Benedictus: lyrics and translation
- Benedictus qui venitBlessed is he who comesFour soloists in turn, calmly.
- in nomine Domini.in the name of the Lord.
- Hosanna in excelsis.Hosanna in the highest.The choir brings back the "Hosanna" fugue from the previous movement.
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About
After the brilliance of the Sanctus, a calm solo quartet. At the end the choir brings back the "Hosanna" fugue. Written by Süssmayr.
The orchestra begins gently and songfully, in warm B flat major. The soloists enter in turn and carry the melody without hurrying, exchanging phrases as in a calm conversation. After the brilliance of the Sanctus there is room to breathe here: there is no fear in this music, only the quiet expectation of the one who is to come. At the end the choir returns with the "Hosanna" fugue - the same one already heard in the Sanctus.
Worth knowing
B flat major, slow and songlike. After the trumpets and timpani of the Sanctus: warmth and quiet.
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" - the crowd's greeting to Jesus at the gates of Jerusalem.
Süssmayr claimed he wrote this movement himself. Some scholars hear Mozart's sketches in it, but none have been found.
The longest of the movements Süssmayr wrote himself: about five minutes.
After the quartet the Hosanna fugue from the Sanctus returns: the rite requires the "hosanna" to be sung twice.
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Quiet here so far. Yours would be the first.