Veni Creator Spiritus
Veni Creator Spiritus | |
---|---|
Hymn | |
![]() First verse | |
English | Come, Creator Spirit |
Occasion | Pentecost |
Written | Ninth century |
Text | attributed to Rabanus Maurus |
Language | Latin |
Melody | Gregorian chant |
Veni Creator Spiritus (Come, Creator Spirit) is a hymn believed to have been written by Rabanus Maurus in the 9th century. When the original Latin text is used, it is normally sung in Gregorian Chant. It has been translated into several languages, often as a hymn for Pentecost.
Liturgical use
As an invocation of the Holy Spirit, it is sung in the Catholic Church during liturgical celebrations on the feast of Pentecost (at both Terce and Vespers). It is also sung at occasions such as the entrance of Cardinals to the Sistine Chapel when they elect a new pope, as well as at the consecration of bishops, the ordination of priests, when celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation, the dedication of churches, the celebration of synods or councils, coronations, the profession of members of religious institutes, and other similar solemn events. There are also Catholic traditions of singing the hymn on New Year's Day for plenary indulgence.
The hymn is also widely used in the Anglican Communion and appears, for example, in the Ordering of Priests and in the Consecration of Bishops in the Book of Common Prayer, 1662. It has been translated into several languages; one English example is "Creator Spirit! by whose aid", written 1690 by John Dryden and published in The Church Hymn Book 1872 (n. 313); one of the earlier is the 1627 version "Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire" by Bishop John Cosin. Martin Luther used it as the basis for his chorale for Pentecost "Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist", first published in 1524.
Text
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notable English translations
Since the English Reformation in the 16th century, there have been more than fifty English language translations and paraphrases of Veni Creator Spiritus.[3] The version attributed to Archbishop Cranmer, his sole venture into English verse, first appeared in the Prayer Book Ordinal of 1550. It was the only metrical hymn included in the Edwardian liturgy. In 1561 John Day included it after the psalms in his incomplete metrical psalter of that year. From 1562 onwards, in The Whole Booke of Psalmes, Day printed Cranmer’s version at the start of the metrical paraphrases.[4] In terms of concision and accuracy, Cranmer compares poorly with Luther. Cranmer’s sixth stanza, which mentions the Last Judgement and religious strife within Christendom, was a new addition, with no parallel in the Latin original or in Luther's version;
- To us such plenty of thy grace, good Lord grant we thee pray,
- That thou maist be our comforter at the last dreadful day.
- Of all strife and dissension, O Lord dissolve the bands,
- And make the knots of peace and love throughout all Christian lands.
The version included in the 1662 revision of the Book of Common Prayer compresses the content of the original seven verses to four (with a two-line doxology), but retained the Latin title. It was written by Bishop John Cosin for the coronation of King Charles I of Great Britain in 1625.[5] The same words have been used at every coronation since, and is sung by the choir after the singing of the Creed, while the sovereign is dressed in a white alb and seated in the Coronation Chair, prior to the Anointing.[6] The first verse is:
- Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
- and lighten with celestial fire.
- Thou the anointing Spirit art,
- who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.[7]
This is also the version found in the Anglo-Catholic devotional manual Saint Augustine's Prayer Book as part of the Novena to The Holy Ghost.[8]
Another well-known version by the poet John Dryden was first published in his 1693 work, Examen Poeticum. It may be sung to the tune "Melita" by John Bacchus Dykes,[9] and excerpts of the Dryden text have been set to the German hymn tune "Lasst uns erfreuen".[10] Dryden's first verse is:
- Creator Spirit, by whose aid
- The world's foundations first were laid,
- Come, visit every pious mind;
- Come, pour thy joys on humankind;
- From sin and sorrow set us free,
- And make thy temples worthy thee.
German paraphrases
Martin Luther wrote a paraphrase in German, "Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist" (literally: Come, God Creator, Holy Ghost) as a Lutheran hymn for Pentecost, first published in 1524, with a melody derived from the chant of the Latin hymn. It appears in the Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch as EG 126.
