'O MAGNUM MYSTERIUM' IS A RESPONSORIAL CHANT FROM THE MATINS OF CHRISTMAS. AN EXTRAORDINARY, BEAUTIFUL SONG THAT OFTEN BRINGS PERFORMERS AND DIRECTORS TO TEARS. MORTEN LAURIDSEN COMPOSED THE CHORAL ARRANGEMENT, H. ROBERT REYNOLDS ARRANGED IT FOR BAND
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Story behind the song
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, Pierre Villette and Lauridsen are notable.
The composer Morten Lauridsen explains the composition of his 1994 piece "O Magnum Mysterium" for the WSJ.
The Latin text for the Christmas Day matins responsory, "O Magnum Mysterium," also celebrates the Virgin Mary as well as God's grace to the meek:
Zurbaran (1598-1664) is the painter of "Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose." The objects in this work are symbolic offerings to the Virgin Mary. Her love, purity and chastity are signified by the rose and the cup of water. The lemons are an Easter fruit that, along with the oranges with blossoms, indicate renewed life. The table is a symbolic altar. The objects on it are set off in sharp contrast to the dark, blurred backdrop and radiate with clarity and luminosity against the shadows.
In composing music to these inspirational words about Christ's birth and the veneration of the Virgin Mary, I sought to impart, as Zurbaran did before me, a transforming spiritual experience within what I call "a quiet song of profound inner joy." I wanted this piece to resonate immediately and deeply into the core of the listener, to illumine through sound.
The most challenging part of this piece for me was the second line of text having to do with the Virgin Mary. She above all was chosen to bear the Christ child and then she endured the horror and sorrow of his death on the cross. How can her significance and suffering be portrayed musically?
After exploring several paths, I decided to depict this by a single note. On the word "Virgo," the altos sing a dissonant appoggiatura G-sharp. It's the only tone in the entire work that is foreign to the main key of D. That note stands out against a consonant backdrop as if a sonic light has suddenly been focused upon it, edifying its meaning. It is the most important note in the piece.
"O Magnum Mysterium" had its premiere by the Los Angeles Master Chorale under the baton of Paul Salamunovich. Widely recorded with thousands of performances throughout the world since then, it owes much to its visual model, Zurbaran's magnificent "Still Life With Lemons, Oranges and a Rose."
O Magnum Mysterium has been received thousands of performances and at least 100 professional recordings since its 1994 premiere, making it one of the most performed compositions of the last 20 years in its original setting. The wind band arrangement by H. Robert Reynolds, retired director of the University of Michigan Bands, can claim similar accolades within wind band circles. Of his original version, Lauridsen writes:
For centuries, composers have been inspired by the beautiful O Magnum Mysterium text with its depiction of the birth of the new-born King amongst the lowly animals and shepherds. This affirmation of God's grace to the meek and the adoration of the Blessed Virgin are celebrated in my setting through a quiet song of profound inner joy.
Lyrics
Latin text
O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
jacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.
English translation
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!