Ezekiel33: 11a [Latin] –Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Original Latin:
Vivo ego, dicit Dominus, nolo mortem peccatoris, sed ut magis convertatur et vivat.
The Prophet Ezekiel – painting by an anonymous artist, c. 1610-1615 (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
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“Vivo ego dicit Dominus,” a sacred 4-voice (SATB) motet composed by Alonso Lobo (1555-1617), first appeared in Liber primus missarum (1602).
Alonso Lobo: Vivo ego dicit Dominus - Musica Ficta
John1: 19-23– [And] This is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
And he confessed and denied not, and said plainly, I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, What art thou then? Art thou Elias? And he said, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No.
Then said they unto him, What art thou? that we may give an answer unto them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
And he said, I am the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.
Saint John the Baptist, painting by Bernardo Zenale (d. 1526) kept at the Grenoble museum. Translation of “Ego vox clamantis” is “I am the voice of one crying…”
John 1: 1–2, 4–5 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. In him was life, and that life was the light of all. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
The beginning of the Gospel of St John in the “Coronation Gospels” (Cotton MS. Tiberius A. II, f. 162r). From British Library via Wikimedia Commons.
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“In the Beginning Was the Word” Op. 161, for SATB and organ, composed by Carson Cooman (b. 1982) in 1999 and revised in 2003.
Song of Solomon4:7,11; 2:11-13; 4:8 [Latin] – You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
Your lips distil nectar; honey and milk are under your tongue; the scent of your perfumes is beyond all spices.
For now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
The flowers have appeared; the flowering vines have given forth their fragrance, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land.
Arise, my love, my fair one; come from Lebanon, Come, you will be crowned.
Original Latin:
Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te;
favus distillans labia tua; mel et lac sub lingua tua;
odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata:
jam enim hiems transiit, imber abiit et recessit.
Flores apparuerunt;
vineae florentes odorem dederunt,
et vox turturis audita est in terra nostra:
surge, propera, amica mea:
veni de Libano, veni, coronaberis.
Illustration of King Solomon (via Wikimedia Commons)
Philipians2: 7-8 –But [he] made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The 17th-century painting Christ Crucified by Diego Velázquez
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“He made Himself of no reputation,” recitative from The Crucifixion (1887), an oratorio for SATB choir and organ composed by Sir John Stainer (1840-1901)
7. He made himself of no reputation - The Crucifixion - Stainer
Luke14: 16-17 [Latin] –Jesus said, A certain man prepared a great feast, and he sent his servant at the time of the feast to tell the guests to come, for all things were prepared.
Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you, for all things were prepared. [Glory be to the Father…]
Original Latin:
Homo quidam fecit coenam magnam et vocavit multos et misit servum suum hora coenae dicere invitatis ut venirent, quia omnia parata sunt. Alleluja.
Invitation to the Great Banquet – by Phillip Medhurst (Image via Wikimedia Commons)
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“Homo quidam fecit coenam,” sacred motet by Thomas Tallis (1505-1585), first published in The Baldwin Partbooks (1575).
Jonah2: 2-3, 5 [Latin] – I cried out of my affliction to the Lord, and He heard me: I cried out of the belly of hell, and thou hast heard my voice. And thou hast cast me forth into the deep, in the heart of the sea, and a flood hath compassed me. The waters compassed me about even to the soul: the deep hath closed me round about, the sea hath covered my head.
Original in Latin:
Clamavi de tribulatione mea ad Dominum et exaudivit me; de ventre inferi clamavi et exaudisti vocem meam. Et proiecisti me in profundum in corde maris et flumen circumdedit me. Circumdederunt me aquae usque ad animam meam: abyssus vallavit me, pelagus operuit caput meum.
Jonah and the whale – painting by Paul Bril (circa 1553/1554–1626) – Image via Wikimedia Commons
Psalm138: 7 [Latin] – If I walk in the midst of tribulation, You will sustain me, Lord; and against the wrath of my enemies, You lift Your hand, and I am saved by Your right hand.
Original, in Latin:
Si ambulavero in medio tribulationis, vivificabis me, Domine: et super iram inimicorum meorum extendes manum tuam, et salvum me fecit dextera tua.
The hand (of God) as an isolated motif. Fresco from Sant Climent de Taüll, Catalonia, Spain. (Image via Wikipedia)
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“Si ambulavero,” Offertory for Pentecost XIX, composed by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594), and first published in Offertoria totius anni (1593)
Psalm126: 5-6 [German] –5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Original German text:
Die mit Tränen säen, werden mit Freuden ernten. Sie gehen hin und weinen und tragen edlen Samen und kommen mit Freuden und bringen ihre Garben.
“Die mit Tränen säen werden mit Freuden ernten” [They that sow in tears shall reap in joy], SWV 378, composed by Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), and first published in Geistliche Chormusik, Op. 11, no. 10 (1648).
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