This Kyrie trope/motet comes from the Codex Calixtinus (or, as some call it - and more accurately, too! - the Liber Sancti Jacobi). This video comes from the Budapest Schola Cantorum; here's the information about it that they posted at the YouTube page:
From the photos I've seen, the Schola appears to be a mixed choir of male and female voices, both young and older. Very nice!
Here are the words they are singing; I found them in a German Google book. Interestingly, there is a bit of Greek mixed with the Latin text.
Kyrie.
Fulbertus episcopus de sancto Jacobo.
Rex immense, pater pie,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleìson,
Palmo cuncta qui concludis,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison,
Sother, theos athanatos,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, fili patris summi,
eleison,
Christe, eleisou,
Qui de coelis descendisti,
eleìson,
Christe, eleison,
Tuum plasma redemisti,
eleìson,
Christe, eleison.
Consolator, dulcis amor,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison,
Qui Jacobum illustraSti,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison,
Cujus prece nobis parce,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison.
Great King, gentle father,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy,
You hold all things in your hand,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy,
Savior, immortal God,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy.
Christ, Son of the Most High,
have mercy,
Christ have mercy,
He came down from heaven,
have mercy,
Christ have mercy,
You have redeemed your creatures,
have mercy,
Christ have mercy.
Comforter, sweet love,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy,
You are illumined by James,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy,
By his prayer spare us,
have mercy ,
Lord have mercy.
The words are also here, at a Wikisource site about the Codex Calixtinus; there are some misspellings there, though.
This Kyrie is apparently contained in in an appendix to the Codex. (I have not been able to find a full digital copy of this manuscript online so far, so this is just an assumption on my part.) A note at this page says (in reference to the organum included in the Codex) that:
Kyrie: Rex Immense is a trope on the Mass 12 (Pater cuncta) Kyrie. A trope is a musical composition in which something new - either music or text, or both - added to an original chant.
In most cases, the original chant - the Kyrie, in this case - became melismatic (ornate in melody) over time; that is, musical ornament was, over the course of years, added to a simple Kyrie eleison chant. (The ornament here is in the wandering melody of the "Kyrie" and "Christe" sections.)
Later on (or at the same time), words were written to the melodic ornament on the simple chant; the words - and perhaps the melody? - for this particular Kyrie are apparently attributed to Bishop Fulbert of Chartres. Fulbert actually lived from the middle of the tenth century until 1028, two full centuries before the era of the Liber Sancti Jacobi (12th Century), so this attribution may not be accurate - although Fulbert was a hymn-writer. (One of his compositions was the familiar Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem.)
(Just to note: Mass 12 may originally have been known as Mass 13; I'm finding several references that may indicate this.)
Here's the Mass 12 Kyrie itself:
Here's a score:
Here's a page at DIAMM with some information about the LSJ - although, again, no images of the manuscript itself. (You can apparently see a few images at this Wikipedia page, though. I'm not sure where these are coming from.) This Kyrie is listed as piece #16, folio 189. (Which is, perhaps, otherwise known as folio 218! Really, I have no idea, since I can't see what's going on.)
In this video, you can see and hear the original chant, as well as the trope; listen for the complete "Kyrie eleison" and "Christe eleison" chants. These are included in the words I cited above, but are left out in the video above.
And another, similar interpretation (to start with, anyway!), from Ensemble Nu:n, a favorite group of mine. They mix medieval chant and jazz improvisation, always to interesting effect. How could I not like them?
Budapesti Énekes Iskola / Schola Cantorum Budapestiensis
Művészeti vezetők / Artistic directors: János MEZEI, Tamás BUBNÓ
Kyrie "Rex immensae" for two voice, from Codex Callixtinus
From the photos I've seen, the Schola appears to be a mixed choir of male and female voices, both young and older. Very nice!
Here are the words they are singing; I found them in a German Google book. Interestingly, there is a bit of Greek mixed with the Latin text.
Kyrie.
Fulbertus episcopus de sancto Jacobo.
Rex immense, pater pie,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleìson,
Palmo cuncta qui concludis,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison,
Sother, theos athanatos,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison.
Christe, fili patris summi,
eleison,
Christe, eleisou,
Qui de coelis descendisti,
eleìson,
Christe, eleison,
Tuum plasma redemisti,
eleìson,
Christe, eleison.
Consolator, dulcis amor,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison,
Qui Jacobum illustraSti,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison,
Cujus prece nobis parce,
eleison,
Kyrie, eleison.
Great King, gentle father,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy,
You hold all things in your hand,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy,
Savior, immortal God,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy.
Christ, Son of the Most High,
have mercy,
Christ have mercy,
He came down from heaven,
have mercy,
Christ have mercy,
You have redeemed your creatures,
have mercy,
Christ have mercy.
Comforter, sweet love,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy,
You are illumined by James,
have mercy,
Lord have mercy,
By his prayer spare us,
have mercy ,
Lord have mercy.
The words are also here, at a Wikisource site about the Codex Calixtinus; there are some misspellings there, though.
This Kyrie is apparently contained in in an appendix to the Codex. (I have not been able to find a full digital copy of this manuscript online so far, so this is just an assumption on my part.) A note at this page says (in reference to the organum included in the Codex) that:
It is possible that the Benedictines of Cluny (France) assembled this collection from various sources and presented it to the Cathedral of Santiago. The concluding appendix to the codex contains 20 polyphonic pieces and one more appears in the main body of the codex.
Kyrie: Rex Immense is a trope on the Mass 12 (Pater cuncta) Kyrie. A trope is a musical composition in which something new - either music or text, or both - added to an original chant.
In most cases, the original chant - the Kyrie, in this case - became melismatic (ornate in melody) over time; that is, musical ornament was, over the course of years, added to a simple Kyrie eleison chant. (The ornament here is in the wandering melody of the "Kyrie" and "Christe" sections.)
Later on (or at the same time), words were written to the melodic ornament on the simple chant; the words - and perhaps the melody? - for this particular Kyrie are apparently attributed to Bishop Fulbert of Chartres. Fulbert actually lived from the middle of the tenth century until 1028, two full centuries before the era of the Liber Sancti Jacobi (12th Century), so this attribution may not be accurate - although Fulbert was a hymn-writer. (One of his compositions was the familiar Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem.)
(Just to note: Mass 12 may originally have been known as Mass 13; I'm finding several references that may indicate this.)
Here's the Mass 12 Kyrie itself:
Here's a score:
Here's a page at DIAMM with some information about the LSJ - although, again, no images of the manuscript itself. (You can apparently see a few images at this Wikipedia page, though. I'm not sure where these are coming from.) This Kyrie is listed as piece #16, folio 189. (Which is, perhaps, otherwise known as folio 218! Really, I have no idea, since I can't see what's going on.)
In this video, you can see and hear the original chant, as well as the trope; listen for the complete "Kyrie eleison" and "Christe eleison" chants. These are included in the words I cited above, but are left out in the video above.
And another, similar interpretation (to start with, anyway!), from Ensemble Nu:n, a favorite group of mine. They mix medieval chant and jazz improvisation, always to interesting effect. How could I not like them?
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