When can the Cherubic Hymn be sung in the Roman rite?
  • diminuendoduck
    Posts: 6
    Hello all,
    Back in my chorister days in my mom's church choir, we learned an arrangement of "The Cherubic Hymn". It was quite beautiful, however, despite my mother's efforts in her research she could not find a straight answer as to what part of the mass in the Roman rite it would be appropriate for, if at all. So we often sang it as a prelude to avoid any errors.

    It really is a beautiful setting and I would like to teach it to my current church choir, but I want to know what context it would be best suited for.

    Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!
  • liampmcdonough
    Posts: 306
    Would recommend it as a choral anthem on the 1st Sunday of Advent or Trinity Sunday
    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 8,980
    In the Byzantine liturgy it is sung at the time of the offertory procession, and it could be suitable in the modern Roman rite if sung after the offertory chant or instead of it. Since the text ends with the word "alleluia", it is appropriate outside of the season of Lent.

    Paul Jernberg's setting of the hymn can be heard at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf5f1D_e3Uc
    Thanked by 6diminuendoduck CHGiffen M. Jackson Osborn tomjaw … Expand
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  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,130
    I have a Latin version that we will use this week minus the Alleluia. We do it at the Offertory.
    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • RoborgelmeisterRoborgelmeister
    Posts: 214
    The setting by Bortniansky is perhaps one of the most revered settings of the Cherubic Hymn. Perhaps this is what you seek.
    http://ww1.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/13c_cherubic_hymn-bortniansky-7.pdf
    A simple google search such as
    "Cherubic Hymn" pdf
    will be exhaustive. The the quote marks for a restricted search.
    Thanked by 1diminuendoduck
  • Andrew_Malton
    Posts: 1,205
    Considering the beloved importance of the Cherubikon in the Byzantine Divine Liturgy, and its entire absence from the historical Roman Rite, is there just a whiff of cultural appropriation about using it?
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  • davido
    Posts: 1,030
    No, there’s no cultural appropriation.
    Thanked by 3tomjaw CHGiffen Roborgelmeister
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  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,130
    Andrew, actually, it's not entirely absent from the Roman Rite. But it was one of those things that "didn't make the cut". The earliest sources we have are Carolingian, mostly in Greek as part of the Missa Graeca, but there's one source in Latin with neumes.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherubikon#The_notated_chant_sources
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen tomjaw diminuendoduck
  • Andrew_Malton
    Posts: 1,205
    Good to know. Thanks.
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