Sancti venite, Christi corpus sumite
  • cantorconvert
    Posts: 79
    Does anyone know whether there is chant for the hymn, Sancti venite, Christi corpus sumite, which is found in the Bangor Antiphoner? There are some recordings of it by some early music groups, but I did not know if their versions came from the Bangor Antiphoner or if they composed the music themselves.
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,704
    From the information below it seems to be quite a rare hymn,

    http://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/AnteMissam/SanctiVenite.html

    It would be worth seeing if the Bangor Antiphoner has information about the melody, the meter is unusual, and I cannot think of melody that uses that meter...

    It would be interesting to hear the melody used on the recordings to see if it is used with a different hymn.
  • Bruce E. Ford
    Posts: 429
    Are you familiar with the English translation by John Mason Neale, "Draw night and take the Body of the Lord..."?

    It can be found in a number of Anglican hymnals, including The Hymnal 1982, where it is set to a beautiful tune by Orlando Gibbons (#328)
  • cantorconvert
    Posts: 79
    Actually, I love the Neale translation and just programmed it as the communion hymn this past weekend. I noticed for the first time that it was a translation from the Latin. We sang it out of Worship III which as I am sure you know, pairs it with Coena Domini by Arthur Sullivan

    As far as the recording, it seems to have been done by Capella Antiqua München:
    http://www.amazon.com/Sancti-venite-Christi-corpus-Thursday/dp/B0013AUH1I
  • veromaryveromary
    Posts: 160
    I've been on a rabbit trail this morning looking for the chant tune for Sancti Venite.

    Though the recording above posted by @cantorconvert is the closest I've come to a chant tune, I thought it worth adding here that the Brebeuf Hymnal gives 10 tunes plus more tunes for different translations.

    Of the ten for Sancti Venite, the first three are especially composed for the Brebeuf Hymnal. The other tunes are adapted from 7.7.7.7 tunes, having the first and fourth syllables of the first and third line of each stanza take up two beats of the 7.7.7.7 tune.

    The meter is unusual. Hymnary.org only gives 2 such tunes.

    Update: the person who requested this just sent this link:
    “Christ Ist Erstanden” (In Latin!) - which is the tenth tune from the Brebeuf Hymnal.
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