1000 Songs/Only-begotten Son and Word of God
Only-Begotten Son and Word of God
Text
[edit | edit source]Only Begotten Son, and Word of God, Immortal Who didst vouchsafe for our salvation to take flesh of the Holy Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, and didst without change become man, and wast crucified, Christ our God, and by death didst overcome death, [Being One of the Holy Trinity, and glorified together with the Father and the Holy Ghost, save us.]
- Translation by John Brownlie in Hymns of the Apostolic Church, 5th series (Paisley: Alexander Garner, 1909), 37.
Author
[edit | edit source][[[Wikipedia:Emperor Justinian I|Byzantine|Emperor Justinian I]]] (483-565)
Translations/Challenges
[edit | edit source]I found an English translation in "A Survey of Christian Hymnody" by William J. Reynolds
Music
[edit | edit source]Editor's Choice
[edit | edit source]Background
[edit | edit source]Author biography
[edit | edit source][[[Wikipedia:Emperor Justinian I|Emperor|Justinian I]]]
Historical setting
[edit | edit source]- Fourth and Fifth Centuries
- Troparion - the earliest type of Byzantine hymn; a single-stanza prayer in response to the psalms.
- "Only Begotten Son, and Word of God" is the most famous example of troparion hymnody.
Cultural setting
[edit | edit source]- Fourth and Fifth Century Roman Empire
- 330 A.D. Emperor Constantine moved the seat of Government to Byzantium. This Divided the Church as well as the empire into Eastern and Western areas.
- Byzantine hymnody was born out of this split.
- Influenced by Jewish and Syrian tradition, this was an acapella monophonic chant which was mainly diatonic and followed the rhythm of the text.