Agnus Dei: lyrics and translation
- Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,First time. "Agnus Dei" firm, "dona eis requiem" quiet.
- dona eis requiem.give them rest.
- Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,Second time, the harmony has shifted.
- dona eis requiem.give them rest.
- Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,
- dona eis requiem sempiternam.give them everlasting rest.Third time, "everlasting". A clearing.
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Manuscript: the Agnus Dei in Süssmayr's hand
Leaf 53 verso of the score for the patron. Süssmayr wrote the Agnus Dei himself, and this is the movement considered the best of his own.
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About
The choir sings the same phrase three times, and each time it sounds different. "Agnus Dei" is firm and loud, "dona eis requiem" - "give them rest" - is quiet. The third time the music clears, and what is asked for is no longer rest but rest everlasting.
The choir sings 'Agnus Dei' loudly and firmly over restless strings, and at 'dona eis requiem' everything sinks to a prayerful whisper. This happens three times, and each time the harmony shifts somewhere new, as if a burden were moved from one shoulder to the other. The third time the word 'sempiternam', eternal, is added, and the music finds a brighter, calmer chord.
Worth knowing
In an ordinary Mass this is "miserere nobis", have mercy on us. In a Requiem it is "dona eis requiem", give them rest: the very words the work began with.
Süssmayr, but this is considered the best of his three independent movements. He may have drawn on sketches or on Mozart's early Masses.
"Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" - this is what John the Baptist called Jesus when he saw him by the Jordan.
The last movement without Mozart's music. After it, the Lux aeterna brings back his own music from the Introitus and Kyrie.
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Quiet here so far. Yours would be the first.