(

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 ...

for "In the midst of life we are in death") is a

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

, known by its incipit, written in the form of a response, and known as "Antiphona pro Peccatis" or "de Morte". The most accepted source is a New Year's Eve religious service in the 1300s. Reference has been made to a source originating in a battle song of the year 912 by

Notker the Stammerer Notker the Stammerer ( – 6 April 912), Notker Balbulus, or simply Notker, was a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint Gall active as a poet, scholar and (probably) composer. Described as "a significant figure in the Western Church", Notker m ...

, a monk of the

Abbey of Saint Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall (german: Abtei St. Gallen) is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot w ...

: however, the Synod of Cologne declared in 1316 no one should sing this without prior permission of the residing bishop.

Text

Media vita in morte sumus quem quaerimus adjutorem nisi te, Domine, qui pro peccatis nostris juste irasceris? Sancte Deus, sancte fortis, sancte et misericors Salvator: amarae morti ne tradas nos. In the midst of life we are in death of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased? O holy God, O holy and strong, O holy and merciful Saviour, deliver us not to bitter death. The English translation is a poetic adaption from 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 ...

''.

Latin liturgical use

In the York Breviary "Media vita" was sung as an

antiphon An antiphon (Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominently ...

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wo ...

on the Fourth Sunday of

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, ''

Laetare Laetare Sunday (Church Latin: ; Classical Latin: ; English: , , , , ) is the fourth Sunday in the season of Lent, in the Western Christian liturgical calendar. Traditionally, this Sunday has been a day of celebration, within the austere period ...

''. In the Sarum Breviary it was the antiphon from the Third (''Oculi'') to the Fifth (''Judica'') Sundays of Lent, a position it also occupies (in reduced format) in the

Dominican Rite The Dominican Rite is the unique rite of the Dominican Order of the Roman Catholic Church. It has been classified differently by different sources – some consider it a usage of the Roman Rite, others a variant of the Gallican Rite, and still ...

. In addition to its uses in the liturgy, "Media vita" was sung as a hymn to ask God for aid in times of public need, and sometimes even as a sort of curse. In 1455 a group of nuns in

Wennigsen Wennigsen is a municipality in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the Deister hills, approx. 15 km southwest of Hanover. Geography Wennigsen borders on (from north and clockwise) Gehrden, Ronnenberg, Spri ...

, resisting the attempt of the Augustinian canon

Johannes Busch Johannes (or Jan) Busch (1399 – c. 1480) was a major reformer and provost of a community of Canons Regular. He was associated with the Brethren of the Common Life. He was born in Zwolle. He spent most of the last 40 years of his life visiting an ...

and Duke William of Brunswick to reform their house, "lay down on their bellies in the choir with the arms and legs stretched out in the form of a cross, and bawled all through, at the top of their voices, the anthem "In the midst of life we are in death" ... Wherefore the Duke was afraid, and feared lest his whole land should go to ruin." Busch assured the Duke that no harm could come from the chant, so he responded to the nuns: "How were ye not afraid to sing the anthem "Media vita" over me? I stretch my fingers to God's holy gospels, and swear that ye must reform yourselves, or I will not suffer you in my land." In the

Ambrosian Rite The Ambrosian Rite is a Catholic Western liturgical rite, named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century, which differs from the Roman Rite. It is used by some five million Catholics in the greater part of the Archdiocese o ...

, "Media vita" was said with the

Litany of the Saints The Litany of the Saints (Latin: ''Litaniae Sanctorum'') is a formal prayer of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the Old Catholic Church, Anglo-Catholic communities, and Western Rite Orthodox communities. It is a prayer to the Triune God, which ...

on the Tuesday before Christmas, the Wednesday before Palm Sunday, and the Greater Rogation on 25 April.

Adaptations

Popular in the Baroque period, the Latin phrase was translated into the vernacular early and has continued to circulate especially widely in German and English, in literature and in song.

German

"Media vita" appears in

Hartmann von Aue Hartmann von Aue, also known as Hartmann von Ouwe, (born ''c.'' 1160–70, died ''c.'' 1210–20) was a German knight and poet. With his works including ''Erec'', '' Iwein'', ''Gregorius'', and ''Der arme Heinrich'', he introduced the Arthurian ...

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

narrative poem ''

Der arme Heinrich Der arme Heinrich (''Poor Heinrich'') is a Middle High German narrative poem by Hartmann von Aue. It was probably written in the 1190s and was the second to last of Hartmann's four epic works. Combining courtly and religious narrative patterns, ...

'' (V. 93f.). In 1524,

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 ...

translated it as "

Mitten wir im Leben sind "" ("In the Midst of Life we are in Death") is a Lutheran hymn, with words written by Martin Luther based on the Latin antiphon "Media vita in morte sumus". The hymn in three stanzas was first published in 1524. The hymn inspired composers from t ...

" and consequently it is now in the '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' hymnbook as number 518, or 654 in the ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speaki ...

'' hymnbook. It is echoed in

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

's poem "Schlußstück": "Der Tod ist groß ..Wenn wir uns mitten im Leben meinen/ wagt er zu weinen/ mitten in uns." as well as in the title of

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

's poem, "Media in vita".

English

The Latin phrase was translated by Archbishop of Canterbury

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

, whose English-language version became part of the burial service in the ''

''. Cranmer's contemporary and fellow Anglican bishop

Miles Coverdale Myles Coverdale, first name also spelt Miles (1488 – 20 January 1569), was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551–1553). In 1535, Coverdale produced the first c ...

wrote a poetic rendering of Luther's "Mytten wir ym leben synd", beginning "In the myddest of our lyvynge."

Catherine Winkworth Catherine Winkworth (13 September 1827 – 1 July 1878) was an English hymnwriter and educator. She translated the German chorale tradition of church hymns for English speakers, for which she is recognized in the calendar of the Evangelical Lut ...

made another English version of "Mytten wir ym leben synd" in her ''Lyra Germanica: Hymns for the Sundays and Chief Festivals of the Christian Year'', beginning "In the midst of life, behold."

Music

The ''Book of Common Prayer'' text of "In the midst of life we are in death" has been set to music in the ''Booke of Common praier noted'' (1550) by

John Merbecke John Marbeck, Merbeck or Merbecke () was an English choral composer and theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in un ...

and in ''

Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary The English composer Henry Purcell wrote funeral music that includes his ''Funeral Sentences'' and the later ''Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary'', Z. 860. Two of the funeral sentences, "Man that is born of a woman" Z. 27 and "In th ...

'' by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

. A well-known adaptation is the 1550s choral work ''Media vita in morte sumus'' by John Sheppard. The text also comprises the first half of a 1573

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 ...

Orlande de Lassus Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palest ...

. In popular music, the phrase "In the midst of life we are in death et cetera" is repeated in

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

' 1986 single "

Sweet and Tender Hooligan "Sweet and Tender Hooligan" is a song by the English rock band the Smiths, written by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr. Recorded in 1986, it was released as a single in May 1995 by Sire Records to promote the compilation album ''Singl ...

References

External links

* *{{Wikisourcelang-inline, de, Mytten wir ym leben synd
"Media vita in morte sumus"
''Liederkunde zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch'',

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

Latin-language Christian hymns