e05723 EXSULTET Easter Proclamation Arranged by J. Michael Thompson Deacon or Priest or Cantors, SATB Choir WORLD LIBRARY PUBLICATIONS 3708 RIVER ROAD, SUITE 400, FRANKLIN PARK, IL 60131-2158 WLPMUSIC.COM 800 566-6150 WLPCS@JSPALUCH.COM You are permitted to print out or reproduce only the number of copies agreed upon at the time of purchase.
The Exsultet, or Easter Proclamation, is a venerable part of the Roman rite s Vigil of Easter. According to the rubrics, the singing of this chant is assigned to the deacon. If there is no deacon, a priest may sing it. The rubrics of The Roman Missal indicate: The Easter Proclamation may be made, in the absence of a Deacon, by the Priest himself or by another concelebrating Priest. If, however, because of necessity, a lay cantor sings the Proclamation, the words Therefore, dearest friends up to the end of the invitation are omitted, along with the greeting The Lord be with you. The majority of the text is carried by one or two cantors. As The Roman Missal indicates, Part 1 should be deacon or priest. For the sake of contrast, Part 2 may be sung by a cantor, preferably a female voice. If a deacon or priest does not sing Part 1, use a male voice, but make the omissions required by The Roman Missal (indicated in this edition by brackets). The choir acts as a foundation for and backdrop to the chant of the cantors, using three devices from medieval practice: a) Ison: singing a sustained tone underneath the chant; b) Organum: the choir singing in perfect fifths around the chant; and c) Murmur: singing with the cantor, but sotto voce, barely audible. In order for this to be edifying and practical, the choir must: a) sing with straight tone. It will be impossible to tune unisons or parallel fifths with conflicting vibrato. b) serve as a backdrop to the cantor. The choir s role is to highlight and extend the chant, not to be the focus. This setting works best when the choir is standing in close proximity to the paschal candle and the cantors. Distance tends to make the chord changes inaccurate. Since the Proclamation serves as a transition for the assembly from the Service of Light to the Liturgy of the Word, it does not end in a loud fashion. The climax (musically) is the section which begins This is the night After these sections, the choir pulls back, ending the chant quietly, as it was begun.
EXSULTET Easter Proclamation Deacon or Priest or Cantors, SATB Choir The Roman Missal P S.A. T.B. I Hm P Ex-ult, let them ex-ult, the hosts ofheav - en, ex- ult, Traditional Roman chant Arr. by J. Michael Thompson let Angel minis- ters of God ex-ult, let the trum-pet of sal - va - tion () sound a - loud our might - y King s tri - umph! f sound a - loud our might - y King s tri - umph! f A Be glad, let earth be glad, P as glo - ry floods her, a - blaze with light from her e - ter - nal King, Hm P 005723 Click & Print download e05723 may be purchased at wlpmusic.com. Text and chant from the English translation of The Roman Missal, copyright 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. Published with the approval of the Committee on Divine Worship, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Arrangement copyright 1996, 2011, World Library Publications 3708 River Road, Suite 400, Franklin Park, IL 60131-2158. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is against the law.
4 B let all cor-ners () II of the earth be glad, know- ing an end to gloom and dark - ness. f know- ing an end to gloom and dark - ness. f P Re - joice, let Mother Church al - so re-joice, Hm I, II F C let this ho - ly build-ing shake with joy, F let this ho - ly build-ing shake with joy, Deacon/Priest only (There - fore, dearest friends, arrayed with the lightning of his glo - ry, filled with the might- y voic-es of the peo - ples. filled with the might- y voic-es of the peo - ples. standing in the awe-some glo - ry of this ho - ly light, Hm
5 in - voke with me, I ask you, () the mer - cy of God al - might - y, that he, who has been pleased to number me, though un-wor - thy, a - mong the Le - vites, may pour () into me his light un - shad-owed, that I may sing this can-dle s per-fect prais - es.) D [The Lord be with you.] I Lift up your hearts. [And with your spir - it.]
