NOT REQUIRED: On the Beautiful and the Sublime in a Church hymn and a Beethoven setting

THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE SUBLIME

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TO DEMONSTRATE THE difference between the beautiful and the sublime Bible students can listen to two pieces of music based on part of the Latin mass (the "Agnus Dei," or "Lamb of God"), to the main words: "Dona nobis pacem" ("Give us peace"). (Note the related English words: donation, pacific, Pacific Ocean, pacify, pact, peace, etc.)
    The first version, a popular Church hymn, illustrates the beautiful. To hear the hymn sung by Mary Beth Chapman go here. The complete text is below:
    "Dona nobis pacem," repeated continuously.
    The musical setting is confident of the peace it asks for, as Job was when he prayed before his suffering. Man is the measure of all things, under the Law of God.
    The next example is the final section of the Agnus Dei ("Lamb of God") from Beethoven's Missa Solemnis (Solemn Mass), here. It uses the same text, repeated continuously: "Dona nobis pacem" ("Give us peace"), with additional words from the Latin Mass. The complete text (mainly from the Gospel of John), is:

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi miserere nobis. Agnus Deis, dona nobis pacem.

The English translation is:

Lamb of God, who takes aways the sins of the world, pity us! Lamb of God, give us peace.

This is the complete text, though each word is sung to many pitches, called melismatic singing (as in Soul music, such as the songs of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, etc.). In most of what you will hear, the main words are "dona nobis pacem," or "give us peace."
    But what a difference in effect! The Church hymn is comforting; the Beethoven setting is restless, troubled, at times terrifying, as with the brass and timpani interlude. The Church setting requests and expects peace; the Beethoven setting, like Job, questions if peace will ever come, even as the chorus pleads for it.
    The passage begins in a familiar manner, with the chorus repeating the words, "dona nobis pacem" (give us peace). But as it develops, the plea becomes more insistent, as if the singers don't expect God to give peace, hence the repeated, "pacem, pacem, pacem" etc.
    (The Church hymn sung by Mary Beth Chapman repeats the phrase too, but to different musical effect, one of beauty and serenity, of confidence in a God who will give the peace asked for. Beethoven's setting is more desperate, as if God will not give what is asked for.)
    Then a musical interlude follows that takes the music to a more clearly defined sublime level. Trumpets sound a warning pattern. The cry of Agnus Dei, and "misere" (mercy, pity), is followed by a timpani response, as the chorus, in imitation, sing the main words of "dona nobis pacem" (give us peace), as if the repetition could influence God. The chorus swells, then is heard in division (males, females, soloists), with their cry of Pacem (peace).
    Another interlude follows, this time longer, ending in a powerful statement in the brass and timpani (a big drum), almost like bombs falling from above (5:59 of the video). Still the choir cries, Peace! as if during wartime.
    The rest of the piece repeats Pacem, pacem, in a doubtful and even futile (useless) plea.
    Several times after the choir softly pleads for "pacem," the timpani pattern is heard, softly, as if from a distance, reminding the listener of the constant danger of the opposite of peace: war.
    Finally the piece ends, on a very doubtful note, not of triumph, not of victory, but only a doubtful repose. The chorus raises its collective voice in one final plea for peace, but there's no sense of confidence in the plea, only a doubtful hope for it.

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