Kyrie
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Kyrie is the vocative case of the Greek word κύριος (kyrios - lord) and means O Lord; it is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called Kyrie eleison which is Greek for Lord, have mercy.
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[edit] In Eastern Christianity
Anyone attending a church service in the Eastern churches (whether they be Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Catholic), will find the phrase Kyrie eleison (Greek: Κύριε ἐλέησον) or its equivalents in other languages to be the most oft-repeated phrase.
The various litanies, so popular in Eastern Christianity, generally have Lord, have mercy as their response, either singly or triply. Some petitions in these litanies will have twelve or even forty repetitions of the phrase as a response.
The phrase is the origin of the Jesus Prayer, beloved of Eastern Christians belonging to the Byzantine rite, and increasingly popular amongst Western Christians today.
[edit] In Western Christianity
The Kyrie prayer, offered during the Roman Catholic Mass and in some other denominations (such as Lutheran and many in the Anglican Communion), led by the priest or celebrant, and repeated by the congregation. It is conjectured by scholars, including Jungmann, that the Kyrie in the Roman Mass is a vestigial remnant of a litany at the beginning of the mass, much like that of the Eastern Churches. Though today usually recited in the vernacular, the traditional form of the Kyrie in Western Christianity is a transliteration of the Greek prayer into Latin, and is used in this form in Latin-language Masses.
- Κύριε ἐλέησον, Χριστὲ ἐλέησον, Κύριε ἐλέησον.
- Kyrie eleison; Christe eleison; Kyrie eleison.
- pronounced ['kir.i.e e.'le.i.son 'kris.te e.'le.i.son 'kir.i.e e.'le.i.son]
- "Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy; Lord have mercy."
Traditionally, each line was sung three times. The three lines being sung thrice is an allusion to the trinity.
This prayer occurs early in the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass, directly following the Penitential Rite. However, since an alternate form C of the Penitential Rite of the Mass of Paul VI incorporates the Kyrie text, no additional Kyrie is recited when this form is used. The Penitential Rite and Kyrie are omitted when the Rite of Sprinkling is celebrated, according to this modern use.
The Kyrie is the first sung prayer in the Ordinary of the pre–1969 Tridentine Mass, and is a mandatory part of any musical setting of the Mass. Kyrie movements often have an ternary (ABA) musical structure that reflects the symmetrical structure of the text. Even today the Kyrie is traditionally sung by the cantor, choir, and congregation when it occurs; musical settings of the prayer in styles ranging from Gregorian chant to Folk are popular.
[edit] Musical settings
The Kyrie was a very popular text for which to compose chants. Of 226 catalogued Gregorian chant melodies, 30 appear in the Liber Usualis. In what are presumed to be the oldest versions, the same melody is repeated for the first eight iterations, and a variation used on the final line (that is, formally, aaa aaa aaa'). These repeats are notated by the Roman numerals "iij" (for three times) or "ij" (for twice). The Kyrie for the Requiem Mass in the Liber Usualis has this form. Later Kyries have more elaborate patterns, such as aaa bbb aaa', aaa bbb ccc', or aba cdc efe'. Note that the final line is nearly always modified somewhat; in some cases this may be because it leads into the Gloria better. In forms both with and without literal repeats, most Kyries in the Liber Usualis have a closing phrase used in nearly all of the lines of the text. This in fact parallels the text, as each line ends with the same word "eleison."
Because of the brevity of the text, Kyries were often very melismatic. This encouraged later composers to make tropes out of them, either by adding words to the melisma (as how a sequence (poetry) is often considered), or extending the melisma. In fact, because of the late date of most Kyries, it is not always clear whether a particular Kyrie melody or the apparently troped text came first; it could just as easily be the case that a syllabic song was converted into a melisma for a Kyrie verse. In some cases, verses interpolate Latin text between each "Kyrie" (or "Christe") and "eleison."
[edit] Other Occurrences
While it has been cited minimally in modern language and pop culture, Kyrie was used as the title of Mr. Mister's famous 1985 song "Kyrie", which became a number one hit single in the U.S. the following year.
