Gaudete
Encyclopedia
Gaudete (ˈɡaʊdeɪteɪ; "rejoice" in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
) is a sacred Christmas carol
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in Piae Cantiones
Piae Cantiones
Piae Cantiones ecclesiasticae et scholasticae veterum episcoporum is a collection of late medieval Latin songs first published in 1582. It was compiled by Jacobus Finno or Jaakko Suomalainen , a clergyman who was headmaster of the cathedral school at Turku...
, a collection of Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
/Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical book
Liturgical book
A liturgical book is a book published by the authority of a church, that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services.-Roman Catholic:...
s.
The Latin text is a typical medieval song of praise, which follows the standard pattern for the time - a uniform series of four-line stanzas, each preceded by a two-line refrain (in the early English carol this was known as the burden
Burden (music)
In music, the burden is an archaic term for the drone or bass in some musical instruments, and the pipe or part that plays it, such as a bagpipe or pedal point in an organ...
). Carols could be on any subject, but typically they were about the Virgin Mary, the Saints or Christmastide themes.
Text
The complete text of "Gaudete", including the refrain:| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| Gaudete, gaudete! Christus est natusEx Maria virgine, gaudete! | Rejoice, rejoice! Christ is bornOf the Virgin Mary — rejoice! |
| Tempus adest gratiæHoc quod optabamus,Carmina lætitiæDevote reddamus. | The time of grace has come—This that we have desired,Verses of joyLet us devoutly return. |
| Deus homo factus estNatura mirante,Mundus renovatus estA Christo regnante. | God has become man,To the wonderment of Nature,The world has been renewedBy the reigning Christ. |
| Ezechielis portaClausa pertransitur,Unde lux est ortaSalus invenitur. | The closed gate of EzechielIs passed through,Whence the light is born,Salvation is found. |
| Ergo nostra contioPsallat iam in lustro;Benedicat Domino:Salus Regi nostro. | Therefore let our gatheringNow sing in brightnessLet it give praise to the Lord:Greeting to our King. |
Steeleye Span
The electric folkElectric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
group Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span
Steeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
had a hit in 1973 (No. 14, UK singles chart) with an a cappella recording of the song. Guitarist Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson (musician)
Robert "Bob" Johnson is a British guitarist formerly in the electric folk band Steeleye Span from 1972–77 and again from 1980-2001....
had heard the song when he attended a folk-carol service with his father-in-law in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, and brought it to the attention of the rest of the band.
This single is one of only three top 50 British hits to be sung in Latin (the others were both recordings of "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's Requiem
Requiem (Webber)
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem is a requiem mass written in memory of the composer's father, William Lloyd Webber, who died in 1982. Many thought it a surprising turn for such a populist composer as Lloyd Webber to produce a piece of "serious" music, being his first and to date only full-blown...
; firstly by Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
and Paul Miles-Kingston
Paul Miles-Kingston
Paul Miles-Kingston , is a British singer who achieved fame as a boy soprano classical singer.-Childhood and Singing career:In 1982, Paul Miles-Kingston won a choral scholarship into Winchester Cathedral Choir...
in 1986, secondly as a minor hit by the 12-year-old Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church
Charlotte Maria Church is a Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter. She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before branching into pop music in 2005. By 2007, she had sold more than 10 million records worldwide including over 5 million in the United States...
in 1998). In 1975 Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
had a top 10 hit with "In Dulci Jubilo
In Dulci Jubilo (Mike Oldfield)
"In Dulci Jubilo" / "On Horseback" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1975 . The prominently festive single features an instrumental version of a Christmas carol, "In Dulci Jubilo", as well as the finale-song from Oldfield's Ommadawn album, "On Horseback".- Details :Mike Oldfield's...
" but this Latin song was performed as an instrumental.
"Gaudete" is also one of only a handful of a cappella performances to become hit singles. (Other notable examples are "Only You
Only You (Yazoo song)
-Track listing:7": Mute/7 MUTE 20 # "Only You" - 3:10# "Situation" - 3:447": Sire/9 2-98447 # "Only You" - 3:10# "Winter Kills" - 4:0112": Mute/12 MUTE 20 # "Only You" - 3:10# "Situation" - 5:20CD: Mute/CD MUTE 20...
," sung by the Flying Pickets
The Flying Pickets
The Flying Pickets are a British a cappella vocal group, who had a Christmas number one hit in 1983 in the UK Singles Chart with their cover of Yazoo's track "Only You".-History:...
, "After the Gold Rush
After the Gold Rush (song)
"After the Gold Rush" is a song written by Neil Young from the 1970 album of the same name. In addition to After the Gold Rush, it also appears on Decade, Greatest Hits and Live Rust....
," sung by Prelude
Prelude (band)
Prelude are an English based vocal folk group, who in their most famous line-up consisted of Brian Hume , his wife Irene Hume and Ian Vardy...
and "Caravan of Love
Caravan of Love
"Caravan of Love" is a 1985 R&B hit originally recorded by Isley-Jasper-Isley, the second half of The Isley Brothers' 3 + 3 lineup of the 1970s.-Isley-Jasper-Isley version:...
