The Organ at Worship

These texts, provided here in a printable format, can be used for personal meditation and prayer.

In especially the Kodály work, the music paints a vivid picture of the texts quoted.  Listening with the texts in hand can be a truly unique spiritual experience. It is all presented here to the glory of God alone.

Organoedia ad Missam Lectam  -  Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)

A Mass for Organ Solo

 1. Introitus and Kyrie

Lord, have mercy.  Christ, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.

2. Gloria in excelsis Deo

Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will to all. 

We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee.

We give thanks to thee for thy great glory.

O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.

O Lord, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ,

Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,

Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, receive our prayer.

Thou that sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us.

For thou only art holy, thou only art the Lord, thou only art most high, Jesus Christ,

With the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.  Amen.

3. Credo

I believe in one God, Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds,

God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made,

being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made;

Who for us and for our salvation, came down from heaven,

And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man;

And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; suffered and was buried;

And the third day he rose again according to the scriptures,

And ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father;

And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son;

Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church;

I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;

And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

4. Sanctus

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts.  Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.  Hosanna in the highest!

5. Benedictus

Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest!

6. Agnus Dei

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.  Grant us peace.

7. Ite, Missa Est

The mass is ended.  Thanks be to God.  Go in peace; grant us peace.  Amen.

8. We All Believe in One God  -  Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

We All Believe in One True God

Who created earth and heaven,

The Father, Who to us in love

Hath the right of children given.

He both soul and body feedeth,

All we need He doth provide us;

He through snares and perils leadeth,

Watching that no harm betide us.

He careth for us day and night,

All things are governed by His might.

We all believe in Jesus Christ,

His own Son, our Lord, possessing

An equal Godhead, throne and might,

Source of every Grace and blessing.

Born of Mary, virgin mother,

By the power of the Spirit,

Made true man, our elder Brother,

That the lost might life inherit;

Was crucified for sinful men

And raised by God to life again.

We all confess the Holy Ghost,

Who sweet grace and comfort giveth

And with the Father and the Son

In eternal glory liveth;

Who the Church, His own creation,

Keeps in unity of spirit.

Here forgiveness and salvation

Daily come through Jesus' merit.

All flesh shall rise, and we shall be

In bliss with God eternally.

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

9. Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming  -  Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Es ist ein 'Ros entsprungen

Lo, how a rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung,
Of Jesse's lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flow'ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The rose I have in mind,
With Mary we behold it.
The Virgin mother kind.
To show God's love aright
She bore to them a Savior,
When half-spent was the night.

This flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
True Man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us
And lightens every load.

Unknown, c. 1500 German Text

10. Ah, Holy Jesus  -  Johannes Brahms

Herzliebster Jesu

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
that man to judge thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee:
I crucified thee.

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
for our atonement, while we nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.

For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation;
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee,
think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
not my deserving.

Johann Heermann (1585-1647);
trans. Robert Seymour Bridges (1844-1930)

11. I Know That My Redeemer Lives  -  George Shearing (b. 1919)

Antioch

I know that my Redeemer lives,
Glory, Hallelujah!
What comfort this sweet sentence gives,

Glory, Hallelujah!
 
Shout on, pray on, we're gaining ground,
Glory, Hallelujah!
The dead's alive, and the lost is found,
Glory, Hallelujah!

He lives to bless me with His love;
Glory, Hallelujah!
He lives to plead my cause above;
Glory, Hallelujah!

He lives to crush the fiends of hell;
Glory, Hallelujah!
He lives and doth within me dwell;
Glory, Hallelujah!

Samuel Medley, 1775

12. Jerusalem, My Happy Home  -  George Shearing

Land of Rest

Jerusalem, my happy home,
when shall I come to thee?
When shall my sorrows have an end?
Thy joys when shall I see?

Thy saints are crowned with glory great;
they see God face to face;
they triumph still, they still rejoice
most happy is their case.

There David stands with harp in hand
as master of the choir:
ten thousand times that man were blessed
that might this music hear.

Our Lady sings Magnificat
with tune surpassing sweet,
and all the virgins bear their part,
sitting at her feet.

There Magdalen hath left her moan,
and cheerfully doth sing
with blessèd saints, whose harmony
in every street doth ring.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
God grant that I may see
thine endless joy, and of the same
partaker ever be!

Joseph Bromehead, 1747-1826

13. - 17. Choral Variations on "Creator Spirit, Come"  -  Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Veni Creator Spiritus

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
and in our hearts take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O Comforter, to Thee we cry,
Thou heav'nly gift of God most high,
Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

O Finger of the hand divine,
the sevenfold gifts of grace are thine;
true promise of the Father thou,
who dost the tongue with power endow.

Thy light to every sense impart,
and shed thy love in every heart;
thine own unfailing might supply
to strengthen our infirmity.

Drive far away our ghostly foe,
and thine abiding peace bestow;
if thou be our preventing Guide,
no evil can our steps betide.

Praise we the Father and the Son
and Holy Spirit with them One;
and may the Son on us bestow
the gifts that from the Spirit flow.

Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

18. The Old Rugged Cross  -  John Innes (1998)

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

Chorus:

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
'Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To pardon and sanctify me.

In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see;
For 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear.
Then He'll call me someday to my home far away.
Where His glory forever I'll share.

George Bennard (1873-1958)

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