latin prayers

Here is my attempt of a most ancient and popular hymn – Ave Maria.

The Ave Maria (or ‘Hail Mary’) is one of the most widely recited prayers among the world’s devout Christian population, especially Catholics. It has been chanted by the faithful both in private and in public for centuries. The prayer contains two parts. The first part derives from the Gospel of Luke. A recent research has proved that the second half of the prayer – the sinner’s direct plea to Mary—dates considerably earlier than commonly thought by historians.

I have rendered this hymn in three parts – the first in its ancient Aramaic version (believed to be the language that the Virgin Mary spoke at the time when the archangel came to her to announce that she would be the mother of Jesus and also the language that Jesus Christ spoke when He lived here on earth), the second in the Syriac version (which is a sub-dialect of Aramaic – the Western Syrian or the Palestinian variety) and the third in its later Ecclesiastical Latin version.

Aramaic is a dialect belonging to the Semitic family which also includes Canaanite languages such as Syriac, Hebrew and Phoenician. Dating back to the 10th or 9th century BC, Aramaic is one of the oldest languages of humanity and it had started evolving at the same period when Vedic Sanskrit was developing in the early Aryan settlement of Sindhu river valley.

Aramaic was the day-to-day language of Israel in the Second Temple period (539 BC – 70 AD), the language that Jesus Christ probably used the most. The towns of Nazareth and Capernaum in Galilee, where Jesus spent most of his time, were Aramaic-speaking communities. The Aramaic script was widely adopted for other languages later and is ancestral to both the Arabic and Hebrew.

Latin is an ancient Italic language originally spoken by the Italic Latins in Latium and Ancient Rome. It was later promulgated as a universal language by the Roman Catholic Church for its documents and liturgies.

I learnt all these portions of the hymn – the Aramaic from the version of Magda El Roomy, the famous Lebanese soprano singer, the Syriac from the hymn of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and the last – Franz Schubert’s Latin version of Ave Maria after listening to Andrea Bocelli, the noted Italian singer – all courtesy YouTube posts!.

It is just an experimental attempt of one of the most sacred hymns of mankind in three non-native languages and also absolutely alien music genres! So I request you all to give due weightage to all the limitations that I possess in attempting this adventure. (All the voices in the chorus and harmony are mine only.)


Ave Maria – A Trilingual Rendition (in Aramaic, Syriac & Latin)

"Ellen's Third Song", was composed by Franz Schubert in 1825 as part of his Opus 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, loosely translated into German.
The opening words and refrain of Ellen's song, namely "Ave Maria" (Latin for "Hail Mary"), may have led to the idea of adapting Schubert's melody as a setting for the full text of the traditional Roman Catholic prayer Ave Maria.

Ave Maria (Ellen's Third Song - Schubert)

Performance by the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus under the direction of Mary Ongjoco Chapman at Union Station Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. July 24, 2015

"Salve Regina" is published by C.F. Peters, available at https://www.edition-peters.com/product/salve-regina/ep68572?TRE00000/

Program Note:
As a Catholic, part of my childhood was spent memorizing and learning to recite a handful of important prayers. The text that has stuck with me the most is “Hail Holy Queen,” or “Salve Regina” in Latin. I have always been drawn to the striking imagery of the prayer, capable of stirring feelings of joy, sadness, fright, peace, and hope.

Like many prayers, Salve Regina is divided into two parts: an exclamation of praise and glorification, and a humble petition. I allowed this inherent division to influence the form of the work, the first stanza set to the most dramatic writing, and the second cast in a more serene mood of supplication. While composing, I thought of this prayer’s special place at the conclusion of the Rosary, which is not merely a long series of prayers but also a meditation on various Divine “mysteries” (Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous, and Glorious).

Text & Translation:
Salve, Regina, mater misericordiæ,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
ad te clamamus exsules filii Evæ,
ad te suspiramus,
gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia, ergo, advocata nostra,
Illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
Nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O Clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Translation:
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs,
morning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious advocate,
Thine eyes of mercy toward us;
And after this our exile,
Show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Salve Regina (2014)

1 take, even 1st time singing latin, cause eminim said you only got one shot-lol

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HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTmas! My momma always says sing in church, but you know a senorita's fam's all mouths are shut with shyness-lol..trying to find song i could actually sing in rnb style but no lyrics...found this.Right now in a very very spiritual place due to things- yes sometimes u feel like u going to explode into a giant pinata into pink confetti-JKS..lol..i never explod-cause WE THE FAMILIA thats the  PINATA THAT NEVER BREAKS WITH GOD-lol. BUT YOU TRUST GOD & ENJOY LIFE! When u trust someone a hubby, parent, you let go w/o fear! 

