Canticle of the Sun
Encyclopedia
The Canticle of the Sun, also known as the Laudes Creaturarum (Praise of the Creatures), is a religious song
composed by Saint Francis of Assisi. It was written in the Umbria
n dialect
of Italian
but has since been translated into many languages. It is believed to be among the first works of literature, if not the first, written in the Italian language.
The Canticle of the Sun in its praise of God thanks Him for such creations as "Brother Fire" and "Sister Water". It is an affirmation of Francis' personal theology as he often referred to animals as brothers and sisters to Mankind, rejected material accumulation and sensual comforts in favor of "Lady Poverty".
Saint Francis is said to have composed most of the canticle
in late 1224 while recovering from an illness at San Damiano, in a small cottage
that had been built for him by Saint Clare
and other women of her order
. According to tradition, the first time it was sung in its entirety was by Francis and Brothers Angelo and Leo, two of his original companions, on Francis' deathbed, the final verse praising "Sister Death" having been added only a few minutes before.
Historically, the "Canticle of the Sun" is first mentioned in the Vita Prima of Thomas of Celano, in 1228.
Altissimu, onnipotente bon Signore,
Tue so le laude, la gloria e l'honore et onne benedictione.
Ad Te solo, Altissimo, se konfano,
et nullu homo ène dignu te mentouare.
Laudato sie, mi Signore cum tucte le Tue creature,
spetialmente messor lo frate Sole,
lo qual è iorno, et allumini noi per lui.
Et ellu è bellu e radiante cum grande splendore:
de Te, Altissimo, porta significatione.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per sora Luna e le stelle:
in celu l'ài formate clarite et pretiose et belle.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per frate Uento
et per aere et nubilo et sereno et onne tempo,
per lo quale, a le Tue creature dài sustentamento.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per sor'Acqua,
la quale è multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per frate Focu,
per lo quale ennallumini la nocte:
ed ello è bello et iucundo et robustoso et forte.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per sora nostra matre Terra,
la quale ne sustenta et gouerna,
et produce diuersi fructi con coloriti fior et herba.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per quelli ke perdonano per lo Tuo amore
et sostengono infirmitate et tribulatione.
Beati quelli ke 'l sosterranno in pace,
ka da Te, Altissimo, sirano incoronati.
Laudato si mi Signore, per sora nostra Morte corporale,
da la quale nullu homo uiuente pò skappare:
guai a quelli ke morrano ne le peccata mortali;
beati quelli ke trouarà ne le Tue sanctissime uoluntati,
ka la morte secunda no 'l farrà male.
Laudate et benedicete mi Signore et rengratiate
e seruiteli cum grande humilitate.
NOTE: so=sono, si=sii (you are), mi=mio, ka=perché, u replaces v, sirano=saranno
English Translation:
Most high, all powerful, all good Lord!
All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing.
To you, alone, Most High, do they belong.
No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.
Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars;
in the heavens you have made them bright, precious and beautiful.
Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
and clouds and storms, and all the weather,
through which you give your creatures sustenance.
Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water;
she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.
Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you brighten the night.
He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.
Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth,
who feeds us and rules us,
and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you;
through those who endure sickness and trial.
Happy those who endure in peace,
for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.
Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whose embrace no living person can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those she finds doing your most holy will.
The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks,
and serve him with great humility.
composed an oratorio Le Laudi on the Italian words, premiered in 1924.
The American composer Amy Beach
(1867-1944) set the Canticle to music for organ or orchestra, choir, and solo vocal quartet, in 1924. The piece was first performed with organ in 1928 at St. Bartholomew's in New York. The orchestral version was first performed by the Chicago Symphony and the Toledo Choral Society in 1930.
Leo Sowerby
(1895-1968) set Matthew Arnold's English translation of the Canticle for chorus and orchestra in 1945; the work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music
the following year. The first performance was in New York at Carnegie Hall by the Schola Cantorum and the New York Philharmonic in 1945. The first recording of it by Chicago's Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus under Carlos Kalmar was released in June 2011.
Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935) set a modern Italian translation of the original Umbrian dialect text for soloists and chamber orchestra ca. 1929 which was performed in the same 1945 Carnegie Hall concert as Sowerby's setting.
Roy Harris (1898-1979) composed a setting for soloists and a large ensemble in 1961. Seth Bingham (1882-1972) made a setting in 1962.
Another setting of the canticle of the sun, titled Cantico del sole was composed by William Walton
(1902-1983) in 1974 for the Cork International Choral Festival.
Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina
wrote a piece dedicated to cellist Mstislav Rostropovich
for his seventieth birthday.
Sofia Gubaidulina gives the following outline of the formal sections:
Though she notes that the cellists 'abandonment' of his or her instrument actually divides the piece in two.
An overtone row played on the C string is used, after which the cellist tunes the string down to the lowest note possible on the instrument, plays near the bridge, on the bridge with a snare drum stick, behind the bridge, and then on the tailpiece. The cellist then puts down the instrument, playing on a bass drum, and then on a flexatone
with a bass bow before returning to the cello.
