Christus Vincit – Christ Conquers

BOUT THIS TIME LAST YEAR I wrote about Christus Vincit a.k.a. Laudes Regiae. It’s still a favorite piece and a great antidote to the malady of thinking chant is dull – a condition affecting all too many Catholics arising from insufficient exposure to chant well sung.

Christus Vincit is also famous as the interval signal for Vatican Radio – a much shorter piece than the full Laudes Regiae from the time of King Charlemagne, but still a great piece to have in your repertoire for all sorts of occasions.

In my earlier post I included two versions of Christus Vincit. This time I include the Tonus Simplex version from the Cantuale Romano-Seraphicum:

No. 236 from the Cantuale Romano-Seraphicum

I can’t see any recordings – it’s almost metrical, and yet not quite. The Cantuale sets it as an Antiphon with Laudate Dominum omnes gentes as the psalm in mode 6 – as you might be familiar with from Adoremus in aeternum.