Duruflé's Motet "Ubi Caritas" : history and translation

[Tony]

The French composer Maurice Duruflé wrote the motet "Ubi caritas" in 1960. It is his Opus 10, No. 1. The motet is based on an ancient chant of the same name. It may have originated with the so-called Gallican rite - the liturgical tradition used in the churches of Gaul before Gregorian (Roman) chant was imposed by Pepin in the eighth century. The source for Duruflé was the Liber Usualis where it appears as chant #664.

Duruflé's motet is written for a full choir with separate, alternating choirs of altos. Since we are a small group, we'll forego that concept. Sopranos will sing with the altos at the beginning of the piece rather than remaining silent.

Duruflé starts in the key of E flat for the first half of the motet, then modulates to B flat in the middle and then back to E flat at the end.  For the most part, the chant melody is in the top choral part.

Text

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.

Exsultemus, et in ipso jucundemur,

timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum

et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Translation

Where true charity and love dwell, God himself is there.

Since the love of Christ has joined us in one body,

Let us all rejoice and be glad now and always.

And as we hear and love the living God,

So let us in sincerity love all people.

Translation: Joyce MacDonald Glover

The original text has twelve verses. Duruflé sets only the first.  The history of research into the hymn's origin reads like a detective story. In 1924, the noted medievalist André Wilmart published an article suggesting that the hymn had originated in a Benedictine monastery in the ninth century. Later he discovered a paraphrase of portions of the hymn that dated to the eighth century. Further and contradictory evidence appeared in research by Dag Norberg suggesting that the poem was written for Synod of Cividale, held in 796 by Paulinus, Patriarch of Aquileia in Italy. Paulinus was a writer of religious poetry, and Norberg found similarities between his poetry and "Ubi caritas." However, since the poem has no evidence of an author attached to it, all this is pure conjecture.