Cum sancto spiritu

What it means

Cum sancto spiritu are the opening words of the last section of the Gloria of the Latin Mass: “with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father, Amen.” In extended Mass settings in which the Gloria is divided into several movements, this text forms a closing movement of its own. It thus ends the second great part of the Ordinary.

Musical use

Because the section concludes a part of the form, it is traditionally set as a festive climax: full forces, fast tempo, often with trumpets and timpani. Especially widespread is the setting as a fugue on the word “Amen,” often with an artfully worked ending. This combination of liturgical text and strict compositional technique is no coincidence: the fugue counts as an expression of solemn order and is suited to concluding a large part effectively. Similar designs are found at the end of the Credo with the text on eternal life.

Performance practice

Plan your strength: the movement stands at the end of a long part of the form, and it is precisely there that fugues demand agility and stamina at once. Practise the subject entries separately and take care that each entry stays audible without the voice jumping out. Watch for even articulation of the melismas, especially on the word “Amen,” and decide how the syllables are distributed. Settle the tempo early, because too fast a tempo costs clarity. In combination with trumpets and timpani the balance has to be established deliberately so that the choir is not covered.

Bear in mind that in many masses the section is counted as a movement of its own and therefore turns up separately in rehearsal schedules: settle the numbering of the edition used to avoid confusion. For the fugue, the subject entries must be articulated the same way in all the voices; settle this explicitly. Watch the distribution of syllables in long melismas and write it in. Plan the tempo so that clarity is preserved even when the movement is meant to seem festive.