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Hymn to the Holy Spirit

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The Oxyrhynchus Hymn (P. Oxy. XV 1786) is the earliest known manuscript of a Christian hymn - dating from the 3rd century AD - to contain both lyrics and musical notation. It is now kept at the Papyrology Rooms of the Sackler Library, Oxford. The text, in Greek, poetically invokes silence so that the Holy Trinity may be praised.

The surviving text is fragmentary, thus there are quite a number of suggested reconstructions and translations on the web. The version which this recording - performed by Gregorio Paniagua and the Atrium Musicae de Madrid, from "Musique de la Grèce antique" - follows is the following:

Approximate English Translation

Let it be silent

Let the Luminous stars

not shine,

Let the winds (?) and all the noisy rivers die down;

And as we hymn the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Let all the powers add "Amen Amen"

Empire, praise always, and glory to God,

The sole giver of

good things,

Amen

LEARN MORE ABOUT EARLY CHRISTIAN MUSIC FROM THESE SOURCES:

1. Stephanie Gauthier, Development of Early Christian Music Word Document (compatible with Microsoft Word 97-2008), Open document: Early Christian Music Development.doc

2. Concise History of Western Music, from Website:

( http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/concise/outlines.htm )

3. Daniel Grout and Daniel Palisca, Norton Anthology of Western Music, (New York, 2001) 31

4. Liturgica.com Website: ( http://www.liturgica.com/index.jsp )

5. Plainsong, Church Music, Christian Music, Worship Music, from Website:

( http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/plainson.htm )

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