Media vita in morte sumus

Media vita (without Trisagion refrain), Codex sangallensis 546, f.319, St. Gallen Abbey Library , around 1510

Media vita in morte sumus is the beginning of a Gregorian chant that is ascribed to Notker I , but which was probably composed in France as early as 750.

The text can be translated as “in the middle of life we are in death”. Early evidence of a translation into German with the text “In Mitte unsers Lebenszeyt” can be found in Reichenau's Tonar from 1080. It stands for the idea of transience, especially in the Baroque period, see also Vanitas . It was also used in Hartmann von Aue's Middle High German verse tale “ Der arme Heinrich ” (v. 93f.).

Text and transmissions

The Latin original

The text consists of ten verses of different lengths. Lines 7 to 9 are reminiscent of the answer song of the great improperia , the trisagion : "Sanctus deus, Sanctus fortis, Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis".

Media vita
In morte sumus.
Quem quærimus adiutorem
Nisi te, Domine,
Qui pro peccatis nostris
Iuste irasceris.

Sancte Deus,
Sancte fortis,
Sancte et misericors Salvator:
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos!

In the middle of life
we are in death.
What helper are we looking for
as you, Lord,
who
are rightly angry because of our sins .

Holy God,
Holy Mighty,
Holy and Merciful Redeemer:
do not leave us to bitter death.

Luther's song Right in the middle of life

Luther's three-verse song in the Erfurt Enchiridion (1524)

The antiphon was translated into German by Martin Luther in 1524, following older models, under the title Mitten wir im Leben sind , and supplemented by two parallel stanzas, so that each line deepens and interprets the corresponding line of the other two stanzas. The song can be found in the Evangelical Hymn book under no. 518. The first stanza was included in the Catholic praise of God (2013) under no. 503 ( GL ^old 654).

The three mutually interpreting stanzas are in the form used today:

In the middle of life we are surrounded
by death.
Who is to bring us help so
that we may receive grace?
That's you, Lord, alone.
We regret our iniquity,
which has angered you, Lord.
Holy Lord God,
holy strong God,
holy merciful Savior,
you eternal God:
let us not sink
into the bitter distress of death.
Kyrieleison.

In the midst of death, the jaws
of hell challenge us.
Who wants to make us
free and single out of such trouble ?
You do that, Lord, alone.
Your mercy laments
our grief and great suffering.
Holy Lord God,
holy strong God,
holy merciful Savior,
you eternal God:
let us not despair
before the glow of the deep hell.
Kyrieleison.

In the middle of hell
our sins drive us to fear .
Where should we flee to if
we may stay?
To you, Lord Christ, alone.
Your precious blood has been shed,
which is enough for sin.
Holy Lord God,
holy strong God,
holy merciful Savior,
you eternal God:
let us not fail
the consolation of right faith.
Kyrieleison.

Translations

Translated into Danish, "Men vi leve paa iorden her ..." in the Danish hymn book Rostock 1529, no. 14, and then in the Danish hymn book by Ludwig Dietz, Salmebog Copenhagen 1536, and in the Danish hymn book by Hans Tausen , En Ny Psalmebog , 1553, after Luther's text from 1524 and after the Latin "Media vita" several times as "Men wi leffue paa Jorden her ..." and "Wi som leffue paa jorden her ..." (there also the Latin "Media vita", which was introduced as early as 1514 Danish has been translated). After a version from 1528, edited in 1931 for the Danish church hymn book Den Danske Salmebog , Copenhagen 1953, no. 442, and unchanged in Den Danske Salme Bog , København 1993, no. 442, "Midt i livet er vi stedt udi dødens våde ..."

Catherine Winkworth translated Luther's song into English in 1862 under the title In the Midst of Life .

Melody and musical arrangements

Medieval antiphon "Media vita in morte sumus"

The Gregorian chant is composed in the deuterus plagalis (fourth church tone, hypophrygic ). The melody for Martin Luther's German text is developed from this and is in the same church tone. It can first be found in Johann Walter's Geistliches Gesangbüchlein (Wittenberg 1524) and probably comes from Walter himself.

While Johann Sebastian Bach's work contains only a simple four-part choral setting (BWV 383), which is based on the melody of the Luther chant, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy used the lyrics of his eight-part, expressive C minor motet opus 23.3 as a basis.

Further settings

Arnold von Bruck (1500–1554): We are in the middle of life
Henri Dumont (1610–1684): Media vita in morte sumus
Nicolas Gombert (1495–1560): Media vita
Jacobus de Kerle (1531–1591): Media vita in morte sumus
Orlando di Lasso (1532–1594): Media vita
John Sheppard (around 1515–1558): Media vita a 6
Wilhelm Berger (1861–1911): In the Middle of Life, from Four Sacred Songs and Chants op. 54, No. 1

Varia

The Bavarian Guglmanns use the phrase as their motto.

An echo of this thought can also be found in Rilke's famous short poem "Schlußstück", which is often used as a funeral motto ("Death is great [...] When we mean ourselves in the middle of life | he dares to cry | in the middle of us").