DMNCHOIR! EUROPE TOUR 2009 IS IN ONE DAYYYYYY!
Without knowing what the songs we are singing mean, however much effort we put into singing it would be useless. Thus, I'm posting the English translations and the song's history!
Audete, Gaudete
Latin:
Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!
Tempus adest gratiæ
Hoc quod optabamus,
Carmina lætitiæ
Devote reddamus.
Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!
Deus homo factus est
Natura mirante,
Mundus renovatus est
A Christo regnante.
Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!
Ezechielis porta
Clausa pertransitur,
Unde lux est orta
Salus invenitur.
Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!
Ergo nostra contio
Psallat lam in lustro;
Benedicat Domino:
Salus Regi nostro.
Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!
Audete, gaudete! Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine, gaudete!
English:Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!
The time of grace has come
That we have desired;
Let us devoutly return
Joyful verses.
Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!
God has become man,
And nature marvels;
The world has been renewed
By Christ who is King.
Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!
The closed gate of Ezechiel
Has been passed through;
Whence the light is born,
Salvation is found.
Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!
Therefore let our gathering
Now sing in brightness
Let it give praise to the Lord:
Greeting to our King.
Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!
Bravely rejoice! Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice!
History:
"Gaudete" (pronounced gow-DAE-tae, "rejoice" in Latin) is a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in the Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books.
The text, in Latin, is a typical song of praise, probably stemming from the Middle Ages. It follows the standard pattern for the time - a uniform series of four-line stanzas, each preceded by a two-line refrain (in the early English carol this was known as the burden). Carols could be on any subject, but typically they were about the Virgin Mary or the Saints of Christmas.
O Magnum Mysterium
Latin:
O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
jacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.
English:
O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
Alleluia!
History:
O Magnum Mysterium is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas. A number of composers have reworked the chant into a contemporaneous setting; the settings by Byrd, Victoria, Gabrieli, Palestrina, Poulenc, Harbison, La Rocca, Messiaen, Mäntyjärvi, Pierre Villette and Lauridsen are notable.
Two upper voices begin a duet in reverential awe, imitating a "great" fall of a melodic fifth, and an intense half-step -- thus opens one of the most famous motets of the entire sixteenth century, Tomas Luis de Victoria's O magnum mysterium. And yet the young Spanish composer offers nothing truly revolutionary in the work; rather he demonstrates his traditional musical training in conservative Counter-Reformation Rome, which resulted in a characteristically intense attention to each minute detail of his composition. An overused, but still apt, comparison to the painting of the Spanish artist El Greco notes the similar attention both men placed on the emotional content of each brushstroke and how the totality of these individual strokes creates the complete affect. Victoria published this motet in his first musical anthology (the Motecta of 1572, published by Gardano in Venice), when he was only 24. Its inscription assigns it to the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, though the text actually comes from a responsory of the Christmas Matins service, and more appropriately matches the Christmas celebration. What a great mystery, cries the text, that the lowly animals may view the Messiah born in a manger and the blessed Virgin who bore Him. Alleluia. Victoria's setting moves from its long-breathed and reverential opening into a suave series of imitative passages, concluding with the text "laid in a manger." For the exclamation "O beata Virgo" ("O Blessed Virgin!"), a general pause sets up a hushed and mystical passage of homophony: the outer voices move in parallel, with relative immobility in the center blurring the rhythmic lines. This passage proved too extraordinary to feature at all in the mass which Victoria based upon this motet, though he did quote the gesture in a later motet, Vere languores. Two jubilant "Alleluia" sections (one in a dance-like triple time) close the motet and suggest necessary revision of the popular image of Victoria as merely a pale, brooding kind of Catholic.
Ping An Ye
Chinese:
平安夜里真平安
小小耶稣来世上
天国的消息他宣扬
人间的希望他点燃
振光阿已照亮
照亮在人心上
他的故事万人传
平安夜里真平安
平安， 平安，真平安
平安， 平安，真平安
平安， 平安，真平安
平安， 平安，真平安
平安夜里真平安
小小耶稣来世上
天国的消息他宣扬
人间的希望他点燃
振光阿已照亮
照亮在人心上
他的故事万人传
平安夜里真平安
平安夜里真平安
English：
The peaceful night was very peaceful
Baby Jesus came to the world
He spread the word of God
He lit up Man's hope for salvation
The light of the Lord has been lit
Lit in the hearts of multitudes of people
His story will be passed on by everyone
The peaceful night is very peaceful
Peace, peace, so peaceful
Peace, peace, so peaceful
Peace, peace, so peaceful
Peace, peace, so peaceful
The peaceful night was very peaceful
Baby Jesus came to the world
He spread the word of God
He lit up Man's hope for salvation
The light of the Lord has been lit
Lit in the hearts of multitudes of people
His story will be passed on by everyone
The peaceful night is very peaceful
The peaceful night is very peaceful
History:
This song is a popular Taiwanese Christmas carol.
Kasar Mie La Gaji
African Sahel:
Kasar mie la gaji
English:
The Earth is tired.
History:
Kasar mie la Gaji is Alberto Grau’s call for environmental awareness and responsiveness. This work was selected for review because it reflects Grau’s compositional techniques within a compact and concentrated form. It is composed for unaccompanied mixed chorus. “Kasar mie la Gaji” (“The Earth is Tired) is a phrase said by inhabitants of the African Sahel (shore), which is in the southern area of the Sahara desert. The desperation and weariness of the message is characterized by the repeating of only this text. The work is designed on repetition. It is an example of the quasi-minimalism that Alberto Grau mentions in his interview. There is a steady reiteration of text, melody, and various rhythmic devices. (Please click on the source link to read the full article. It is very very useful.)
Hope you all now have a greater feeling about the songs!
All the best for Europe Tour 2009!