6 Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. We lift them up to the Lord. It is right and just. E It It is truly right and just, with ardent love of mind and heart is truly right and just, with ardent love of mind and heart and with devoted service of our voice, and with devoted service of our voice, to ac - claim our God in - vis - i - ble, to ac - claim our God in - vis - i - ble, the al - might - y Fa - ther, the al - might - y Fa - ther, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, his Son, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, his Son, his On - ly Be - got - ten. his On - ly Be - got - ten.
F II 7 Who for our sake paid Adam s debt to the e- ter - nal Fa - ther, and, pouring out his own dear Hm Blood, () wiped clean the rec - ord of our an - cient sin - ful - ness. G I These then are the feasts of Pass - o - ver, in which is slain the Lamb, the one true Lamb, Hm H II whose Blood anoints the door - posts of be - liev - ers. This is the night, n () This is the night, n
8 when once you led our fore-bears, Is - ra - el s chil - dren, from slav - er - y in E - gypt () I I and made them pass dry - shod through the Red Sea. This is the night n () This is the night n J II that with a pil - lar of fire banished the dark - ness of sin. This is the night n This is the night n that even now, throughout the world, sets Christian believers apart from world - ly vic - es
9 and from the gloom of sin, lead - ing them to grace and join-ing them to his ho - ly ones. () K I This is the night, n when Christ broke the prison - bars of death This is the night, n L II and rose vic - to - ri - ous from the un - der- world. Our birth would have been no gain, M I had we not been re- deemed. O wonder of your hum - ble care for us!
10 O love, O char-i - ty be-yond all tell - ing, to ran-som a slave you gave a - way your Son! N II O tru- ly nec-es - sar - y sin of Ad-am, sotto voce (ison) de-stroyed com-plete-ly by the Death of Christ! O tru- ly nec-es - sar - y sin of Ad - am, de-stroyed com-plete-ly by the Death of Christ! O hap - py fault. O hap - py fault. that earned so great, so glo - ri - ous a Re - deem - er! that earned so great, so glo - ri - ous a Re- deem - er! O I O tru - ly bless - ed night, wor - thy alone to know the time and hour O tru - ly bless - ed night,
P 11 when Christ rose from the un - der- world! This is the night of which it is writ - ten: II The night shall be as bright as day, daz-zling is the night for me, and full of glad - ness. Q I The sanctifying power of this night dis - pels wick - ed - ness, Unison p wash-es faults a - way, dis - pels wick - ed - ness, Unison p R II re - stores innocence to the fall - en, and joy to mourn- ers, drives out ha - tred, F n () and joy to mourn- ers. F n
12 S I fos - ters con - cord, and brings down the might - y. On this, your night of grace, O () On this, your night of grace, O ho - ly Fa - ther, n ho - ly Fa - ther, n accept this candle, a sol - emn n accept this candle, a sol - emn n of - fer - ing, of - fer - ing, T II the work of bees and of your serv-ants hands, an evening sacri - fice of praise, this gift from your most ho - ly Church. () U I But now we know the praises of this pil - lar, which glowing fire ig-nites for God s hon-or,
13 a fire into many flames di - vid - ed, yet nev - er dimmed by shar - ing of its light, for it is fed by melt-ing wax, drawn out by moth-er bees, to build a torch so pre- cious. O tru - ly bless - ed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and di - vine to the hu - man. There- fore, O Lord, we pray you sotto voce that this candle, There- fore, O Lord, we pray you
14 hallowed to the honor of your name, may per- se - vere un- dimmed, to overcome the dark- () II ness of this night. Re - ceive it as a pleas - ing fra - grance, and let it min- gle with the () lights of () heav - en. May this flame be found still burn - ing by the Morn-ing Star: Unison. May this flame be found still burn- ing by the Morn - ing Star: Unison. I the one Morning Star who nev - er sets, the one Morning Star who nev - er sets, Christ your Son, Christ your Son, who, coming back from death s do-main, who, coming back from death s do-main,
has shed his peaceful light on hu - man - i - ty, has shed his peaceful light on hu- man - i - ty, and lives and reigns for ev - er and lives and reigns for - ev - er 15 and ev - er. and ev - er. A - men. A - men. Engraved and printed in U.S.A.