The Electric Prunes' third album, Mass in F Minor (1968), was a psychedelic setting of the Mass written and produced by David Axelrod, and somewhat of an underground favorite as two tracks of this album are used in the soundtrack of the famous Easy Rider. Kyrie Eleison from this record was used to back the Mardi Gras drug trip scene in Easy Rider.
German singer Nena also made a song called Kyrie Eleison, a little known environmentalist anthem released on the album "El Dorado- Save the Rainforests".
Sinéad O'Connor also recorded it for her 2000 album, Faith and Courage.
Karl Jenkins incorporated it into track 3 for his 1999 album The Armed Man.
Famous Brasilian musician Edu Lobo featured a song called "Kyrie" on his 1973 classic Missa Breve, named such for its featuring of the chant at the beginning of the song.
German pastoral Krautrock band Popol Vuh turns Kyrie into a beautiful guitar and vocal meditation on their 1972 album Hosianna Mantra
The term “Kyrie” is also used in “An Angel Returned” from the CD 'Christmas Eve and Other Stories' by Trans-Siberian Orchestra:
Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among nations
Kyrie among Nations
Hear the bells ring through the night
Listen to the bells as they ring
Listen to the message they bring
Listen to the sound
As they sing with one voice in the night
In Tom Lehrer's satirical song titled "The Vatican Rag".
Do whatever steps you want if
You have cleared them with the Pontiff
Everybody say his own kyrie eleison
Doin' the Vatican Rag
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night uses a version of Kyrie Eleison for background music on its Save/Restore menu screen.
In the anime series Elfen Lied, the opening theme is a Latin song with a verse: "Kyrie ignis divine eleison"
The anime series Death Note often uses a chanted version of Kyrie Eleison as a background piece.
[edit] Variants
Historically, there have been various variant forms and pronunciations of the phrase kyrie eleison in use. While the proper Greek pronunciation has 'ky-ri-e e-le-i-son', with seven syllables, it is common to hear 'ky-ri-e e-lei-son' with six syllables, as well as 'ky-rie e-lei-son' with five, when the phrase is sung in churches that do not normally use Greek.[citation needed] Text underlay in Mediaeval and Renaissance music attests that the existence of 'ky-ri-e-lei-son' with five syllables was the most common pronunciation up till perhaps the mid 1500s. William Byrd's mass for 4 voices is a notable example of a musical setting originally written with five syllables in mind, later altered for six syllables.
Mediaeval poetry sometimes has 'kirieleis', an even more drastic four syllable form, used as a convenient rhyme with various words in macaronic poems and songs.
[edit] In various languages
- Arabic: Ya Rabb, urrham
- Armenian: Der Voghormya
- Belarusian: Зьмілуй, Госпаду (Z'milui Gospadu)
- Chinese: 求主垂憐. In Simplified Chinese: 求主垂怜. (Both pronounced qiu zhu chui lian)
- Church Slavonic: Господи Помилѹй (Gospodi pomilui)
- Czech: Pane, smiluj se
- Finnish: Herra armahda
- French: Seigneur, prends pitié
- German: Herr, erbarme dich
- Indonesian: Tuhan Kasihanilah Kami
- Italian: Signore, abbi pietà
- Japanese: 主よ、あわれみたまえ。 (Syuyo, awaremitamae.)
- Korean: 주님, 자비를 베푸소서
- Norwegian: Herre, miskunne deg
- Polish: Panie zmiłuj się
- Romanian: Doamne miluieşte
- Spanish: Señor, ten piedad
- Swedish: Herre, förbarma Dig
- Syriac: Moran Ethraham
- Tagalog: Diyos, maawa ka [mistranslation: Papuri Sa Diyos (Praise be to God)]
- Ukrainian: Господи Помилуй (Hospody pomilui)
[edit] Reference
Hoppin, Richard. Medieval Music. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1978. ISBN 0-393-09090-6. Pages 133–134 (Gregorian chants), 150 (tropes).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Gregorian chants of the Roman Mass |
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Kyrie | Gloria | Credo | Sanctus | Agnus Dei | Ite missa est or Benedicamus Domino |
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