Spiritus divinae

lucis gloriae
(Night Voyage)
for piano solo
(with optional
electronics)

Peter Bannister
2016

ad honorem Valentin
Silvestrov
 Spiritus divinae lucis gloriae
The immediate stimulus for the choral cycle Spiritus divinae lucis gloriae ('Spirit of the divine
light of glory') was a conversation with Vale of Glamorgan Festival director John Metcalf at
my home in Paris in 2011 when we listened to some wonderful settings of old Eastern
Orthodox liturgical texts by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov (1937 - ) and to whom
Spiritus divinae is dedicated. I was very struck by Silvestrov's post-modern treatment of the
ancient Byzantine-Slavic liturgy of St John Chrysostom, and wondered if something similar
might be possible with regard to old Western European sources, following along the path
already hinted at by Gavin Bryars in using 'Caedmon's Hymn' in his 1998 Cadman Requiem
and by Arvo Pärt's 2007 setting of the prayer known as 'St Patrick's Breastplate' entitled The
Deer's Cry.

My own fascination with Celtic Christianity since an early age (most of my childhood
holidays having been spent on the Welsh coast) led me to the 'Bangor Antiphonary', a Latin
manuscript from the late 7th century written in Bangor Abbey in present-day Northern
Ireland. The antiphonary is now in the Ambrosian Library in Milan, having been brought from
Ireland to Italy some time after 800 A.D. in order to protect it from destruction at the hands
of the Vikings in their many raids on the monasteries of Northern Europe. The Bangor
Antiphonary is one of the most important documents of the liturgical life of the Celtic Church
in its early centuries, and its hymns show many points of contact with the Eastern Christian
texts set by Silvestrov, not least in the cosmic scope of their poetic imagery and powerful
symbolism of light and darkness. Spiritus divinae lucis gloriae is not a liturgical
reconstruction, but an evocation of an imaginary night vigil in a contemporary musical idiom
structured around the antiphonary's prayers used during the nocturnal monastic offices at
Bangor Abbey. First performed at the 2012 Vale of Glamorgan Festival Ars Nova Copenhagen
directed by Søren Kinch Hansen. In 2016, subtitled Night Voyage, it was transcribed for solo
piano (somewhat in the spirit of Liszt's Harmonies Poétiques et Religieuses) with optional
electronic sound environment.

