Sequences in English
  • PeterJ
    Posts: 90
    I attach English versions of the Stabat Mater dolorosa, Victimae Paschali laudes, Dies irae, Veni Sancte Spiritus, and Lauda Sion Salvatorem (Ecce panis angelorum) set to modern notation. The music is generally either identical or very similar to the original Gregorian chant.

    I have pulled together this particular compilation because:
    - I was annoyed that the "official" translations of the sequences don't generally seem to fit the original music very well.
    - I wanted to have a go at translating the Dies irae (for a whole host of reasons I won't go into on this thread).
    - I thought it'd be handy to pull together some settings of these particular hymns in one place.

    The Dies irae is of course no longer present as a sequence in the Ordinary Form. Therefore, I envisage this chant being used at the Offertory (after the Proper has been sung) at Masses for the Dead / All Souls, where appropriate.

    In this attachment, the translations for the Stabat Mater and Ecce panis do not correspond to what is provided in the Lectionary. As far as I am aware, these are not mandatory sequences. However, I would be reluctant to offer these up as alternative translations for use at the sequence itself without appropriate ecclesiastical approval. I therefore envisage the attached chants being used as additional Offertory / Communion chants instead of the (optional) sequence provided in the Lectionary being recited.

    The Victimae Paschali laudes is mandatory. For this reason, I have included one translation of the Victimae Paschali which corresponds to what we seem to have in the Lectionary here in England and Wales. However, as I struggled to get this translation to fit the original neumes particularly well (suggestions on this would be welcome, by the way), I have also included a new translation which I would again suggest for use as an Offertory chant (for example), with the Lectionary sequence being recited in its proper place.

    It is not possible to perfectly translate these beautiful Latin hymns into English equivalents. In balancing up accuracy, poetic-ness, comprehensibility to the modern ear, and faithfulness to the plainchant, I have generally placed accuracy at the top of my list, unless I could not see a way of coming up with something accurate (or finding an existing translation which I thought did the job) without seriously impinging on one of the other factors.

    I hope these will be of use to people out there!
    Sequences.pdf
    332K
    Thanked by 2PurpleSquirrel GerardH
  • PeterJ
    Posts: 90
    Btw if you have found your way onto this thread looking for settings of the translations found in the US Lectionary then I would refer you to Adam Bartlett's wonderful Lumen Christi Missal:

    https://www.illuminarepublications.com/scores/
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,782
    Here are a few more metrical translations of Sequences,

    Digby Strangeways Wrangham ~ The Liturgical Poetry of Adam of St. Victor: Volume I

    Digby Strangeways Wrangham ~ The Liturgical Poetry of Adam of St. Victor: Volume II

    Digby Strangeways Wrangham ~ The Liturgical Poetry of Adam of St. Victor: Volume III
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Chris_McAvoyChris_McAvoy
    Posts: 389
    I have typeset about 30 of the english texts from digby wranghams book to their original latin melodies. about 15 of them I have latin versions of too (the other 15 or so were already typeset in latin by a 19th c. french scholar, so sometimes I only did english to save time, when the latin already had a good edition existing)

    Wranghams book is a remarkable piece of work and I was pleased to have discovered it four years ago. Some of the melodies were very hard to track down in obscure MS. A number of them are missing to this day. I would especially like to discover the melody for St Thomas of Canterbury sequences. (Onea that do not use the lauda zion melody as many victorine sequences do).

    I hope to continue typesetting more english sequences from that book as time goes by in my life. It is an ongoing project which is tedious but very worthwhile and fulfilling.

    Thankfully Dr. Renwick and Mr. Carver continue working to typeset the Sequences of the Salisbury use into an english edition independently of me. I have been very impressed with their results and await the completion of it. It would be overwhelming for me to do much more work typestting anymore at this point, I am too busy as a culinary student. Interestingly, a handful of the Sarum sequences are the same as the Parisian sequences of St Victor but most of them are different. So in many cases their end up being two different sequences to use for a feast - which would be used in different regions of europe, although for some of the major feasts (assumption/christmas/all saints) the same sequence was used almost everywhere.
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
  • PeterJ
    Posts: 90
    Critical input on my post above would be welcome (particularly any comments on the "Dies irae") if anyone has any comments they want to share.
Add a Comment