Te Deum

“ And when the Public School ethos is added to this—well, the resultant teaching comes pretty much to the dogma that Heaven and the Head are strict allies. One must not degenerate into ecclesiastical controversy; I merely want to say that I never dreamed of looking for religion in our Chapel services. No doubt the Te Deum was still the Te Deum, but the noblest of hymns is degraded, obscured, defiled, made ridiculous, if you marry it to a tune that would disgrace a penny gaff. ”

“ Would it might be that when that festival, ardently longed for, Shall in our church be observed, when the sacred Te Deum is rising, Swelled by the pealing of organ and bells, and the blaring of trumpets,— Would it might be that that day should behold my Hermann, sir pastor, Standing, his choice now made, with his bride before thee at the altar, Making that festal day, that through every land shall be honored, My anniversary, too, henceforth of domestic rejoicing! But I observe with regret, that the youth so efficient and active Ever in household affairs, when abroad is timid and backward. ”

“ The Te Deum was chanted before the immense "altar of the country" erected in the midst of the Champ-de-Mars, and the sun, suddenly breaking through the rain-clouds, illuminated the scene as if the heavens approved. In the evening, and for three days following, the populace danced on the Place de la Bastille. ”

“ Benediction, in the abbey church, was very beautiful. At the moment when the benediction is given a dove descends upon the altar; the sight is striking when the heart is already predisposed to heavenly emotions. When, at the conclusion, the monks stood up to chant the Te Deum, that song of the eternal Jerusalem which I never hear without a thrill of inward joy, I felt an indescribable impression of happiness and peace. Oh! how sweet it must be to serve God thus, and spend one’s life in study and in prayer.
Dearest Kate, may God bless you, may he bless us all, and may he deliver Ireland! ”

“ The blessing being thus given, the King sat down in his chair, vouchsafed to kiss the archbishop and bishops assisting at his coronation, they kneeling before him one after another. [Pg 236]
Then the choir began to sing the Te Deum, and the King went up to the theatre on which the throne is placed, all the bishops, great officers, and other peers, attending him, and then he sat down and reposed himself in his chair, below the throne.
ANTHEM V.
Te Deum.
We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee: the Father everlasting. ”

“ The pontifical blessing was given, and the pope intoned the Te Deum. The choir, the bishops, and the thousands of priests and laity in the church, who had looked on this solemn act of the church just executed, joined in with their whole heart and soul, and swelled the grand Ambrosian melody, making it roll throughout the church, and calling echoes from every chapel and arch, from nave and transept and dome. And with this concordant song of gratitude to God, the third session of the Vatican Council was appropriately closed. ”

“ The various anthems, sentences and motets in all Christian languages bearing the titles “Trisagion” or “Tersanctus,” and “Te Deum” are taken from portions of this royal hymn. The sublime and beautiful “Holy, Holy, Holy” of Bishop Heber was suggested by it.
THE TUNE.
No echo remains, so far as is known, of the responsive chant actually sung by Ambrose, but one of the best modern choral renderings of the “Te Deum” is the one by Henry Smart in his Morning and Evening Service. In an ordinary church hymnal it occupies seven pages. ”

“ Poetic tradition has dramatized the story of the birth of the “Te Deum,” dating it on an Easter Sunday, and dividing the honor of its composition between Ambrose and his most eminent convert. It was the day when the bishop baptized Augustine, in the presence of a vast throng that crowded the Basilica of Milan. As if foreseeing with a prophet's eye that his brilliant candidate would become one of the ruling stars of Christendom, Ambrose lifted his hands to heaven and chanted in a holy rapture,—
We praise Thee, O God! ”

“ I have put together, this hymn, and the translation of the Te Deum, which follows, because the Non Nobis was once always associated with that sublime doxology, in Thanksgiving services; though now seldom heard of, except as performed at public dinners, on the removal of the cloth. The exclamation of Henry V., on the field of Agincourt, is familiar to all:
Do we all holy rites,
Let there be sung Non Nobis and Te Deum.
It is interesting, also, to remember, that Te Deum was the first Christian thanksgiving ever offered to God, in this hemisphere. ”

