Beatus vir

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For the choral work, see Beatus Vir (Górecki).
Beatus initial, f.4, start of Psalm 1 in the 10th-century Anglo-Saxon Ramsey Psalter
Beatus vir takes up the whole page in the 9th-century Ludwig Psalter.
France
(fol. 8r)

Beatus vir (

Vulgate Bible of both Psalm 1 and Psalm 112 (in the general modern numbering; it is Psalm 111 in the Greek Septuagint and the Vulgate[b]). In each case, the words are used to refer to frequent and significant uses of these psalms in art, although the two psalms are prominent in different fields, art in the case of Psalm 1 and music in the case of Psalm 112. In psalter manuscripts, the initial
letter B of Beatus is often rendered prominently as a Beatus initial.

Altogether the phrase occurs 14 times in the Vulgate text, eight times in the

Book of Psalms, and four times in the rest of the Old Testament, but no uses in the New Testament.[1]

Psalm 1 in art

Book of Psalms. In illuminated manuscript psalters this start was traditionally marked by a large Beatus initial for the B of Beatus, and the two opening words are often much larger than the rest of the text. Between them these often take up a whole page. Beatus initials have been significant in the development of manuscript painting, as the location of several developments in the use of initials as the focus of painting. As the "initial par excellence it stimulated the ornamentalizing impulse of the medieval artist to ever-increasing heights of fantasy".[2] The 10th-century Anglo-Saxon Ramsey Psalter initial illustrated here is the first known to use the "lion mask" on the bar of the "B".[3]

In psalters of the Early and High Middle Ages there were often similarly large initials at the start of Psalm 52 ("Q" for "Quid gloriaris") and Psalm 102 ("D" for "Domine"),[c] marking traditional groupings of the psalms. Other divisions of text produced different groupings, of eight or ten groups, but all had a group beginning at Psalm 1.[4] Often these initials were the only major illumination in the manuscript, as in the Stowe Psalter. In bibles the first letter of each book was also enlarged and illuminated in grand manuscripts, producing more beatus initials.

King

Windmill Psalter, very large "B"s allowed room for a Tree of Jesse, which included David.[9]

Incipit of Psalm 1

Vulgate

  1. Beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum, et in via peccatorum non stetit, et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit;
  2. sed in lege Domini voluntas ejus, et in lege ejus meditabitur die ac nocte.[10]

King James Version

  1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
  2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.[11]

Psalm 112 in music

Psalm 112 has been included in various places in Western Christian liturgy, especially in the context of vespers, and has been popular for musical settings, which are generally known by their opening words, Beatus vir. A database of psalm settings by Italian composers of the 17th and 18th centuries lists 81 settings of Psalm 112.[12]

Today probably the best known is Claudio Monteverdi's setting of 1640, SV 268, from his Selva morale e spirituale, also known as the Vespers of 1640. This piece is still often performed by itself, and has been described as "one of the most attractive and inspired settings of the Selva morale and one of the few sacred works of Monteverdi’s later years that has become widely known."[13]

Other examples include:

Other settings include those by

Johann Adolf Hasse.[19]

Incipit of Psalm 112

Vulgate

  1. Alleluja, reversionis Aggaei et Zachariae. Beatus vir qui timet Dominum: in mandatis ejus volet nimis.
  2. Potens in terra erit semen ejus; generatio rectorum benedicetur.[20]

King James Version

  1. Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
  2. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.[21]

Settings of other psalms

Psalm 1 has been given many settings, though none are now well-known.

Beatus Vir (Gorecki), Opus 38, subtitled Psalm for baritone, large mixed chorus and grand orchestra, is a setting of texts from various psalms by Henryk Górecki from 1979, commissioned by Pope John Paul II.[22] Neither Psalm 1 nor 112 are used, and the title comes from part of Psalm 33
.

Pieces called Beatus vir are catalogued by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (6 settings: H.175, H.154, H.199, H.208, H.221, H.224 (Ps. 112), 376 (different text), Stanislao Mattei, Félicien David and many others.

Verses from Psalm 1-3 (compiled together under the title 'Blessed is the man') form part of the Orthodox

Sergei Rachmaninov
.

Beatus vir
3rd movement
Mozart – vesperae de dominica. 3rd. movement
(4:24 minutes, 5 MB)
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Notes

  1. masculine
    .
  2. ^ Throughout this article, the psalm numbering and links follow the general modern numbering. The Septuagint and Vulgate numbering is stated in the respective articles
  3. ^ Incipit: "Domine exaudi orationem meam et clamor meus ad te veniat …"

See also

References

  1. ^ Bible Gateway search
  2. ^ Pächt, 85–90, 85 quoted
  3. ISBN 9780714128092
  4. ^ Calkins, 208
  5. ^ Pächt, 89, 92
  6. ^ Pächt, 86, 92
  7. ^ Pächt, 85–89
  8. ^ Calkins, 214; Pächt, 88–89, 93–94
  9. ^ Calkins, 215; Pächt, 94
  10. ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Psalmi 1 - Biblia Sacra Vulgata". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 1 - Authorized (King James) Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  12. ^ Psalmendatabank, Weimar Hochscule (in German)
  13. ^ "Beatus vir I a 6 voci concertato 1640 (Monteverdi) - from CDA67428 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads". www.hyperion-records.co.uk.
  14. ^ "Saturday Chorale". Archived from the original on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  15. ^ Catalogue, "simplified version of Wolfgang Reiche's thematic catalogue [Jan Dismas Zelenka: Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke (ZWV), Dresden, 1985], supplemented by information drawn from Janice Stockigt's splendid monograph [Jan Dismas Zelenka: A Bohemian Musician at the Court of Dresden, Oxford, 2000]."
  16. ^ "YouTube performance".
  17. ^ "Asola: Beatus vir - Asola: Sixteen Liturgical Works". www.areditions.com.
  18. ^ "Beatus vir, S.39 (Lalande, Michel Richard de) - IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download". imslp.org.
  19. ^ Weimar, Institut für Musikwissenschaften der Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in (October 22, 2010). "Psalmendatenbank-Datensatz der Hochschule für Musik FRANZ LISZT Weimar". www.psalmmusic-database.de.
  20. ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Psalmi 111 - Biblia Sacra Vulgata". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 112 - Authorized (King James) Version". Bible Gateway.
  22. ^ "Symphony No. 2 "Copernican", Op. 31". naxos.com. Retrieved on July 15, 2016

Sources

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