Take a listen to the carol being performed by the Tallis Scholars (2:35).
Here's another version (only the first two verses) sung in a rather different (and considerably more medieval-folk sounding) style, by The King's Singers (1:15).
Here are the words with a translation:
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| Angelus ad virginem Sub intrans in conclave, Virginis formidinem Demulcens, inquit: Ave! Ave regina virginum; Caeli terraeque Dominum Concipies Et paries intacta Salutem hominum; Tu porta caeli facta, Medela criminum. | When the angel came secretly to the Virgin in her room, soothing the maiden's fear, he said: "Hail! Hail, Queen of virgins. While yet untouched by man you shall conceive and bear the Lord of heaven and earth, salvation for mankind. You have become the gate of heaven, a remedy for sins." |
| Quomodo conciperem Quae virum non cognovi? Qualiter infringerem Quod firma mente vovi? Spiritus Sancti gratia Perficiet haec omnia; Ne timeas, Sed gaudeas, secura Quod castimonia Manebit in te pura Dei potentia. | "How can I conceive, since I have not known a man? How can I break the vow I made with firm intent?" "The grace of the Holy Spirit shall bring all this to pass. Fear not, but rejoice, secure in the knowledge that pure chastity shall remain yours through God's mighty power." |
| Ad haec virgo nobilis Respondens inquit ei: Ancilla sum humilis Omnipotentis Dei. Tibi caelesti nuntio, Tanti secreti conscio, Consentiens, Et cupiens videre Factum quod audio; Parata sum parere, Dei consilio. | To this the noble Virgin replied, saying: "I am the lowly handmaiden of Almighty God. I bend my will to you, O celestial messenger, who share so great a mystery, and I long to see performed what I now hear. I am ready to yield myself to God's design." |
| Eia mater Domini, Quae pacem redidisti Angelis et homini, Cum Christum genuisti: Tuum exora filium ut se nobis propitium Exhibeat, Et deleat peccata: Praestans auxilium Vita frui beata Post hoc exsilium. | Ah, mother of the Lord, who gave back peace to angels and mankind when you bore Christ, pray your son to be gracious to us, and wipe away our sins, granting us aid to enjoy a blessed life after this exile. |
3 comments:
Do you have any sources for some of this lovely music? I would like to find some CDs...quite tired of Bing Crosby at this point in time. :-)
I downloaded the album "Christmas" by "The King's Singers" from iTunes a couple weeks ago (because Fr. Z used their performance of Veni Veni Emmanuel in a podcast of his). From that album, I found this particular song (Angelus ad Virginem), but they only sang two verses of it, so I sought it online for a more complete mp3 (which I found!).
My friend Emily recommends these groups: "The Tallis Scholars", the "Orlando Consort", the "Anonymous 4", and "Pomerium". She's a Princeton grad student whose field is medieval/renaissance music -- her thesis project is on music associated with the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary -- so I think her recommendations carry great weight.
I added a clip of other rendition of Angelus ad Virginem for comparison.
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