“ Gaudete, Gaudete ! Christus Est Natus, Ex Maria Virginæ, Gaudete ! ”

“Gaudete”.

Sung By:

Steeleye Span and Maddy Prior.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine, gaudete

Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine, gaudete

Tempus adest gratiæ, hoc quod optabamus

Carmina lætitiæ devote redamus

Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine, gaudete

Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine, gaudete

Deus homo factus est natura mirante

Mundus renovatus est a Christo regnante

Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine, gaudete

Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine, gaudete

Ezechielis porta clausa per transitur

Unde lux est orta salus invenitur

Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine, gaudete.

Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine, gaudete.

English: The first page of Gaudete

in the original version of the Piae Cantiones.

Suomi: Gaudete-kappaleen ensimmäinen sivu

alkuperäisessä Piae Cantiones-laitoksessa.

Date 1582.

Source: English: Cropped from [1], part of Piae cantiones ecclesiasticae et scholasticae veterum episcoporum in incluto Regno Sueciae passim usurpate, nu per studio cuiusdam Reverendis:se Ecclesia Dei et Schola Aboensi in Finlandia optime meriti accurate à mendis correctae et nunc typis commissae opera Henri Theodorici Nylandesis.

Digitalised by Finnish National Library.

Author: Henricus Theodoricus Nylandensis.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia.

Gaudete (English: /ˈɡaʊdeɪteɪ/ GOW-day-tay, Ecclesiastical Latin: [ɡau̯ˈdete]; “rejoice [ye]” in Latin)[a] is a Sacred Christmas Carol, thought to have been composed in the 16th-Century. It was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish Sacred Songs in 1581. No music is given for the Verses, but the standard tune comes from older Liturgical Books.

The Latin Text is a typical Mediæval 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). Carols could be on any subject, but typically they were about The Virgin Mary, the Saints or Yuletide themes.

The complete Text of “Gaudete”, including the Refrain:

Gaudete, gaudete !

Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine,

gaudete !

Gaudete, gaudete !

Christus est natus

Ex Maria virgine,

gaudete !

Rejoice, rejoice !

Christ is born

Of The Virgin Mary –

Rejoice !

Tempus adest gratiæ

Hoc quod optabamus,

Carmina lætitiæ

Devote reddamus.

The time of Grace has come —

What we have wished for;

Songs of joy

Let us give back faithfully.

Deus homo factus est

Natura mirante,

Mundus renovatus est

A Christo regnante.

God has become man,

With nature marvelling,

The World has been renewed

By the reigning Christ.

Ezechielis porta

Clausa pertransitur,

Unde lux est orta

Salus invenitur.

The closed gate of Ezekiel

Is passed through,

Whence The Light is risen;

Salvation has been found.

Ergo nostra cantio

Psallat iam in lustro;

Benedicat Domino:

Salus Regi nostro.

Therefore, let our preaching

Now sing in brightness

Let it Bless The Lord:

Greeting to our King.

British Folk Rock Group, Steeleye Span, had a hit in 1973 

(No. 14, UK Singles Chart) with an “a cappella” recording of the song. Guitarist Bob Johnson had heard the song when he attended a Folk-Carol Service in Cambridge, 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 fully in Latin (the others were both recordings of “Pie Jesu” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Requiem”; firstly by Sarah Brightman and Paul Miles-Kingston in 1986, secondly as a minor hit by the 12-year-old Charlotte Church in 1998).

In 1975, Mike Oldfield had a Top 10 hit with “In Dulci Jubilo”, but this Latin song was performed as an instrumental. “Oh. What a Circus”, from the 1976 musical “Evita”, and a hit Single performed by David Essex, includes a Choral Chant in Latin, based on the Catholic Marian Anthem “Salve Regina”.

“Gaudete” is also one of only a handful of “a cappella” performances to become hit Singles. (Other notable examples are “Only You”, sung by The Flying Pickets, “After The Gold Rush”, sung by Prelude, “Don't Worry, Be Happy”, by Bobby McFerrin, and “Caravan Of Love”, by The Housemartins.)