On this page About this PsalmPlainchant from the St. Dunstan’s Plainsong PsalterPlainchant from the Roman GradualAnglican chant setting by C. H. WiltonAnglican chant setting by W. T. BestAnglican chant setting by E. C. BairstowMiserere mei, Deus by Josquin des Prez (1450?–1551)Miserere mei, Deus by Orlande de Lassus (1532–1594)Miserere mei, Deus by William Byrd (1543–1623)Miserere mei, Deus by Gregorio Allegri (c. 1582–1652)Have mercy upon me by George Frideric Handel (1685–1757)Miserere by James MacMillan (b. 1959) About this Psalm Psalm 51 is one of seven penitential psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). The first three words in the Latin text of this psalm are Miserere mei, Deus (“Have mercy on me,…
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Recommended reading: Melodious order
In his 1986 book Foolishness to the Greeks, Lesslie Newbigin argued that the central fact of modern culture is “the elimination of teleology.” If one had need of reducing the complex systemic confusions of modernity to a single phrase, he could do a lot worse. Modern culture — submitting abjectly and irrationally to the idol of Choice — cannot acknowledge the existence of purposes or ends in the cosmos that would direct or constrict our choosing. The genealogy of this idolatry is variously explained, but there is a rough consensus among scholars from various disciplines and diverse belief systems (including some who celebrate modernity) that the Enlightenment of the eighteenth…