2nd Movement: Kyrie, eléison
The Kyrie is accompanied by a video tour of the Catedral de Segovia in Segovia, Spain. The Kyrie, like each of the composition's movements, was inspired by the beauty and grandeur of some of the world's great cathedrals and churches.
The Text Kyrie, eléison (Lord, have mercy) In the Requiem Mass, the Kyrie usually follows the Requiem Aeternam. The Kyrie is sung in Greek, making it unique in the Roman liturgy.
The earliest Eucharist (Mass) simply reflected the words of Jesus at the Last supper. As Christianity expanded beyond Palestine, most Christians spoke Koine Greek, and so this was the language of the earliest liturgy of the Eucharist.
Rome was the center of the church by the second half of the 3rd century, and it was then that the Greek Mass was translated into Latin. The Kyrie originated in the Eastern (Orthodox) liturgy a hundred years later. Apparently, its popularity of the Kyrie as a sung litany carried it to the western church, and when it was introduced into the Latin rite, it retained its original Greek.
The Kyrie first appeared in the litany of the Mass (the Antioch-Jerusalem liturgy) in the mid-4th century. However, the acclamation “Kyrie eleison” can be traced back to pre-Christian Rome, when it was used in praise of the emperor’s benevolence.
The Composition In the Kyrie, there's considerable tonal contrast between the choir and the orchestral accompaniment. While the boys and altos begin with a relatively simple melody line sung in unison, the orchestra soon pursues a much more complex path, surrounding the voices with unexpected chords and progressions. Then, too, the choir’s part becomes increasingly complex. The score’s unusual chord progression inevitably results in a key change (from Eb to Db) at the1:43 mark, and the remainder of the movement returns to the simplicity of its first measures.
The Kyrie is scored for boys’ choir, altos, strings (11 violins, 10 cellos, 9 double basses), brass (2 trumpets, 6 French horns, 1 tuba); and woods (3 flutes, 1 English horn, 3 clarinets, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons). Also included are some altos to help ensure that the boys’ melody line wouldn't be overwhelmed by the orchestra, while retaining the bell-like tone of the boys’ voices.
Greek Text and English Translation
Kyrie, eleison! Lord, have mercy on us
Christe, eleison! Christ, have mercy on u
Kyrie, eleison! Lord, have mercy on us.
