During my years at Our Lady of Walsingham Anglican Use Parish in Houston, we used the following Memorial Acclamation:
My predecessor had used it, and I inherited it. I still don’t know its origins. It is quite simple for the people to sing. I also noticed its construction:
1) “Christ has died” – the past tense, and the melody goes down one note and then returns.
2) “Christ is risen” – the present tense, and the melody rises even higher than it lowered previously, and then returns to the reciting note.
3) “Christ will come again” – the future tense, and melody rises still higher, and returns yet again to the reciting note by way of one note lowered.
It seems like a melody that is at once anchored and yet transcends.
Some years after taking the position there, I noticed a much closer translation to the Latin. It was the Memorial Acclamation in one of the alternative Great Thanksgiving Prayers in the new Book of Common Prayer. It went thusly: “We remember his death. We proclaim his resurrection. We await his coming in glory.” I also noticed the choice of the third person rather than the second, and considered that it might show more clearly the Episcopalian belief in the Real Presence. I put my own variation to this text to the same melody, but never used it. I’m not even sure that we could have, since this particular text is NOT included in the Book of Divine Worship. But here it is:
Now, what if the original Latin text were used with this melody? See what you think:
My predecessor had used it, and I inherited it. I still don’t know its origins. It is quite simple for the people to sing. I also noticed its construction:
1) “Christ has died” – the past tense, and the melody goes down one note and then returns.
2) “Christ is risen” – the present tense, and the melody rises even higher than it lowered previously, and then returns to the reciting note.
3) “Christ will come again” – the future tense, and melody rises still higher, and returns yet again to the reciting note by way of one note lowered.
It seems like a melody that is at once anchored and yet transcends.
Some years after taking the position there, I noticed a much closer translation to the Latin. It was the Memorial Acclamation in one of the alternative Great Thanksgiving Prayers in the new Book of Common Prayer. It went thusly: “We remember his death. We proclaim his resurrection. We await his coming in glory.” I also noticed the choice of the third person rather than the second, and considered that it might show more clearly the Episcopalian belief in the Real Presence. I put my own variation to this text to the same melody, but never used it. I’m not even sure that we could have, since this particular text is NOT included in the Book of Divine Worship. But here it is:
Now, what if the original Latin text were used with this melody? See what you think:
10 comments:
Thank you for this excellent post. It is a genuine contribution to the ongoing work of the Anglican Use as we record our history and gather our sources. Also, your post helps to answer one of my questions about the origin of the chant used at Walsingham when they sing 'Christ has died, etc.'
Congratulations on your new blog! I eagerly look forward to reading future posts.
Very nice setting of the memorial acclamation ("Christ has died . . .") I'v been looking for a simple alternative to the "Danish Amen" setting. Thank you.
Thanks, Sam.
I have TIF files for pasting into MSWord, etc.
Just email me at smc2003@bellsouth.net
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