“ The people all would fall on their knees, and the great man would bless them in the name of God, and the organ would peal its bassy notes of Te Deum, from east to west, and north to south, whilst the alarum from the belfry jarred my heart strings. ”

“ A certain Te Deum by Uria furnished him with material for no less than nine numbers of the "Dettingen Te Deum," and six of the oratorio, "Saul," and his opera, "Theodora," also betrays to some degree the same source. ”

“ The priest had already begun the Te Deum, while I at the organ, in celebration of the joyous festival, turned on all six stops—when suddenly the bellows burst, the organ creaked and groaned, and ceased to give forth a single resounding tone. In my whole life I have never been in a more embarrassing situation. I was the schoolmaster, the leader of the choir, and as such was expected to provide the music, for this is really the essential part of the celebration, and without it there can be no Christmas eve in the church. ”

“ An American statesman once said, in words that have been often quoted, that England's drum-beat never ceased as it passed around the world. We can say that our English Te Deum, with its "Day by day we magnify Thee," rolls round the world as well, in unceasing and ever- increasing volume. ”

“ Then each one joined heartily in singing the Te Deum, and there was a joyful discharge of cannon, so that the Echoes lingered in Port Royal 139 nearly a quarter of an hour. God has shown great mercy in granting that this man should receive the gift of Faith, and the light of the Gospel, at the age to which he has attained, which is, I believe, one hundred and ten years, or more. ”

“ The following Hymn, Te Deum, is said from Christmas until Septuagesima, and from Easter Sunday until Advent. When it is said, the third Responsory is omitted, and Gloria Patri is said in the second Responsory, as was noted above. ”

“ They have a common word with people inside church walls. Their chorus of praise swells from the other side of the walls, and in some countries the secular chorus of praise to God has considerably more volume than the official ecclesiastical chorus. Somehow in church one rather resents the choir, especially in the Te Deum, when they are singing it to some “God-forsaken” curious tune that a pedant musician has chosen. It is good when the whole church can lift one great voice. And outside the church the greater congregation rather resents the church-goers. ”

“ When the Te Deum is said, the following Responsory is omitted
R.Happy indeed art thou, O holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise: For out of thee arose the Sun of righteousness, Christ our God.
V. Pray for the people, intercede for the clergy, plead for religious women. Let all enjoy thine aid who keep holy commemoration of thee. For out of thee arose the Sun of righteousness, Christ our God.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Christ our God. ”

“ As these come round there comes with them in constant recurrence their rehearsal of Christian doctrines. There is nothing superfine in the hymns as regards either emotion, or duty, or consolation. There reigns in all of them a general popularity of content, expressed in great accents. He who seeks novel thoughts in a Te Deum or a Salve Regina looks for them in the wrong place. It is just what is every day and always known, which here is to serve as the garb of truth. ”

“ Scottish Psalter, 1650
Psalm 145:1-7. A Festal Anthem.
A praise song celebrating the greatness and goodness of God as manifested in all creation. The praise of God and of His marvelous works shall go on forever. The psalm has been called the Te Deum of the Old Testament and this version is worthy of its original.
MUSIC. DUKE STREET. For comments on this tune see Hymn 341. ”

“ And after he had entered the choir, and perceived the most holy sacrament, he put off his cap, and went bare-headed, with great humility, until he entered his seat or traverse as they call it, where after he had kneeled, my lord Chancellor began Te Deum laudamus, and the choir together with the organs sang and played the rest. ”

“ In Book V, chapter iii, 'of Nocturns,' Durandus says, 'When the nocturns be finished, the bells be rung and the Te Deum laudamus is chanted with uplift voice, to denote that the Church doth openly and wonderfully laud God in the time of grace, and to show that if by good works we answer rightly to holy doctrine, we shall attain to singing heavenly praises in concert with the angels. ”

