Agnus Dei

13th century carved Agnus Dei in ivory, Louvre.

Agnus Dei, referring to the Christian theological concept the Lamb of God, and the associated liturgical text from the Roman Catholic Latin Mass has been set to music by many composers, as it is normally one of the movements or sections in a sung Mass setting or Requiem Mass.^[1][2] However, sometimes it stands alone, e.g., it provides the lyrics for Agnus Dei, the choral arrangement of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings.

Based upon John the Baptist's reference in John 1:29 to Jesus ("Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world"), the text in Latin is:

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

which means:

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

The text is also part of the use of Agnus Dei in liturgy.

Examples

Agnus Dei from Schubert's Mass No. 2

Some examples from full mass settings include:

• Movement 5 of John Rutter's Requiem;
• The fifth movement of the Notre Dame Mass;
• The twenty fourth movement of Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor;
• The sixth part of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem;
• The tenth part of Ludwig van Beethoven's Missa Solemnis;
• The fifth movement of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem;
• The sixth movement of Franz Schubert's Mass No. 2.
• The sixth movement of Franz Schubert's Mass No. 2.
• Samuel Barber's arrangement of his Adagio for Strings

See also

• Agnus Dei (liturgy)
• Lamb of God

References

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