Kyrie
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- For other uses, see Kyrie (disambiguation).
Kyrie is the vocative case of the Greek word κύριος (kyrios - lord) and means O Lord; it is the name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called Kyrie eleison.
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. 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 each sung three times is an allusion to the trinity.
This prayer occurs early in the Ordinary of the Roman Rite 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.
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[edit] Musical settings
The Kyrie was a very popular text for which to compose chants. Of 226 catalogued 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."
While it has been cited minimally in modern language and pop culture, it 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 psychedelicized 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.
[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. 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] Reference
Hoppin, Richard. Medieval Music. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1978. ISBN 0393090906. 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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