Nunc dimittis
The Nunc dimittis
Biblical account
The title is formed from the opening words in the Latin Vulgate, “Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine" ("Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord"). Although brief, the canticle abounds in Old Testament allusions. For example, "Because my eyes have seen thy salvation" alludes to Isaiah 52:10.[4]
According to the narrative in Luke 2:25-32,
Versions
The "Nunc dimittis" passage in the original
νῦν ἀπολύεις τὸν δοῦλόν σου, δέσποτα, κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου ἐν εἰρήνῃ·
ὅτι εἶδον οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου τὸ σωτήριόν σου,
ὃ ἡτοίμασας κατὰ πρόσωπον πάντων τῶν λαῶν,
φῶς εἰς αποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν καὶ δόξαν λαοῦ σου Ἰσραήλ.
Transliterated:
Latin (Vulgate):
Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace:
Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum:
Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.
English (Translation of the Vulgate):
Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace;
Because my eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples:
A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
English (Book of Common Prayer, 1662):
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
English (Roman Breviary):
Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace. You have fulfilled your promise.
My own eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples.
A light to bring the Gentiles from darkness; the glory of your people Israel.
The Book of Common Prayer (1662) was derived from the King James Version (1611) of the Bible. Its text for this canticle is the same as in the prayer book, except for the last line. The Bible (Luke 2:32) reads "A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel."
Church Slavonic (in Cyrillic)[5]
Ны́нѣ отпуща́еши раба́ Твоего́, Влады́ко, по глаго́лу Твоему́ съ ми́ромъ;
я́ко ви́дѣста о́чи мои́ спасе́ніе Твое́,
є́же єси́ угото́валъ предъ лице́мъ всѣхъ люде́й,
свѣтъ во открове́ніе язы́ковъ, и сла́ву люде́й Твои́хъ Изра́иля.
Nýně otpushcháeshi rabá Tvoyegó, Vladýko, po glagólu Tvoyemú s" mírom";
yáko víděsta óchi moí spaséníe Tvoyé,
ếzhe êsí ugotóval" pred" litsém" vsěkh" lyudéy,
svět" vo otkrovéníe yazýkov", i slávu lyudéy Tvoíkh" Izráilya.
Commentary
Writing in the early 20th century, Friedrich Justus Knecht concludes from this passage that "belief in Jesus Christ drives away all fear of death." He writes:
Simeon now rejoiced at the prospect of death. Such a sensation was hitherto unknown in Israel. “Pious Israelites closed their eyes in death, weary of life and submissive to God’s will; not altogether hopeless, but full of horror of the future. Death was a thing to be feared, and each new day of life which was granted was looked on as a gain” (Grimm). But all at once every thing was changed. Holy Simeon had seen the Saviour, and was now ready to die joyfully. In fact, he did die very soon after; a pious tradition even goes so far as to say that he died before he left the Temple. He was thus the first to take the joyful news to Limbo that the Saviour was born and the day of salvation at hand.[6]
While serving as Prefect at Georgetown College, English Jesuit Roger Baxter reflects on this passage in his 19th-century Meditations, saying: "Oh that you would also bid farewell to all earthly things, and say with the Apostle, 'But I am straitened — having a desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ.' (Phil. 1:23.)"[7]
Liturgy and musical settings
The Nunc Dimittis is the traditional 'Gospel Canticle' of Night Prayer (
Heinrich Schütz wrote at least two settings, one in Musikalische Exequien (1636), the other in Symphoniae sacrae II (1647). The feast day Mariae Reinigung was observed in the Lutheran Church in J.S. Bach's time. He composed several cantatas for the occasion, including Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, a chorale cantata on Martin Luther's paraphrase of the canticle, and Ich habe genug, BWV 82.
In many Lutheran orders of service, the Nunc Dimittis may be sung following the reception of the Eucharist.[8][9] A 1530 rhymed version by Johannes Anglicus , "Im Frieden dein, o Herre mein", with a melody by Wolfgang Dachstein, was written in Strasbourg for that purpose.[10]
Many composers have set the text to music, usually coupled in the Anglican church with the
Herbert Howells composed 20 settings of this pair of canticles, including
A setting by British composer Geoffrey Burgon is featured during the end credits of episodes in the 1979 television adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote a setting of the Slavonic Nunc dimittis text, Ны́не отпуща́еши (Nyne otpushchayeshi), as the fifth movement of his All-Night Vigil. It is known for its final measures, in which the basses sing a descending scale ending on the B♭ below the bass clef.[14]
The neoclassical electronic music group Mannheim Steamroller used the text of Nunc Dimittis in the song "Lumen" on their album Fresh Aire V, that was otherwise based on Johannes Kepler's novel Somnium.
Literary settings
- Marquis de Lafayette(17 May 1816), Joseph Cabell (31 January 1821), and General Andrew Jackson (18 December 1823)
- Merlyn
- T. S. Eliot poem A Song for Simeon (1928)
- Joseph Brodsky poem "Nunc Dimittis" (1972)
- Ezra Pound poem "Cantico del Sole" (1918)
- Karel Čapek play R.U.R.
- Roald Dahl short story "Nunc Dimittis" (1953–1979)
- Tanith Lee story "Nunc Dimittis" (1984–1986)
- Walter Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz
- John le Carré novel A Murder of Quality
- John le Carré novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – closing theme of TV adaptation
- John le Carré novel The Constant Gardener – sung at the funeral of Tessa Quayle
- H. W. Brands novel The Strange Death of American Liberalism[15]
- David Mitchell novel Cloud Atlas – "Pacific journal of Adam Ewing, part 1"
- Edith Pargeter novel, writing as Ellis Peters in the 6th and 15th volumes of "The Cadfael Chronicles", The Virgin in the Ice and The Confession of Brother Haluin
See also
References
- ^ Machen, Minnie Gresham (1903). The Bible in Browning: With Particular Reference to The Ring and the Book. Macmillan. p. 157.
- ^ "Nunc dimittis", Collins Dictionary
- ^ "Nunc Dimittis". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ^ a b Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1911). "Nunc Dimittis". Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Sluzhebnik, Moscow Synodal Press 1896
- ^ Friedrich Justus Knecht (1910). . A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture. B. Herder.
- ^ Baxter, Roger (1823). . Meditations For Every Day In The Year. New York: Benziger Brothers.
- ^ The Lutheran Service Book. Concordia Publishing House. 2005.
- ^ Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Augsburg Fortress. 2006.
- ISBN 978-3-64-750302-8.
- ^ "The Church of England - Common Worship - Canticles for Use at Funeral and Memorial Services". Archived from the original on 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Margaret Thatcher: the funeral Order of Service". Telegraph. 17 April 2013. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12.
- ^ Nunc dimittis, sung by the choir of King's College, Cambridge Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine (1 Nov 2014)
- ^ Warrack, John (2013-01-09). "Rachmaninov Vespers". www.gramophone.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
- ISBN 978-0-300-09824-2.