Kyrie

The litany Kyrie eleison is usually the first item in settings of the Ordinary of the Mass and is said to have been introduced into the Latin Rite by Pope Sergius II. The Greek text is a 9-fold invocation (Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison, Christe eleison, Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison, Kyrie eleison.) and is sometimes sung or set alternatim, that is with one choir or the organ beginning and a second choir singing the even-numbered repetitions. The 1970 Novus Ordo reduces these to 6.

A mediaeval practice was to insert tropes or extra text. This survived in the Sarum Rite, and polyphonic Communion Services by English composers usually omit the Kyrie, which would be treated as proper to the day. A Lutheran survival is Kyrie Gott Vater in Ewigkeit, based on the trope fons bonitatis. In other countries the numerous Gregorian melodies continued to be identified by the formerly associated tropes as well as local custom and order in publications. Thus Kyrie cunctipotens genitor is identified by Couperin as "pour les paroisses" ("for parish use"), by Frescobaldi as delli Apostoli (for Feast of Apostles) and appears as number IV in the Vatican Edition, while Kyrie orbis factor is Kyrie IX of the Sarum Rite and Kyrie XI in the Vatican Editions.

View the Wikipedia article on Kyrie.

Settings by composers

• Frank Adlam — Office of Holy Communion
• Ambrosian chant — Kyrie
• Anonymous — Kyrie (16th cent. English)
• Anonymous — Kyrie
• Anonymous — Kyrie (de Beata Virgine) D-Ju MS 35
• Anonymous — Kyrie - Orbis Factor
• Anonymous — Kyrie de Beata Virgine
• Jacques Barbireau — Missa Virgo Parens Christi
• Johannes Brassart — Kyrie - de apostolis
• George de Bruin — Kyrie for Double Choir
• Marc-Antoine Charpentier — Messe en sol mineur
• Thomas Crecquillon — Missa Doulce memoire
• Adrian Cuello — Señor ten piedad (Kyrie)
• Christoph Dalitz — A Pentatonic Kyrie
• Christoph Dalitz — A simple Kyrie acclamation
• John Dunstable — Kyrie (Tr. 87, f. 126r)
• Carl-Aage Eliasson — Kyrie
• Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch — Christe eleison a 2 Cori voci Concertante
• Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch — Kyrie eleison a 16 voci reali
• Andrea Gabrieli — Kyrie a 5, a 8, a 12
• Andrea Gabrieli — Kyrie à 5
• Giovanni Gabrieli — Kyrie a 12
• Giovanni Gabrieli — Kyrie à 12 (1615)
• Mariano Garau — Kyrie
• Mariano Garau — Kyrie II
• Charles H. Giffen — Kyrie eleison
• Gregorian chant — Kyrie XVI
• George Frideric Handel — Kyrie
• Oliver Hayes — Baa Baa Black Sheep Kyrie
• William Hayes — Kyrie Eleison
• Lupus Hellinck — Kyrie (Missa Ferrariae Dux Hercules)
• Márton Jakobey — Kyrie
• Michal Janošík — Kyrie eleison
• Joseph Knapicius — Kyrie Eleison celebramus vitae
• Éric Leroy — Kyrie
• Donato Liberatore — Signore, pietà
• Reginald Libert — Kyrie
• Johan Lindegren — Kyrie
• Gonçalo Lourenço — Kyrie
• Frances Matthews — Kyrie
• Felix Mendelssohn — Kyrie
• Felix Mendelssohn — Kyrie in c-minor MWV B 12
• Nicolas Merques — Kyrie I
• Nicolas Merques — Kyrie II
• Jorge Moreira — Kyrie eleison
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Kyrie in Canon
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Kyrie in D major, K.91/186i
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Kyrie in D minor, KV 341
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Kyrie in d minor, KV 90
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Kyrie in F major, KV 33
• John Mundy — Kyrie
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Mass in E Flat - II
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Mass in E Flat - III
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Mass in F
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Mass in F of Our Lady
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Mass of Our Lady for December 8
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Mass of the Purification of Our Lady
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Missa Mimosa
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Novena of St. joachim
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Office of Palm Sunday - II
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Office of Palm Sunday I
• José Maurício Nunes Garcia — Short Mass
• Paolo Pandolfo — Kyrie
• Mogens Pedersøn — Kyrie Gud Fader forbarme dig offuer oss
• Fabrizio Perone — Kyrie
• Markus Pfandler — Kyrie in black
• Richard Quesnel — Kyrie de la Camerata
• Josef Rheinberger — Kyrie, JWV 51
• Josef Rheinberger — Kyrie, JWV 8
• Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck — Kyrie
• Johannes Roullet — Kyrie (Paschale)
• Erik Satie — Messe des Pauvres
• Franz Schubert — Kyrie in B flat, D45
• John Sheppard — Kyrie & Haec dies
• Vianney Sicard — Kyrie
• Caleb Simper — Kyrie
• Heather Soderling — Kyrie eleison
• Spierinck — Kyrie (paschale)
• Simone Stella — Kyrie eleison
• Joseph G. Stephens — Kyrie
• David Joseph Stith — Kyrie eleison
• Remi Studer — Kyrie en re
• August Söderman — Kyrie (No. 1 from 'Andliga sånger')
• Thomas Tallis — Kyrie eleison
• John Taverner — Kyrie Le Roy
• Velthur Tognoni — Kyrie
• Christopher Tye — Kyrie Orbis factor
• Francisco Valls — Christe eleison (Missa Scala Aretina)
• Scott Villard — Kyrie (2010)
• Hugo Wilderer — Kyrie (from Missa)

 

Text and translations

Greek text Κύριε ελέησον. Χριστε ελέησον. Κύριε ελέησον. Latin transliteration   Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison. Italian translation Signore, pietà. Cristo, pietà. Signore, pietà. Spanish translation Señor, ten piedad. Cristo, ten piedad. Señor, ten piedad. Portuguese translation Senhor, tende piedade de nós. Cristo, tende piedade de nós. Senhor, tende piedade de nós. Thai translation ข้าแต่พระเจ้า ทรงพระกรุณาเทอญ ข้าแต่พระคริสตเจ้า ทรงพระกรุณาเทอญ ข้าแต่พระเจ้า ทรงพระกรุณาเทอญ

English translation Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. German translation Herr, erbarme dich. Christus, erbarme dich. Herr, erbarme dich. Dutch translation Heer, ontferm U onzer. Christus, ontferm U onzer. Heer, ontferm U onzer. French translation Seigneur, prends pitié. Christ, prends pitié. Seigneur, prends pitié. Polish translation Panie, zmiłuj się nad nami. Chryste, zmiłuj się nad nami. Panie, zmiłuj się nad nami.

Chinese translation 上主，求你垂憐。 基督，求你垂憐。 上主，求你垂憐。 Hungarian translation Uram, irgalmazz! Krisztus, kegyelmezz! Uram, irgalmazz! Tagalog translation Panginoon, maawa Ka. Kristo, maawa Ka. Panginoon, maawa Ka. Vietnamese translation Xin Chúa thương xót chúng con. Xin Chúa Kitô thương xót chúng con. Xin Chúa thương xót chúng con. Danish translation Herre, forbarm dig over os Kriste, forbarm dig over os Herre, forbarm dig over os