GOD BLESS & HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS! XOXOXO

AVA MARIA-soft woman in me version: SenoritaLolita Celeb101 going Latin-lol

Rosarium Virginis Mariae - Mysteria dolorosa

TIMOTHY ROY (b. 1987, Nederland, Texas) composes music steeped in imagery and allusion, which seeks to elicit a sense of time, place, and feeling. With an output that encompasses works for acoustic instruments, electronic sound, and the intersection of these two realms, Roy endeavors to explore a broad range of mediums and contexts in which his work might be experienced.
 
Engagement with other disciplines of study is the lifeblood of Roy's creative practice. Recent projects have involved cooperation with practitioners in fields as varied as medieval and religious studies, ecology, dance, and film. His current slate of projects includes an ambisonic fixed media work, commissioned by ASCAP/SEAMUS and an orchestral work for the Shepherd Symphony Orchestra at Rice University.  
 
Roy’s music has been heard in concerts across the United States and twenty countries abroad, with performances by Ensemble Signal, Illinois Modern Ensemble, the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus, Loop38, violinist Sayako Kusaka, and pianists Keith Kirchoff, Adam Marks, Stacey Barelos, and Xenia Pestova. His music has been presented at such venues and events as the National Theater of Taipei, Music Biennale Zagreb, ZKM Karlsruhe, Ars Electronica, Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre (BEAST), Sonosfera Theatre (Pesaro, Italy), the DiMenna Center (NYC), San Francisco Tape Music Festival, Seoul International Computer Music Festival, Florida State University Festival of New Music, Bowling Green New Music Festival, June in Buffalo, Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium, Sonorities Festival Belfast, International Computer Music Festival (ICMC), Center of Cypriot Composers, Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) National Conference, Electronic Music Midwest, and the International Electroacoustic Music Festival of Chile, “Ai-maako.”
 
In 2024, Roy received an Honorable Mention in the McKnight Composer Fellowship awards from American Composers Forum. He has also received awards and recognition from the Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award (First Prize, 2022), ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Commission Award (First Prize, 2023; Finalist, 2018), Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers (First Prize in Professional Division, 2023), Giga-Hertz Production Prize (Honorable Mention, 2022), Prix CIME from the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music (Distinction, 2023), Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest (Second Prize, 2023), New Music on the Bayou (2021 Black Bayou Composition Award), Sigma Alpha Iota Inter-American Music Awards (Winner, 2015), the International Competition of Electroacoustic Composition “Prix Destellos” (First Prize, 2013; Honorary Mention, 2019), Musicacoustica-Beijing Composition Competition (First Prize, student mixed media category, 2012), the First International Jean Sibelius Composition Competition (Finalist, 2015), the International Composition Competition “Città di Udine” (Finalist, 2012), and the I-Park Foundation (Resident Artist, 2018).
 
His work "Behind the Back" for pipa and electronics appears on Crossings: Contemporary Music for Chinese Instruments, The Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra’s debut album with Albany Records. His "Salve Regina" for chorus is published by Edition Peters.

He frequently collaborates with musicians to present works for instruments and electronics. In July 2021, he worked closely with Steven Takasugi to produce two portrait concerts of his works for amplified instruments and electronics during the Twin Cities New Music Festival. Other notable collaborations include performance of electronics for Kate Soper's Voices from the Killing Jar and for the North American premiere of Unsuk Chin's "Double Bind?" for violin and 8-channel audio, using proprietary motion-tracking sensors and software from Ircam.

He was a visiting faculty member at Western Michigan University during the 2018–2019 academic year, where he taught private composition lessons, undergraduate theory, and graduate seminars in musical form and the aesthetics of electroacoustic music. He previously taught at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas.
 
Roy and his wife currently reside in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he is choirmaster and organist at the Church of Saint Peter Roman Catholic Community. He is completing a doctorate at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music; there, he taught electronic music, theory, and composition, and served for three years as the Teaching Fellow for the Rice Electroacoustic Music Labs (REMLABS). His teachers have been Kurt Stallmann, Pierre Jalbert, Karim Al-Zand, James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Paul Rudy, Kevin Hanlon, Simon Sargon, and Martin Sweidel.

Salve Regina (2014)

Timothy Roy