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TBolt1000T
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I just rejoined the TLM choir at the parish I attend. I’m visually impaired, so I need the Latin text for Palestrina’s “Sicut Cervus,” for this Sunday’s Mass. Thanks.
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baltobetsy
Guest
Here you go:
Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum,
Ita desiderat anima mea ad te deus.
Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks,
So longeth my soul after thee, O God.
Gorgeous anthem. It’s beautiful in English by Herbert Howells, also.
Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum,
Ita desiderat anima mea ad te deus.
Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks,
So longeth my soul after thee, O God.
Gorgeous anthem. It’s beautiful in English by Herbert Howells, also.
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ProVobis
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TBolt1000T
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Thanks!
After doing a little internet digging, I was able to find it not long after I posted, but it was too late by then for me to delete the post. Your post could still help others though, and I really appreciate it! I believe that the OF choir is planning on doing the Howels version within the next month or so.
While digging on the internet, I found out that it was part of Psalm 42, but when I started reading Psalm 42 in the Vulgate, it was a completely different psalm. Any idea why?
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ProVobis
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I think you’re referring to the sources. The Hebrew and the Greek (and Latin counterpart) manuscripts are one off starting with Psalm 9-10 and ending with Psalm 146-147.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms
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TBolt1000T
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Thanks!
I found it in the Vulgate as Psalm 41, but the wording is much different than the text that Palestrina used.
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ProVobis
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You’re right. He seemed to have made a one-word substitution and changed the order of the first few words.
sacredbible.org/studybible/OT-21_Psalms.htm#42
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Cristiano
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Palestrina is not a last name, it is the name of a town. The name of the composer was Giovanni Pierluigi from the town of Palestrina. Nobody would think of calling the philosopher Claudio Eliano da Palestrina Mr. Palestrina.
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ProVobis
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Thank you for that information but I fail to see your implication that it’s disrespectful to the composer, anymore than calling me Mr. Chicago (if I were the only one on this thread from the city) or someone else Miss Texas in a beauty pageant. That said, where did you see Mr. Palestrina being referred to as such on this thread anyway? But we digress.Palestrina is not a last name, it is the name of a town. The name of the composer was Giovanni Pierluigi from the town of Palestrina. Nobody would think of calling the philosopher Claudio Eliano da Palestrina Mr. Palestrina.
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corsair
Guest
I agree, ProVobis. His music and the name Palestrina are inseparably linked, no matter how incorrect it may be.
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Cristiano
Guest
You are correct when you say that the two instances are linked. That those not mean that it is proper usage. The person has a real name and Palestrina is not a tile like CEO or Miss Texas. If God knows us by our name, we can make an effort for our neighbors. To me is like calling an EMHC with the title Eucharistic Minister, but this is my pet peeve.
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ProVobis
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God doesn’t need our names to know us by, but your point is valid.
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TBolt1000T
Guest
Does the word “cervus” mean deer, or does it mean heart? I thought that heart in Latin was “cor.”
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ProVobis
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The other translation for “cervus” was “hart” (as the poster noted). Hart is an old word for “stag” or “deer.” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart_(deer
You’re right about the Latin word for heart, though. Like “Sursum corda!” (“Upwards, hearts” or “W górę serca” in Polish!)
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IntegraCatholic
Guest
He was using an edition of the Vulgate that pre-dated the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate that you have quoted. The Vulgate was revised in 1590 by Pope Sixtus and in 1592 by Pope Clementine, two and four years before Palestrina’s death, respectively, but after he wrote his famous motet. I’m not sure what the earlier edition of the Vulgate had for the relevant passage, though, and I’m not sure what, if anything, the Clementine Vulgate changed of the psalter. He may have been using words from another psalter that he thought suited the piece better. It was not written as a liturgical piece proper; it was merely to be used as a motet, within the liturgy or not.
As others have noted, “Palestrina” is the term used to refer to the composer, whether or not it seems best to us. This is completely in keeping with proper usage, as, historically, those who were of highest rank would sign their names the simplest and with the fewest words (e.g., the Duke of Palestrina could simply write “Palestrina”, and everyone would know that meant the Duke). As Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina happens to be far and away the most famous man from Palestrina, he rightfully carries the title even to this day.
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Chatter163
Guest
So long as we are being pedantic here, the words of the Sicut Cervus were not written by Palestrina or any other composer. It was the chant that was sung while the water was being carried to the baptismal font at the Easter Vigil Mass, taken from paslam 42.
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Chatter163
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The old Vulgate numbering numbered this psalm as 41, which is why some could not locate it under that number.
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Cristiano
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IntegraCatholic
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Yes, Chatter, of course. You are correct. He uses the wording precisely as it is in the missal for Easter Vigil, which was based upon the Latin text that predates the original Vulgate.
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