Product Description
The Odes of Solomon are believed to have been written around the year 100 A.D., and include strong parallels to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Scholars have debated whether the Odes should be considered Jewish, Christian or Gnostic, and whether they were first written in Greek, Hebrew or Syriac. Early Christian writings refer to and quote from them. A Syriac manuscript containing the text of most of the Odes was discovered in 1909 by the English scholar J. Rendel Harris, and other partial texts in various languages have also been found. For these choral settings, I selected text from four of the Odes of Solomon which I found particularly compelling. The anonymous translation used here comes from The Gnostic Society Library.
From the Odes of Solomon was premiered in concert on June 2, 2002, by the Ars Brunensis Chorus under the direction of conductor Roman Valek and choirmaster Dan Kalousek at the Husov Sbor, in Brno, Czech Republic. Their recording is available on CD. Watch a score video with their recording here: https://youtu.be/tEHr8Q-Rg6Y?list=PLfOoI8O24sbw_30-GpKg6qkyT5tpYKNbB
Duration ca. 5 minutes.
From Ode 1:
The Lord is on my head like a crown
And I shall not be without him.
From Ode 3:
I clothe his limbs, his own limbs,
and hang from them.
He loves me.
How would I know how to love the Lord
if he did not love me?
And who can tell us about love?
Only one who is loved.
I love the beloved, and my soul loves him.
I am where he reposes,
and I will be no stranger to him,
because he is not petty, my high merciful Lord.
I have gone to join him
for the lover has found his beloved.
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