Verbum Supernum

Today, May 31st, is the Feast of Corpus Christi.

The Feast of Corpus Christi (Latin for "Body of Christ") is the Roman Rite liturgical solemnity celebrating the reality of the Body and blood of Jesus Christ Son of God in the Eucharist. It emphasizes the joy of the institution of the Eucharist. The feast is liturgically celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.

The great hymn, "Verbum Supernum" was written by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in honor of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at the specific request of Pope Urban IV (1261-1264) when the Pope established the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264. It is used as a hymn at Lauds on Corpus Christi.

Nicolas de Grigny (baptized September 8, 1672 – November 30, 1703) was a French organist and composer. He died young and left behind a single collection of organ music, which together with the work of François Couperin, represents the pinnacle of French Baroque organ tradition.

He was born in 1672 in Reims in the parish of Saint-Pierre-Le-Vieil. The exact date of his birth is unknown; he was baptized on 8 September. He was born into a family of musicians: his father, his grandfather, and his Uncle Robert were organists at the Reims Cathedral, the Basilica of St. Pierre and St. Hilaire, respectively. Few details about his life are known, nothing at all about his formative years. Between 1693 and 1695 he served as organist of the abbey church of Saint Denis, in Paris (where his brother André de Grigny was sub-prior). It was also during that period that de Grigny studied with Nicolas Lebègue, who was by then one of the most famous French keyboard composers. By late 1697 de Grigny was appointed titular organist of Notre-Dame de Reims (the exact date of the appointment is not known), the city's famous cathedral in which French kings were crowned. In 1699 the composer published his Premier livre d'orgue in Paris. De Grigny died prematurely in 1703, aged 31.

Performance Notes - First Comment.

The score is attached.