples qu'il libère
En paix le serviront.

Paraphrase of Psalm 72:1-3

Text:Théodore de Bèze (1562)
Music: L. Bourgeois 1543

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Official Taizé Community Website

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Taizé Eucharistie (Setting: Joseph Gelineau)

I. KYRIE ELEISON


II. GLORIA


III. CREDO


IV. SANCTUS


V. AGNUS DEI



Composer: Joseph Gelineau

See my other blog postings in the "Taizé" series of chants.

Official Taizé Community Website

Wikipedia information on the Taizé Community
- in French
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