Tantum ergo is the incipit of the last two verses of Pange lingua. This is a Medieval Latin hymn written by St Thomas Aquinas c. 1264. The Genitori genitoque and Procedenti ab utroque portions are adapted from Adam of Saint Victor's sequence for Pentecost. An incipit, is the opening phrase, or in music the opening sequence of notes.
The singing of Tantum ergo occurs during veneration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the Catholic Church and other denominations that have this devotion. We sang it as out anthem at the end of Holy Communion.
Déodat de Séverac was born into a fairly wealthy family in Saint Felix de Lauraguais, his father was a painter, musician and landowner. De Séverac spent three years in the Law Faculty of Toulouse where he also took piano and harmony lessons before he entered the Schola Cantorum in Paris (1893) where he studied composition under Vincent d'Indy. His compositions include symphonic poems, chamber music, songs, piano and organ music, theatre music and choral music. Interestingly his earliest and latest works were religious in nature, but he always retained a strong identity with his roots: the history, culture and language of Languedoc countryside. Although Debussy, with whom he was a friend, criticised his restricted style, his music enjoys a reputation for the directness of its expression and its life. Gabriel Fauré said about Heliogabale, de Séverac's lyrical tragedy, "Séverac has something to say and says it quite simply. Many people have nothing to say, and do their utmost to disguise the vacuum..."
Last paragraph taken from the RSCM Classics copy of this anthem.
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| Déodat de Séverac taken from Wikipedia |
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