Te Deum

[augustin717]

Do any other Orthodox Churches use St. Nicetas' hymn "Te Deum laudamus" liturgically, as it is the case with the Romanian Church where the said hymn can sometimes replace the Great Doxology?
I bring this question before you, because today I've heard this hymn sung in Romanian,  not as a replacement of the Great Doxology though, but more as a "recessional" after Vespers.

[Fr. George]

Do any other Orthodox Churches use St. Nicetas' hymn "Te Deum laudamus" liturgically, as it is the case with the Romanian Church where the said hymn can sometimes replace the Great Doxology?
I bring this question before you, because today I've heard this hymn sung in Romanian,  not as a replacement of the Great Doxology though, but more as a "recessional" after Vespers. 

Do you have an English translation of the entire hymn?  Is it on the 'net?

[Seekingthetruth]

 O God, we praise Thee, and acknowledge Thee to be the supreme Lord.
Everlasting Father, all the earth worships Thee.
All the Angels, the heavens and all angelic powers,
All the Cherubim and Seraphim, continuously cry to Thee:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory.
The glorious choir of the Apostles,
The wonderful company of Prophets,
The white-robed army of Martyrs, praise Thee.
Holy Church throughout the world acknowledges Thee:
The Father of infinite Majesty;
Thy adorable, true and only Son;
Also the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
O Christ, Thou art the King of glory!
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When Thou tookest it upon Thyself to deliver man,
Thou didst not disdain the Virgin's womb.
Having overcome the sting of death, Thou opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all
believers.
Thou sitest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.
We believe that Thou willst come to be our Judge.
We, therefore, beg Thee to help Thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy
Precious Blood.
Let them be numbered with Thy Saints in everlasting glory.

[Fr. George]

I've never heard it used period (neither Liturgically nor non-Lit.)...

[Aristibule]

It is a very important hymn in the Western rite - we chant it almost every day (right after the first lesson during Mattins.) Interesting, in that it was composed by a Serbian saint of the Byzantine rite, no? I've always thought it interesting that we've preserved that one that seems almost unknown in most Eastern churches. (I think St. Niketas was an Ostrogoth as well?)

[Punch]

Do any other Orthodox Churches use St. Nicetas' hymn "Te Deum laudamus" liturgically, as it is the case with the Romanian Church where the said hymn can sometimes replace the Great Doxology?
I bring this question before you, because today I've heard this hymn sung in Romanian,  not as a replacement of the Great Doxology though, but more as a "recessional" after Vespers.

I have a ROCOR moleben service in my posession that uses the Te Deum.  I believe it was St. Ambrose who originally wrote it, and it is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful hymns written.  I rank it second only to the Great Doxology.

[scamandrius]

I have a ROCOR moleben service in my posession that uses the Te Deum.  I believe it was St. Ambrose who originally wrote it, and it is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful hymns written.  I rank it second only to the Great Doxology.

According to tradition, when St. Augustine was baptized by St. Ambrose, St. Ambrose began by singing, in Latin, of course, Te Deum Laudamus to which St. Augustine replied Te Dominum confitemur and so on and so forth until the end.  This is one of the great hymns of the Western Rite and I miss singing it now that I am Eastern.

[Aristibule]

According to tradition, when St. Augustine was baptized by St. Ambrose, St. Ambrose began by singing, in Latin, of course, Te Deum Laudamus to which St. Augustine replied Te Dominum confitemur and so on and so forth until the end.  This is one of the great hymns of the Western Rite and I miss singing it now that I am Eastern.

That's another tradition - and while it could be true, most believe that the tradition grew up later based upon a spurious text attributed to St. Ambrose. I think the general consensus nowadays is that St. Niketas of Remesiana was the composer. However, IIRC, the earliest tradition in the West is that St. Hilary of Pictavia was the author. The oldest appearance is in the Bangor Antiphoner (which I have a copy sitting next to me) where there is no attribution given but only Ymnum in die Dominica (Hymn for Sunday.) Others have attributed it to St. Sisebutus, or St. Abundius.

I think that its survival in Romania bolsters the claim for St. Niketas (known in Insular manuscripts even) - who is a patron saint of Romania. He was the Bishop for the Goths and Dacians there, and known as a composer of hymns. Of course, it isn't that important - if some want to hold it among the Ambrosian corpus, that's fine as well (though it doesn't seem to be of the same style.)