Peter Bannister
SPIRITUS DIVINAE
LUCIS GLORIAE
AD VESPERTINAM
Vespertino sub tempore
Te invocamus Domine
Nostris precibus annue
Nostris peccatis ignosce
Qui regnas in saecula
SANCTI VENITE
Sancti venite,
Christi corpus sumite,
Sanctum bibentes
Quo redempti sanguinem.
Salvati Christi
Corpore et sanguine,
A quo refecti
Laudes dicamus Deo.
Hoc sacramento
Corporis et sanguinis
Omnes exuti
Ab inferni faucibus.
Dator salutis
Christus, Filius Dei
Mundum salvavit
Per crucem et sanguinem
Pro universis
Immolatus Dominus
Ipse sacerdos
Existit et hostia.
Lucis indultor
Et salvator omnium
Praeclaram sanctis
Largitus est gratiam.
Accedant omnes
Pura mente creduli,
Sumant aeternam
Salutis custodiam.
COLLECTIO AD INITIUM NOCTIS
Noctis tempus exigimus
Christe, in tuis laudibus
Miserearis omnibus
Te ex corde precantibus
Qui regnas ad saecula
SPIRIT OF THE DIVINE
LIGHT OF GLORY
AT VESPERS
At evening time
We call on You, O Lord.
Grant our prayer,
Forgive our sins,
You who reign forever.
COME, O SAINTS
Come, O Saints,
Take the body of Christ
Drinking the blood
By which you are redeemed.
Saved by the body
And blood of Christ
By which we are restored,
Let us sing praise to God.
In this sacrament of the
Body and the blood
All are released
From the jaws of hell.
The giver of salvation,
Christ, the Son of God
Saved the world
By the cross and the blood.
For the Universe
The Lord was sacrificed
Being both
Priest and Victim.
Bestower of Light
And Saviour of all,
Exceeding grace is
Poured out upon the saints.
Let all draw near
Who believe with a pure mind
To take the eternal
Guardian of Salvation.
COLLECT AT NIGHTFALL
At night we implore and
Praise You, O Christ.
Have mercy on all
Who pray to you from the heart,
You who reign forever
PRECAMUR PATREM WE PRAY TO THE FATHER
Precamur Patrem We pray to the Father
Regem omnipotentem All-powerful King
Et Jesum Christum To Jesus Christ
Sanctum quoque Spiritum. Alleluia And to the Holy Spirit. Alleluia.
Deo in una To God in one
Perfectum substantia Perfect substance
Trinum in tribus Triune, worshipped
Adorandum personis In three persons.
Universorum Wellspring of the universe
Fontis jubar luminum Beam of light
Aethereorum Ethereal
Et orbi lucentium That lightens the world.
Hic enim dies For this day
Velut primogenitus The firstborn
Coeli ab arce Shone from heaven’s citadel
Mundi moli micuit Upon the world.
Sic verbum caro So the Word
Factum a principio Became Flesh
Lumen aeternum Eternal Light from the beginning
Missum Patre saeculo Sent by the Father into the world.
Vagit in pannis He cries in swaddling clothes,
Veneratur a magis Is venerated by the Magi,
Fulget in stellis Shines among the stars,
Adoratur in coelis Is adored in the heavens.
Surdi sanantur The deaf are healed,
Caeci atque leprosi The blind and the lepers;
Funere truso As death is crushed
Suscitantur mortui The dead are raised.
Post tantas moles After so much divine mercy
Divinae clementiae He was despised by
Exosus ille Those incited
Stimulo invidiae To jealousy.
Cruci confixus Nailed to the cross,
Polum mire concutit The wondrously trembling pole,
Lumenque solis The sun’s light
Tribus obtendit horis Is darkened for three hours.
Quid tam mortales What are we, inarticulate mortals,
Tentamus micrologi Trying to narrate:
Narrare quivit That which none
Quae nullus edicere? Can express?
Solum oramus This one and only
Hoc, idemque maximum greatest thing we pray:
Nostri aeterne Have mercy on us,
Miserere, Domine. Lord eternal.
Alleluia. Alleluia.
AD NOCTURNAM
Jesu, clementer visita
Nocte orantes media
Qua divina potentia
Petri solvisti vincula
Qui regnas in saecula
SPIRITUS DIVINAE LUCIS GLORIAE
Spiritus divinae lucis gloriae
Respice in me, Domine
Deus veritatis
Dominus Deus Sabaoth
Deus Israel
Respice in me, Domine
Lumen de lumine
Referemus filium Patris
Sanctumque Spiritum in una substantia
Respice in me, Domine
Unigenitus et primogenitus
A te obtinemus
Redemptionem nostram
Respice in me, Domine
Et Deum verum a Deo
Vero sese confitemur
Tribus personis
In una substantia,
Respice in me, Domine
AD MATUTINAM
Deus, qui pulsis tenebris
Diei lucem tribuis,
Adventum veri luminis
Tuis effunde famulis
Qui regnas in saecula
AT NOCTURNS
O Jesus, mercifully visit
Those praying in the middle of the night
With that Divine power
By which you broke Peter’s chains,
You who reign forever.
SPIRIT OF THE DIVINE LIGHT OF GLORY
Spirit of the divine light of glory
Look upon me, O Lord.
God of truth
Lord God of Hosts
God of Israel
Look upon me, O Lord.
Light from Light
We refer to the son of the Father
With the Holy Spirit in one substance.
Look upon me, O Lord.
Only and first-begotten,
Through You we receive
Our redemption.
Look upon me, O Lord.
True God from true God
We acknowledge You,
three persons
In the one substance.
Look upon me, O Lord.
AT MATINS
O God, You who drive out the darkness
By the light of day,
Pour out on your servants
The true arriving light,
You who reign forever.
(Text: Bangor Antiphonary.
English translation: Peter Bannister)
 1

Spiritus divinae lucis gloriae

for piano solo
Peter Bannister
Text: Bangor Antiphonary
Ad honorem
Ad Vespertinam Valentin
Silvestrov

Senza rigore (q.=60)

ves per ti no sub tem po re te in vo ca mus Do mi
*
3
3 5 2 9 2
8 8 4 8 4
poco mf
* 3
3 5 2 9 2
8 8 4 8 4
* Begin trill on E

nos tris pre ci bus an nu e nos tris pec

6
2 9 2 3
4 8 4 4

2 9 2 3
4 8 4 4

Meno mosso
ca ta ig no sce qui reg nas in sae cu la
10 * 3
3 4 3 2
4 4 8 4
mp 3
*
3 4 3 2
4 4 8 4
2

Sancti venite
q = 56 Flessibile
p leggiero 3
5 3 5 4
4 4 4 4
pp
5 3 5 4
4 4 4 4
con pedale

5 3
3 3
4 5 5
4 4 4
p dolce

4 5 5
4 4 4

Poco stringendo Rall. . . . . .

3
8
5 4
4 4
3
3 3 3
poco mf
3 mp
5 4
4 4

legato

11 3
3 3 4
4 8 4
mf
3 3

3 3 4
4 8 4
3