Although I would like to use the English translation of the Te Deum in BFW, I don't think our choir can do it a capella. Does anyone know of a keyboard-accompanied setting using the official translation for LotH?
There is the hymn " God We Praise You" a trams by Chistopher Idle. It is in the GIA hymnals set to the tune Nettleton. I do not know how close it is to the offical translation.
Must be a British translation, as the collective nouns in the third stanza have plural verbs.
You are God: we praise you; You are the Lord: we acclaim you; You are the eternal Father: All creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of you glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you. the noble fellowship of prophets praise you. The white-robed army of martyrs praise you
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you; Father, of majesty unbounded, your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, And the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory, the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free you did not shun the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory. We believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help you people, bought with the price of your own blood, and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.
You are God: we praise you; You are the Lord: we acclaim you; You are the eternal Father: All creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise: Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you. The noble fellowship of prophets praise you. The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you: Father, of majesty unbounded, your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the King of glory, the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God’s right hand in glory. We believe that you will come, and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people, bought with the price of your own blood, and bring us with your saints to glory everlasting.
Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance. – Govern and uphold them now and always.
Day by day we bless you. – We praise your name for ever.
Keep us today, Lord, from all sin. – Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
Lord, show us your love and mercy, – for we have put our trust in you.
In you, Lord, is our hope: – And we shall never hope in vain.
It's not a terrible translation of that word. "Confess" has different connotations than what seems (to me) to be indicated in the original, and "acknowledge" is so sterile.
There is a Richard Proulx edition (GIA) of the English version of the Te Deum which basically splits antiphonally between two choirs/sections. While the melody is not doubled, there is a 5 bell peal that plays throughout (played on handbells). Not a true accompaniment per se, but it helps keep the choir on pitch.
Mine too. Also acclaim has connotations of its own which are completely absent from confiteor.
What is it about acclaim? All sorts of things are called acclamations these days that aren't. And then they went and put acclaim in the preface, where it isn't even grammatical.
We praise thee, O God : we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee : the Father everlasting. To thee all Angels cry aloud : the Heavens, and all the Powers therein. To thee Cherubim and Seraphim : continually do cry, Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty : of thy glory. The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee. The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee. The holy Church throughout all the world : doth acknowledge thee; The Father : of an infinite Majesty; Thine honourable, true : and only Son; Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter. Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man : thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death : thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge. We therefore pray thee, help thy servants : whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting.
O Lord, save thy people : and bless thine heritage. Govern them : and lift them up for ever. Day by day : we magnify thee; And we worship thy Name : ever world without end. Vouchsafe, O Lord : to keep us this day without sin. O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us. O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us : as our trust is in thee. O Lord, in thee have I trusted : let me never be confounded.
WE praise thee, O God : we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee : the Father everlasting. To thee all Angels cry aloud : the Heavens, and all the Powers therein. To thee Cherubim and Seraphim : continually do cry, Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty : of thy glory. The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee. The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee. The holy Church throughout all the world : doth acknowledge thee; The Father : of an infinite Majesty; Thine honourable, true : and only Son; Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter. Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man : thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death : thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge. We therefore pray thee, help thy servants : whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting. O Lord, save thy people : and bless thine heritage. Govern them : and lift them up for ever. Day by day : we magnify thee; And we worship thy Name : ever world without end. Vouchsafe, O Lord : to keep us this day without sin. O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us. O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us : as our trust is in thee. O Lord, in thee have I trusted : let me never be confounded
What is amusing about the wailing and gnashing that yet and still persists elsewhere about MR3's supposed clunkiness is that I imagine that critics of "thee...consubstansuchtial...chalice," not too mention gem words such as vouchsafe are likely afficianados of croissants, latte/frappe/chai tea and such niceties and wouldn't dream of brewing a cup of Joe in their hotel suite and wolfing down a bearclaw from a wrapper. Just supposin'...
Thanks, Charles! That is much prettier than a photocopy or scan-and-paste from the 1940.
Although I do prefer "Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb." (It always makes me think of Peter in Prince Caspian to the Doctor: "abhominable--and don't forget the H!" Latin reigneth, even in English. :-)
Wouldn't "You are God" by itself come out as "Tu es Deus"? (I'm no Latin scholar.) I just figured "You are Peter" is "Tu es Petrus," so the case would work the same way. I'm guessing "Deum" is in the accusative case, or whatever the direct-object case is called, as God is the direct object of our praising (laudamus). I'm sure something here is probably wrong, but that's my best guess.
but ICET (the ecumenical counterpart to ICEL) was trying to produce modernized Simple English AND keep the basic word order. Changing the meaning a little? No big deal! :-)
Francis, you are composer, I thank you - in advance. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver the score : thou didst not abhor the dorky forum-dwellers. When thou hadst overcome the dirth of good translations - thou mayest (?) open the score to all believers (one hopes) Thou sittest at the right hand of ______(fill in the blank): in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt compose a worthy offering- We earnestly pray that it may reach the fullness of its conclusion before rehearsal on Monday night.
At this point, with a new translation of the LotH on the horizon, I certainly wouldn't expect anyone to compose a setting of the current "official" translation.
Well, it would only take an hour to compose the piece. Unfortunately it takes days, weeks and months to figure out the best translation. Hence why I always revert back to Latin.
I will use the Anglican Translation and post later tonight perhaps.
Francis - I'm fine with the Latin. Actually prefer it. Sorry, I was assuming you were going to go with that as you said in the above post. Many thanks!
I believe this hymn is 268a and 268b in SUMMIT CHOIRBOOK, but I am not sure if they have accompaniment. For what it's worth, Cardinal Bartolucci claims Catholics used to sing the TE DEUM with tremendous gusto in Latin.
To participate in the discussions on Catholic church music, sign in or register as a forum member, The forum is a project of the Church Music Association of America.