Lux aeterna / Cum sanctis tuis: lyrics and translation
- Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine,Let eternal light shine on them, O Lord,Soprano solo with the "Te decet hymnus" melody from the first movement.
- cum sanctis tuis in aeternum,with your saints forever,
- quia pius es.for you are merciful.
- Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,Eternal rest give to them, O Lord,The opening theme in the choir, note for note, but with words about eternal light.
- et lux perpetua luceat eis.and let perpetual light shine on them.
- cum sanctis tuis in aeternum,with your saints forever,The Kyrie double fugue with the text "cum sanctis tuis". The ending is the same hollow chord.
- quia pius es.for you are merciful.
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About
The opening music returns with new words. A soprano solo, then the opening theme in the choir, then the double fugue of the Kyrie. It ends on the same hollow chord.
The soprano sings 'Lux aeterna' to the melody we heard in the Introitus at 'Te decet hymnus'. Then the choir takes up the familiar opening theme with new words, and at 'Cum sanctis tuis' the double fugue from the Kyrie returns note for note. The final chord is as hollow and stark as in the Kyrie: the circle closes, but after this journey the listener is someone else.
Worth knowing
The whole work is a request: give, deliver, receive, save. And only here, at the end, does it say why God should answer: "quia pius es" - "because you are merciful". Not because the person has earned it or prayed a great deal, but because that is what God is like. In the whole Requiem this is the only explanation of why the requests make any sense at all.
The music has not changed. The words have, and so has the listener. Bringing back the opening music was Süssmayr's decision: in 1800 he wrote to the publishers that he had repeated the Kyrie fugue himself, "to give the work more unity". Whether Mozart suggested it to him is unknown.
The Communion was sung during communion. "Eternal light" are its first words, hence the name of the movement.
There are no notes by Mozart for this movement, yet it sounds in his music: Süssmayr took the Introitus and the Kyrie fugue and set new words to them.
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Quiet here so far. Yours would be the first.
