(Give peace, Lord) is the

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

of two different

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

texts, a hymn and an

introit The Introit (from Latin: ''introitus'', "entrance") is part of the opening of the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In its most complete version, it consists of an antiphon, psalm verse and ''Gloria Patri'', ...

. Both have been the base for compositions to be used in church liturgy, beginning with

chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes ...

. Paraphrased versions of the hymn were created by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

in German in 1529, "Verleih uns Frieden", also set by several composers. In English, the hymn entered the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

'', "Give peace in our time, O Lord".

History and musical settings

Latin

The text is a 6th or 7th-century hymn based on biblical verses , and . Settings of the Latin hymn include ''

Da pacem Domine (Give peace, Lord) is the incipit of two different Latin texts, a hymn and an introit. Both have been the base for compositions to be used in church liturgy, beginning with chant. Paraphrased versions of the hymn were created by Martin Luther in G ...

'' by

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...

(2004) or ''Da pacem Domine'' by

Juan María Solare Juan María Solare (born August 11, 1966) is an Argentine composer and pianist. Education Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Solare studied and received his diploma in piano (María Teresa Criscuolo), composition (Fermina Casanova, Juan Carlos Zo ...

(2018). The inscription "da pacem domine" appears beside the figure of an angel playing on lute, on the so-called Jankovich saddle (c. 1408-1420), attributed to King

Sigismund of Hungary Sigismund of Luxembourg (15 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was a monarch as King of Hungary and Croatia (''jure uxoris'') from 1387, King of Germany from 1410, King of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1433 until his death in 1 ...

German

wrote a paraphrase in German, "Verleih uns Frieden". A second stanza, beginning "Gieb unsern Fürsten", was later added to Luther's text by

Johann Walter Johann Walter, also known as ''Johann Walther'' or ''Johannes Walter'' (original name: ''Johann Blankenmüller'') (1496 – 25 March 1570) was a Lutheran composer and poet during the Reformation period. Life Walter was born in Kahla, in present-d ...

and in this form the hymn endured as a

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the t ...

, appearing in the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach. Other settings include 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 Margar ...

in the collection

Geistliche Chormusik ' (Sacred choral music) is a collection of motets on German texts for choir by Heinrich Schütz. It was printed in Dresden in 1648 as his ' ( Op. 11), and comprises 29 individual settings for five to seven voices, which were assigned numbers 369 ...

by Heinrich Schütz (published 1648), and '' Verleih uns Frieden'', a

chorale cantata A chorale cantata is a church cantata based on a chorale—in this context a Lutheran chorale. It is principally from the Germany, German Baroque music, Baroque era. The organizing principle is the words and music of a Lutheran hymn. Usually a chora ...

by Mendelssohn.

English

A version in English, "Give peace in our time, O Lord", is part of the

. The similar phrase

Peace for our time "Peace for our time" was a declaration made by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his 30 September 1938 remarks in London concerning the Munich Agreement and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration. The phrase echoed Benjamin Disr ...

has been used in political contexts.

The introit

A different text with the same first line is the ''Introit for Pentecost XVIII'', based on and (Psalm 121 in the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

)

References

Sources

Da pacem Domine
text and translations in the

Choral Public Domain Library The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing (such as via permission from the copyright holder). It is a ...

Da pacem Domine (Introit)
text and translations in the

Verleih uns Frieden
German hymn in the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Da Pacem Domine 6th century in music 7th century in music Latin-language Christian hymns 16th-century hymns in German