“ Some few even of those in the Breviary, as, for instance, the Te Deum, have to be classed as psalms, and are called Canticles (Cantica) ; and many outside it will not fit into any such definition of what a hymn is. But it illustrates the general character and purpose of the hymns of the Roman and other breviaries, as designed for a special temporal or personal application by way of supplement to the Psalter.
At present the Roman Breviary, prepared with the sanction of the Council of Trent, has driven nearly all the others out of use. ”

“ According to the Grey Friars’ Chronicle, “The choir sang Te Deum with the organs going and the bells ringing, as most parts all. And the same night had the [most] part of London to dinner, with bonfires in every street of London, with good cheer at every bonfire; and the bells ringing in every parish-church, for the most part all night till the next day to None.” ”

“ It is thus the equivalent of canto fermo; and the German rhymed versions of the biblical and other ancient canticles, such as the Magnificat and the Te Deum, are set to curious corruptions of the corresponding Gregorian tunes, which adaptations the composers of classical German music called chorales with no more scruple than they applied the name to tunes of secular origin, German or foreign. ”

“ There is the poem regarding religious life and feeling that cannot be brought within the limitations of a musical setting, constituting the Reading Hymn; (b) we have the formless, but elevated, expression of worship or religious truth that at best can only be chanted, which we may call the Canticle, in which may be included such hymns as the Te Deum, the Sanctus, and unmetrical psalms ”

“ Then AEthelwold, the venerable and blessed bishop,
who in those days was bishop of Winchester,
bade all his monks who dwelt in the monastery,
that they should all go in procession to church,
and with hymns praise the merits of the saint,
and so magnify God, because of the great saint,
as often as any sick man should be healed.
Then forthwith they did so, and sang the Te Deum,
until they all loathed to arise so often,
sometimes three, and sometimes four times in a night,
to sing the Te Deum, when they wanted to sleep ”

“ In answer to your correspondent Honoré de Marevelle's Query regarding the Te Deum as sung in Russia, I beg to inform him that in whatever language the Emperor Nicholas is most familiar with this hymn, it is sung in all their churches in Sclavonic, which is only intelligible to the priests and a very small number of the laity, the mass of the people being quite ignorant of this old language. All the services in Russian churches are performed in Sclavonic. ”

“ The chaplains then chanted aloud the Te Deum laudamus, the brethren arose, and, with the utmost reverence and joy, taking the new Master in their arms, carried him into the chapel, and placed him before the altar, where he continued kneeling while the brethren prayed, the chaplains repeating Kyrie Eleïson, Pater noster, and other devotional forms. ”

“ In the Church of Notre Dame, at Quebec, on a day in the early autumn of 1672, the priests were singing Te Deum for the safe arrival of him whom they were soon to wish beyond the sea again, or beneath it. Here you would have seen the new governor surrounded by officers, and by the chief inhabitants, anxious to pay their court; a tall man in the pompous garb of a military noble of that gorgeous reign, well advanced in middle life, but whose high keen features, full of intellect and fire, bespoke his prompt undaunted nature,—Louis de Buade, Count of Palluau and Frontenac. ”

“ All that could be placed at his disposal was a poor village sacristy, with a few old faded and pinchbeck covered chasubles.
"Pooh!" said the Bishop; "announce the Te Deum in your sermon for all that. It will come right in the end."
Inquiries were made in the surrounding churches: but all the magnificence of these united humble parishes would not have been sufficient decently to equip a cathedral chorister. While they were in this embarrassment a large chest was brought and left at the curacy for the Bishop by two strange horse-men, who started again at once. ”

“ E. W. J.
Te Deum.—We read frequently of this hymn being sung in the Russian Church after victories. Can any of your correspondents inform me in what language it is used in the Eastern Churches? It is, I believe, generally admitted that it was originally composed in Latin for the use of the Western Church; but if the Emperor Nicholas, in his famous manifesto (vide Vol. viii., pp. 585. 655.) , quotes from this hymn and not from the Psalms, the one being quite as likely as the other, it would almost appear that the Latin version is the one with which he is the most familiar. ”