," sung by the Housemartins
The Housemartins
The Housemartins were an English indie pop band that was active in the 1980s. Many of the Housemartins' lyrics were a mixture of Marxist politics and Christianity, reflecting singer Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time .-Formation:The band was formed in late 1983 by Paul Heaton and...
.) When "Gaudete" was performed on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, the resident dance troupe walked onto the set in medieval-style robes, holding candles, followed by the members of Steeleye Span.
Other
The Boston CamerataBoston Camerata
The Boston Camerata is an early music ensemble based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Narcissa Williamson, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as an adjunct to that museum's musical instrument collection....
, under the direction of Joel Cohen, recorded a version of Gaudete entitled "Gaudete, Gaudete" for the 1991 album A Renaissance Christmas. In 1997 it was recorded by the classical group Mediæval Bæbes
Mediæval Bæbes
The Mediæval Bæbes are a British ensemble of female musicians founded in the 1990s by Katharine Blake and included some of her colleagues from the band Miranda Sex Garden, as well as other friends who share her love of mediaeval music...
as part of their No. 2 selling classical recording Salva Nos
Salva Nos (album)
-Track listing:# Salve Virgo Virginum# Now Springs the Spray# Ah! Si Mon Moine# Adam Lay Ibounden# Foweles in the Frith# So Treiben Wir Den Winter Aus# Coventry Carol# Gaudete# Adult Lullaby# Veni Veni# Salva Nos# Verbum Caro# Lo, Here My Heart...
and also on their Christmas themed recording Mistletoe and Wine
Mistletoe and Wine (album)
Mistletoe and Wine: A Seasonal Collection is a compilation album by British vocal group Mediæval Bæbes featuring holiday songs from previous albums, as well as two new recordings of "The Holly & The Ivy" and "In Dulce Jubilo".-Track listing:...
. Gaudete has been recorded a cappella by Pure Reason Revolution
Pure Reason Revolution
Pure Reason Revolution are a British rock group formed at the University of Westminster in 2003 and who are playing their final dates together in November 2011. Their music incorporates elements of progressive rock and electro. Their music has been variously described as 'Astral Folk' and 'New...
as a Christmas bonus track on their debut EP, Cautionary Tales For The Brave. In 1999, harpist Kim Robertson
Kim Robertson
Kim Robertson is a Celtic harp player. She was born in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and classically trained on piano and orchestral harp. Her work encompasses over 20 album projects, several volumes of harp arrangements, instructional videos, and an international itinerary of concerts and retreats...
offered a lively rendition of the song on her disc The Spiral Gate. A parody of Gaudete, replacing the original words of the verses by sex-related terms, was recorded by the German medieval metal band Potentia Animi on their 2004 album Das Erste Gebet. Tenebrae
Tenebrae (choir)
The Tenebrae Choir is a professional vocal ensemble founded and directed by former King's Singer Nigel Short. Co-founded by Short and Barbara Pollock in 2001, its repertoire covers works from the 16th to the 21st Century....
released a version arranged by Karl Jenkins
Karl Jenkins
-Other works:*Adiemus: Live — live versions of Adiemus music*Palladio *Eloise *Imagined Oceans *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace...
, both with percussion and as a pure a cappella version in October 2004 on the album 'Gaudete'. El Duende performed this song on Excelsis, Volume 2: A Winter's Song. Chris Squire
Chris Squire
Christopher Russell Edward "Chris" Squire , is an English musician, known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes. He is the only member of the group to appear on every album.-Before Yes:...
and a choir recorded a rock version on the 2007 Christmas album Chris Squire's Swiss Choir. German medieval rock
Medieval rock
Medieval metal or medieval rock is a subgenre of folk metal that blends hard rock or heavy metal music with medieval folk music. Medieval metal is mostly restricted to Germany where it is known as Mittelalter-Metal or Mittelalter-Rock. The genre emerged from the middle of the 1990s with...
band Schelmish performed Gaudete on their 2006 album Mente Capti. Irish Singer Liz Madden recorded a version on her 2010 album My Irish Home
Choirs
Northern Irish BBC Choir of the Year 2008 finalists [Grovesnor Chorale] performed a version of the song arranged by their Director Edward Craig. Irish choral group AnúnaAnúna
Anúna is an Irish choral group. In 1987 Dublin composer Michael McGlynn founded An Uaithne, a name which describes the three ancient types of Celtic music, Suantraí , Geantraí and Goltraí . One of the group's stated aims is to explore and redefine this music...
performed Gaudete on their 1996 CD, "Omnis", and on their 2007 CD "Celtic Origins". The boy band Libera
Libera
Libera may refer to:*Libera , a Roman goddess of fertility*Libera , a boy choir from London* Libera me, a movement of the Requiem*Libera, a song by Italian artist Mia Martini...
or at the time, known as St. Philips Boys Choir, sang this song for Christmas.