The piece has been recorded and released on:
The piece has been recorded and released on:
A modern rendition was used in the musical biography of Saint Francis, Brother Sun, Sister Moon
.
Perhaps the best known version in English is the hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King" which contains a paraphrase of Saint Francis' song by William H. Draper (1855-1933). Draper set the words to the 17th Century German hymn tune "Lasst Uns Erfreuen", for use at a children's choir festival some time between 1899 and 1919.
The lines "Brother Sun" and "Sister Moon" inspired the album Brother, Sister
by indie rock
band mewithoutYou
.
Religious music
Religious music is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.A lot of music has been composed to complement religion, and many composers have derived inspiration from their own religion. Many forms of traditional music have been adapted to fit religions'...
composed by Saint Francis of Assisi. It was written in the Umbria
Umbria
Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...
n dialect
Italian dialects
Dialects of Italian are regional varieties of the Italian language, more commonly and more accurately referred to as Regional Italian. The dialects have features, most notably phonological and lexical, percolating from the underlying substrate languages...
of Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
but has since been translated into many languages. It is believed to be among the first works of literature, if not the first, written in the Italian language.
The Canticle of the Sun in its praise of God thanks Him for such creations as "Brother Fire" and "Sister Water". It is an affirmation of Francis' personal theology as he often referred to animals as brothers and sisters to Mankind, rejected material accumulation and sensual comforts in favor of "Lady Poverty".
Saint Francis is said to have composed most of the canticle
Canticle
A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...
in late 1224 while recovering from an illness at San Damiano, in a small cottage
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
that had been built for him by Saint Clare
Clare of Assisi
Clare of Assisi , born Chiara Offreduccio, is an Italian saint and one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi...
and other women of her order
Order of Poor Ladies
The Poor Clares also known as the Order of Saint Clare, the Order of Poor Ladies, the Poor Clare Sisters, the Clarisse, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Congregation, and the Second Order of St. Francis, , comprise several orders of nuns in the Catholic Church...
. According to tradition, the first time it was sung in its entirety was by Francis and Brothers Angelo and Leo, two of his original companions, on Francis' deathbed, the final verse praising "Sister Death" having been added only a few minutes before.
Historically, the "Canticle of the Sun" is first mentioned in the Vita Prima of Thomas of Celano, in 1228.
Text and Translation
Original text in Umbrian dialect:Altissimu, onnipotente bon Signore,
Tue so le laude, la gloria e l'honore et onne benedictione.
Ad Te solo, Altissimo, se konfano,
et nullu homo ène dignu te mentouare.
Laudato sie, mi Signore cum tucte le Tue creature,
spetialmente messor lo frate Sole,
lo qual è iorno, et allumini noi per lui.
Et ellu è bellu e radiante cum grande splendore:
de Te, Altissimo, porta significatione.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per sora Luna e le stelle:
in celu l'ài formate clarite et pretiose et belle.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per frate Uento
et per aere et nubilo et sereno et onne tempo,
per lo quale, a le Tue creature dài sustentamento.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per sor'Acqua,
la quale è multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per frate Focu,
per lo quale ennallumini la nocte:
ed ello è bello et iucundo et robustoso et forte.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per sora nostra matre Terra,
la quale ne sustenta et gouerna,
et produce diuersi fructi con coloriti fior et herba.
Laudato si, mi Signore, per quelli ke perdonano per lo Tuo amore
et sostengono infirmitate et tribulatione.
Beati quelli ke 'l sosterranno in pace,
ka da Te, Altissimo, sirano incoronati.
Laudato si mi Signore, per sora nostra Morte corporale,
da la quale nullu homo uiuente pò skappare:
guai a quelli ke morrano ne le peccata mortali;
beati quelli ke trouarà ne le Tue sanctissime uoluntati,
ka la morte secunda no 'l farrà male.
Laudate et benedicete mi Signore et rengratiate
e seruiteli cum grande humilitate.
NOTE: so=sono, si=sii (you are), mi=mio, ka=perché, u replaces v, sirano=saranno
English Translation:
Most high, all powerful, all good Lord!
All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing.
To you, alone, Most High, do they belong.
No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.
Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars;
in the heavens you have made them bright, precious and beautiful.
Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
and clouds and storms, and all the weather,
through which you give your creatures sustenance.
Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water;
she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.
Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you brighten the night.
He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.
Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth,
who feeds us and rules us,
and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you;
through those who endure sickness and trial.
Happy those who endure in peace,
for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.
Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whose embrace no living person can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those she finds doing your most holy will.
The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks,
and serve him with great humility.
Alternate Versions
Hermann SuterHermann Suter
Hermann Suter , was a Swiss composer and conductor.Born in Kaiserstuhl, Aargau, Suter studied in the conservatories at Basel, Stuttgart and Leipzig, under Hans Huber and Carl Reinecke. He was an organist and conductor in Zurich from 1892 to 1902, after which he moved to Basel, where he lived to his...
composed an oratorio Le Laudi on the Italian words, premiered in 1924.