[Bono Vox]

I have a ROCOR moleben service in my posession that uses the Te Deum.  I believe it was St. Ambrose who originally wrote it, and it is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful hymns written.  I rank it second only to the Great Doxology.

The great doxology is one of my favorite hymns. I particularly love the byzantine version sung on the "Mystical supper" CD by the Boston Byzantine Choir. We sing that one at our church. I love the powerful ison in it. Some songs seem to touch me more than others; I don't know why. The Noble Joseph (bulgarian version) is another one that i really feel.

[Elisha]

Anyone know of any good recordings of this?

[lubeltri]

In Gregorian Chant? There are many. You can also find it in other genres, including arrangements by Baroque, Classical, and Romantic composers. There is even a beautiful 19th-century hymn version in English called Holy God We Praise Thy Name (you can listen to it here: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/o/holygod.htm)

If you want to hear chant versions, check out the Wikipedia page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Deum

To hear the sound files on the page, you have to download a codec for Windows Media Player: http://www.illiminable.com/ogg/

[Aristibule]

Anyone know of any good recordings of this?

Not in Byzantine chant - thought I'd be interested as well.

Most common in English is that done in Anglican chant "We praise Thee O God" at Mattins/Morgensong.

You can find midi files and texts at choralwiki: http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Te_Deum

Note that one is Bortniansky's setting for the Te Deum (unfortunately, no MIDI file for that specific piece.)

[scamandrius]

Here is a recording of William Byrd's Te Deum from his Great Service which was written during the Elizabethan era.  Though Roman Catholic, which was quite dangerous at the time, he still wrote many Anthems and services for the newly founded Anglican Church.  The only thing I don't like about this recording is that there is an organ.  Byrd did not write this for organ accompaniment. Enjoy anyways!

http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk:8080/ramgen/67533-03.rm

http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/MP3Audio/67533-03.m3u

[Aristibule]

Thanks, I like Byrd's compositions. Our kids are going to learn that arrangement, as well as those by Tallis, Weelkes, and from the Sarum Missal. Now that I know Bortniansky did one as well, I'm going to have to print it off for their portfolio. Sheppard is supposed to have composed a Te Deum as well - but I haven't been able to find it (that was part of his polyphonic Sarum music for Queen Mary's reign. Though, of course, we officially do unison singing in our churches. Though, I don't see why we can't do polyphony when so many Byzantine rite churches do.)

[kaarina33]

Anyone know of any good recordings of this?

Just looking over some of the old posts, as a newbie here.

There is an arrangement of the Te Deum I absolutely love, and the entire piece can be  downloaded as a Real One Player or Windows Media file (almost 7 minutes)  I am not sure who the arranger/composer is, but it begins with a few lines of the hymn in Gregorian Chant and then the rest is set to an arrangement by Holst.
It is in English, but the text is very close to the English that is set down above.
It can be found on the website of  Concordia Theological Seminary Chorus, Fort Wayne, IN. on their "Te Deum" CD by the Seminary Kantorei
http://www.lifeoftheworld.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Bookstore&Product_Code=5653350&Category_Code=CTO-MUS


From their CD "With Angels & Archangels" , you can download "Of the Father's love Begotten"
http://www.lifeoftheworld.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Bookstore&Product_Code=5653370&Category_Code=CTO-MUS

[username!]

Te Deum is awesome.  And even if you are eastern now you can still pray it western like. 

[Athanasios]

Hello,

I have only heard the Te Deum in Gregorian Chant and Polyphony. It would be interesting to hear it in Byzantine Chant, but I would imagine it would be done in another language, like Greek or Slavonic.

In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the Te Deum is prayed at the Office of Matins on Sundays, Solemnities and Feast (outside of Lent).

[Athanasios]

Hello,

I'm tickled to death that those in the East would have a high regard for something that is almost exclusively Latin, that is not found in the Liturgy of the Eastern Churches.

Here is a solemn Gregorian Chant for the Te Deum: Te_Deum.ogg

Here is a GIF of the Gregorian notation for that chant: te_deum_sol.gif

Here is the same chant in modern Western notation (not very well done, though): Te_Deum.pdf

[Reader KevinAndrew]

Hello,

I have only heard the Te Deum in Gregorian Chant and Polyphony. It would be interesting to hear it in Byzantine Chant, but I would imagine it would be done in another language, like Greek or Slavonic.

In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the Te Deum is prayed at the Office of Matins on Sundays, Solemnities and Feast (outside of Lent).

And Advent.

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