Christus factus est (Christ became obedient) is taken from

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Epistle to the Philippians The Epistle to the Philippians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and Timothy is named with him as co-author or co-sender. The letter is addressed to the Christian ...

. It is a

gradual The gradual ( la, graduale or ) is a chant or hymn in the Mass, the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, and among some other Christians. It gets its name from the Latin (meaning "step") because it was once chant ...

in the Catholic liturgy of the

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...

. In the classical Roman rite, it was sung as the gradual at mass on Maundy Thursday, however since the promulgation of the new rite of mass by Pope Paul VI in 1969 it has been employed instead as the gradual on Palm Sunday. Up until 1970 it was also sung daily at the conclusion of Tenebrae (Matins and Lauds) on the last days of Holy Week. It appeared first at Tenebrae of Maundy Thursday, but was not recited in full, ending with ...'usque ad mortem'. The following day at Tenebrae of Good Friday it was sung from the beginning until ...'mortem autem crucis' and at Tenebrae of Holy Saturday it was sung in full. Up until the reform of the Holy Week liturgy promulgated by Pius XII in 1955 these Tenebrae services were sung in the late afternoon and evening of the previous day, and were well attended by the laity. Thus Tenebrae of Maundy Thursday was sung during the evening of Spy Wednesday; Tenebrae of Good Friday in the evening Maundy Thursday etc. For this reason Christus factus est (along with the famous Tenebrae responsories) was set by many composers of church music. From 1956–1969, and in the liturgical books of 1962 which are currently in use as the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, these services have been 'restored' to the early morning of the last three days of Holy Week, with the effect that complex musical settings of this text are rarely heard in their authentic liturgical context.

Text

The text is derived from . In the Catholic liturgy it is used as Gregorian

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Ho ...

Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...

and

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Ho ...

. The melody is found in the

Graduale Romanum The ''Roman Gradual'' (Latin: ''Graduale Romanum'') is an official liturgical book of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church containing chants, including the proper and many more, for use in Mass. The latest edition of 1974 takes account ...

, 1974, p. 148. Over the centuries the text has been set to music by several composers.''Christus factus est'' on ChoralWiki
/ref> Anton Bruckner set the text to music three times. He set it first in 1844 as the gradual of the ''

Messe für den Gründonnerstag The ''Messe für den Gründonnerstag'' (Mass for Maundy Thursday), WAB 9, is a missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1844. History Bruckner composed the ', a ''Choral-Messe'' in F major ( WAB 9) for mixed choir a cappella, in 1844 whil ...

'' ( WAB 9). The second setting

Christus factus est, WAB 10 ' (Christ became obedient), WAB 10, is a sacred motet by Anton Bruckner, his second setting of the Latin gradual '' Christus factus est'', written in 1873. Several decades earlier, in 1844, he had composed another piece on the same text as gradu ...

of 1873 is a

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Marga ...

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed fo ...

for eight-voice mixed choir, 3 trombones, and double bass quintet ''ad libitum''. The third setting

Christus factus est, WAB 11 ' ("Christ became obedient"), WAB 11, is a sacred motet by Anton Bruckner, his third setting of the Latin gradual '' Christus factus est'', composed in 1884. Before, Bruckner composed in 1844 a first piece on the same text as gradual of the '' M ...

of 1884 is a motet for choir '' a cappella'' in D minor. This third setting is, with

Locus iste is the Latin gradual for the anniversary of the dedication of a church (), which in German is called .Cornelis van Zwol, ''Anton Bruckner 1824-1896 - Leven en werken'', Thoth, 2012, p.706 The incipit translates to "This place was made by God" ...

and

Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Ann ...

, among Bruckner's most popular motets.

References

Sources

* ''Anton Bruckner - Sämtliche Werke, Band 21: Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke'', Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Hans Bauernfeind and Leopold Nowak (Eds.), Vienna, 1984 * Cornelis van Zwol, ''Anton Bruckner - Leven en Werken '', Thoth, Bussum (Netherlands), 2012. Latin-language Christian hymns Music for the Holy Week {{RC-stub