The American composer Amy Beach
Amy Beach
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Most of her compositions and performances were under the name Mrs. H.H.A. Beach.-Early years:Beach was born Amy Marcy Cheney in Henniker, New Hampshire into...
(1867-1944) set the Canticle to music for organ or orchestra, choir, and solo vocal quartet, in 1924. The piece was first performed with organ in 1928 at St. Bartholomew's in New York. The orchestral version was first performed by the Chicago Symphony and the Toledo Choral Society in 1930.
Leo Sowerby
Leo Sowerby
Leo Sowerby , American composer and church musician, was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1946, and was often called the “Dean of American church music” in the early to mid 20th century.-Biography:...
(1895-1968) set Matthew Arnold's English translation of the Canticle for chorus and orchestra in 1945; the work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music
Pulitzer Prize for Music
The Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year...
the following year. The first performance was in New York at Carnegie Hall by the Schola Cantorum and the New York Philharmonic in 1945. The first recording of it by Chicago's Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus under Carlos Kalmar was released in June 2011.
Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935) set a modern Italian translation of the original Umbrian dialect text for soloists and chamber orchestra ca. 1929 which was performed in the same 1945 Carnegie Hall concert as Sowerby's setting.
Roy Harris (1898-1979) composed a setting for soloists and a large ensemble in 1961. Seth Bingham (1882-1972) made a setting in 1962.
Another setting of the canticle of the sun, titled Cantico del sole was composed by William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
(1902-1983) in 1974 for the Cork International Choral Festival.
Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina
Sofia Gubaidulina
Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, is a Russian composer of half Russian, half Tatar ethnicity.Gubaidulina's music is marked by the use of unusual instrumental combinations...
wrote a piece dedicated to cellist Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
for his seventieth birthday.
Sofia Gubaidulina gives the following outline of the formal sections:
- Glorification of the Creator, and His Creations - the Sun and the Moon
- Glorification of the Creator, the Maker of the four elements: air, water, fire and earth
- Glorification of life
- Glorification of death
Though she notes that the cellists 'abandonment' of his or her instrument actually divides the piece in two.
An overtone row played on the C string is used, after which the cellist tunes the string down to the lowest note possible on the instrument, plays near the bridge, on the bridge with a snare drum stick, behind the bridge, and then on the tailpiece. The cellist then puts down the instrument, playing on a bass drum, and then on a flexatone
Flexatone
The flexatone is a modern percussion instrument consisting of a small flexible metal sheet suspended in a wire frame ending in a handle. -History, construction and technique:...
with a bass bow before returning to the cello.
The piece has been recorded and released on:
- The Canticle of the Sun (1997) and Music for Flute, Strings, and PercussionMusic for Flute, Strings, and PercussionMusic for Flute, Strings, and Percussion is a piece written by Sofia Gubaidulina in 1994 dedicated to Pierre-Yves Artaud.The instruments are divided into two sections, one of which is tuned a quarter-tone lower than the other...
(1994). The first performed by cellist and conductor Mstislav RostropovichMstislav RostropovichMstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
and London VoicesLondon VoicesLondon Voices is a London-based choral ensemble led by Terry Edwards, who founded the ensemble in 1973...
conducted by Ryusuke Numajiri, the second by flutist Emmanuel PahudEmmanuel PahudEmmanuel Pahud is a Swiss flute player.He was born in Geneva, Switzerland. His father is of French and Swiss background and his mother is French. The Berlin-based flutist is most known for his baroque and classical flute repertory....
and the London Symphony OrchestraLondon Symphony OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
conducted by Rostropovich. Gubaidulina attended the recording of both pieces.
The piece has been recorded and released on:
- Amy Beach: Canticle of the Sun (l998) by the Capitol Hill Choral Society, conducted by Betty Buchanan (Albany Records). Source: Liner notes by Betty Buchanan.
A modern rendition was used in the musical biography of Saint Francis, Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
Brother Sun, Sister Moon is a 1972 film directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Graham Faulkner and Judi Bowker. The film is a biopic of Saint Francis of Assisi.-Plot:...
.
Perhaps the best known version in English is the hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King" which contains a paraphrase of Saint Francis' song by William H. Draper (1855-1933). Draper set the words to the 17th Century German hymn tune "Lasst Uns Erfreuen", for use at a children's choir festival some time between 1899 and 1919.
The lines "Brother Sun" and "Sister Moon" inspired the album Brother, Sister
Brother, Sister
Brother, Sister is the third full-length album by indie rock band mewithoutYou, released on September 26, 2006 through Tooth & Nail Records. It features guest vocal and instrumental appearances by several artists, including Jeremy Enigk , harpist Timbre, and members of Anathallo and the Psalters...
by indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band mewithoutYou
MewithoutYou
Me Without You, stylized as mewithoutYou and abbreviated as mwY, is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consists of vocalist Aaron Weiss, guitarist Michael Weiss, bassist Greg Jehanian and drummer Rickie Mazzotta. MewithoutYou's music is generally dominated by...
.