The birth of Jesus is such a small event in the darkness of a Bethlehem stable and yet this was to be the moment when the world changed forever. This is the great mystery of Christmas and so today our choice of listening is O Magnum Mysterium (O great mystery) a motet for choir a cappella by Moren Lauridsen. He set the text of “O magnum mysterium”, a Gregorian chant for Christmas, in 1994. The composition, performed and recorded often, made Lauridsen famous. It was described as expressive ethereal sounds in imperturbable calmness.
Lauridsen is professor of composition at the USC Thornton School of Music. He wrote this setting of in 1994, on a commission from the Los Angeles Master Chorale, by Marshall Rutter for his wife Terry Knowles. The composition was first performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles in December 1994 by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by Paul Salamunovich. It was published in 1995 by Southern Music Publishing. The popular setting was often performed and recorded and became one of Lauridsen’s signature pieces. Sandra Dackow wrote an arrangement for strings.
| O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, iacentem in praesepio! Beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Iesum Christum. Alleluia! | O great mystery, and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in a manger! Blessed is the virgin whose womb was worthy to bear the Lord, Jesus Christ. Alleluia! |
The image of the oxen and donkey next to the crib is found in Isaiah (Isa. 1.3) and is traditionally related to the nativity scene at the birth of Jesus in Luke 2. Luke 2:7 does not mention animals, but a manger. In the apocryphal gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, both animals are specifically named. The image continued to spread from the 13th century onwards when it was included in the Golden Legend. It became the most popular symbol for the mystery of the self-abasement of God in his Incarnation. (Phil 2,6–7). The second part of the responsory relates to the words with which Elizabeth welcomes Mary on her visitation (Lk 1.42–43).
