...the most important Christian song about love is the ancient hymn of Paulinus from Aquileia Ubi caritas?
In english translation it is well know as 'Where Charity is'. It was written for the Friuli Council and was suppose to remind its participants that, despite their ideological differences, the most important thing that unites them is mutual love and love of God.
This hymn was written in the 8th century, but until the 20th century, it did not have (except the Gregorian version) many musical interpretations. Nonetheless, through the past and now in the current century there has been a surge of new arrangements with the usage of this text - for example the famous motet of Maurice Durufle.
We associate Ubi Caritas with the Lord's Supper Mass on Holy Thursday, when the song is traditionally performed, but overtime we begin to hear it at weddings. One famous example of it being played nontraditionaly was Paul Mealor's rendition of Ubi Caritas during the wedding of Prince William and Princess Kate in 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London.
We use a different interpretation of this hymn - one created in 1999, by a Norwegian composer residing in New York - Ola Gjeilo. This composition is very solemn, with a deep, spiritual dimension, and, at the same time, intimate and expresses the joy of the unifying force of love - it fits perfectly in a wedding ceremony. We would like to mention here, that Ola Gjeilo is the author of three musical arrangements of this hymn, each one uses subsequent verses of the hymn (beside the first, opening the entire cycle part that we perform, it also uses the sequels: II Through Infinite Ages from 2007 and III Sacred Heart from 2012).
Photos by Dorota WÅ‚odarczak - Zapatrzona.pl. For more look here: https://www.facebook.com/zapatrzonapl/?epa=SEARCH_BOX
It has been 20 years since the composition was created and its beauty and strength of expression still rings true. Recently, we performed it at the wedding of our violinist, Julka and her husband, Griffin on the Hill of st. Wojciech in Carmelite's monastery. We sang in an enlarged band composition, accompanied by by fellow musicians.
It was a very special event for us, that's why for this ceremony we have chosen a unique repertoire of songs that is especially liked by the Young Couple. What's interesting, the wedding was international (the groom comes from the United States), the bride and groom translated some of the songs, so we could perform them in both languages - Polish and English.
We want to share with you this important moment for us, so we are proud to present a few pieces from this wedding here:
We wish the young couple the best of every moment of their lives, and we invite you to listen to our interpretation of the ancient hymn Ubi caritas.
You can read more about the meaning and content of the hymn here:
https://www.liturgia.pl/ubi-caritas-et-amor/
You can read more about the author of the hymn here:
Polska wersja tego tekstu poniżej:
Other musical interpretations of Ubi caritas here: