American composer Morten Lauridsen wrote his setting of O magnum mysterium in 1994. The text is a Gregorian chant from the Vigil on Christmas Day. Lauridsen said he was inspired by Zurbarán's painting Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose (1633), which is said to symbolize the Virgin Mary: "I wanted this piece to resonate immediately and deeply into the core of the listener, to illumine through sound." The work is "a quiet song of profound inner joy", expressing both the mystery of the Incarnation and Mary's tenderness for her child.
O magnum mysterium / O great mystery
et admirabile sacramentum / and wonderful sacrament
ut animalia viderent / that animals should see
Dominum natum / the newborn Lord
iacentem in praesepio / lying in a manger
O beata virgo, cuius viscera / O blessed virgin, whose womb
meruerunt portare / was worthy to bear
Dominum Iesum Christum / the Lord Jesus Christ
O magnum mysterium - Winchester Cathedral Choir
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