A rhymed German translation or paraphrase, "Komm, Heiliger Geist, der Leben schafft" (literally: Come, Holy Spirit who creates life), was written by Friedrich Dörr to a melody close to the Gregorian melody, published in 1972. It became part of the common German Catholic hymnal Gotteslob in 1975, and of its second edition in 2013, as GL 342 in the section "Pfingsten – Heiliger Geist" (Pentecost - Holy Spirit).
Musical settings
- Nicolas de Grigny, Veni creator en taille à 5, fugue à 5 for organ (5 versets) (1699)
- Jehan Titelouze, Veni creator (1624)
- Marc-Antoine Charpentier, 4 Veni creator (1670 - 1690), H 69, H 54, H 66, H 70.
- Henry Desmarest, Veni creator for tenor and chorus in the 1700s,
- Michel-Richard Delalande, Veni creator spiritus S 14 (1689) or S 14 bis (1684),
- Charle-Hubert Gervais, Veni creator (1723)
- Johann Sebastian Bach used "Komm, Gott Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist" as the basis for his chorale preludes BWV 631 and BWV 667
- François Giroust, Veni creator à 4 voix et orchestre (1787)
- César Franck Veni creator for voice (TB) and organ (1859)
- Hector Berlioz, Veni creator à cappella H 121 (1885), a motet for women's voices to the Latin text
- Ferdinando Bertoni, Veni creator (1765)
- Camille Saint-Saëns, Veni creator à 4 voix (1866)
- Anton Bruckner harmonized the original tune for voice and organ as his motet WAB 50 in the 1880s.
- Augusta Holmès Veni creator for tenor ans mixed Chorus (1887)
- Gustav Mahler set the Latin text to music in Part I of his Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major (1906).
- Maurice Duruflé used the chant tune as the basis for his symphonic organ composition "Prélude, Adagio et Choral varié sur le thème du 'Veni Creator'" in 1926/1930.
- Paul Hindemith concluded his 1962 Concerto for Organ and Orchestra with a Phantasy on "Veni Creator Spiritus."
- Krzysztof Penderecki wrote a motet for mixed choir (1987), and the text has been set for chorus and orchestra by Cristóbal Halffter (1992).
- Karol Szymanowski, Veni creator Op. 57 (1930)
- Zoltán Gárdonyi, Partita for Organ Veni creator spiritus (1958)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen used the text in the second hour of his Klang cycle in a 2005 piece for two singing harpists titled Freude (Joy).
- Arvo Pärt, Veni creator (2006)
- Zsolt Gárdonyi, Toccata for Organ Veni creator spiritus (2020)
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)
References
- ^ a b "Mass and Rite of Canonisation" (PDF). vatican.va. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Come, Holy Ghost, Creator, Come / Veni Creator Spiritus". January 7, 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
- ^ Charles S. Nutter & Wilbur F. Tillett, The Hymns and Hymn Writers of The Church, Smith & Lamar, 1911 (p.108)
- ^ Beth Quitslund, The Reformation in Rhyme : Sternhold, Hopkins and the English Metrical Psalter (Ashgate, 2008), pp. 204, 229.
- ^ Reverend Ivan D. Aquilina, The Eucharistic Understanding of John Cosin and his Contribution to the 1662 Book Of Common Prayer (p.6)
- ^ http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/coronations/guide-to-the-coronation-service
- ^ "Oremus Hymnal: Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire". Oremus.org. Archived from the original on 2017-05-02.
- ^ Saint Augustine's Prayer Book: A Book of Devotion for members of the Episcopal Church (1967) [1947]. (Revised ed.) West Park, New York: Holy Cross Publications. p. 316.
- ^ "Creator Spirit, by whose aid". Hymnary.org.
- ^ "Creator Spirit, By Whose Aid" (PDF). Oregon Catholic Press. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
External links
- Gregorian Chant: free downloads
- Pastoral Commentary by Pope John Paul II
- Creator Spirit, by Whose Aid (mp3 with organ only)